The Lord of the Rings (One Volume Edition) (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A Christian can almost be forgiven for not reading the Bible, but there's no salvation for a fantasy fan who hasn't read the gospel of the genre, J.R.R. Tolkien's definitive three-book epic, the Lord of the Rings (encompassing The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King), and its charming precursor, The Hobbit. That many (if not most) fantasy works are in some way derivative of Tolkien is understood, but the influence of the Lord of the Rings is so universal that everybody from George Lucas to Led Zeppelin has appropriated it for one purpose or another.

Not just revolutionary because it was groundbreaking, the Lord of the Rings is timeless because it's the product of a truly top-shelf mind. Tolkien was a distinguished linguist and Oxford scholar of dead languages, with strong ideas about the importance of myth and story and a deep appreciation of nature. His epic, 10 years in the making, recounts the Great War of the Ring and the closing of Middle-Earth's Third Age, a time when magic begins to fade from the world and men rise to dominance. Tolkien carefully details this transition with tremendous skill and love, creating in the Lord of the Rings a universal and all-embracing tale, a justly celebrated classic. --Paul Hughes

From Publishers Weekly

Originally broadcast in 1981 on BBC Radio, this full-cast adaptation of Tolkien's epic trilogy is justifiably regarded as a classic; unfortunately, in 2008, it faces inevitable comparison with Peter Jackson's films. While Jackson had stunning visuals, purists may find this simpler adaptation more to their taste. The radio version remains, in some ways, more faithful to the original trilogy. The extensive cuts to the narrative mean that much of Tolkien's poetic description and a degree of emotional resonance are lost, but narrator Gerard Murphy gives what remains the appropriate gravity. Most of the dialogue is pure Tolkien, and the fine cast does it justice. Ian Holm (who appeared as Bilbo in the films) offers a mature, nuanced portrayal of Frodo that is far truer to the text than Elijah Wood's wide-eyed innocent approach. (On the other hand, Sean Astin's accent and inflections as Sam are so similar to the audiobook's Bill Nighy's, one might suspect that Astin studied this recording before filming.) The 12th CD is devoted to a selection of songs from the books, set to original music. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 1216 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (June 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395974682
• ISBN-13: 978-0395974681
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1,328 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #746,182 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

476 of 498 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My absolute favorite book, December 17, 2000

By	Chad M. Brick (Ann Arbor, Michigan USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Lord of the Rings (Illustrated Edition) (Hardcover)

This is not a review of Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings". Its having been voted "The Greatest Book of the Millenium" here on Amazon.com says more than enough about the worth of Tolkien's work. Rather, it is a review of the several hardcover editions of this fantastic story.

There are for major hardcover editions of LOTR, all published by Houghton Mifflin Co. They are essentially the same price, so I will not take that into consideration.

The best of the editions (5 stars) is the blue Alan Lee illustrated version printed in Nov 1991. I have owned this book for several years, and read it three times. It is durable, beautiful, and has no flaws that I have found. The illustrations are wonderful, though most Tolkien fans will have seen these pictures before.

The red edition printed in Nov 1974 is also a solid edition of the book (4 stars). It is every bit as good as the blue version, but does not have the illustrations. If you are the type of reader that prefers to leave everything to your imagination, this is the version for you.

Both the blue and red versions have matching editions of "The Hobbit" (Houghton Mifflin, Sep 1997 or Oct 1973, respectively). I found both of these editions to be satisfactory.

The other two major editions of LOTR - the white three-volume edition from Oct 1988 and the black seven-volume edition from Jan 2000 - are not recommended (2 stars). The print quality in both is poor, and the durability is less than that of the red and blue versions. The only advantage of these editions is portability, as the red and blue versions are single-volume and quite hefty.

Ramble on....

123 of 125 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BBC Production is Superb!!!, March 26, 2002

By	Martin McNelis (Shannon, Co. Clare Ireland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lord of the Rings (BBC Dramatization) (Audio CD)

I'm writing this review because all of the reviews currently listed under this item refer to the books and not to the Radio Dramatisation. I'm assuming that anyone interested in this production is already familiar with either the books or the film of Fellowship of the Ring. Firstly, this is a superb production and is far superior to the Minds Eye production which you may have seen in a wooden presentation case. Although the presentation of this product could have been more attractive (and was in it's initial CD incarnation) it is still a "must have" item for any Tolkien fan. The cast is comprised of some of the BBC's finest actors including Ian Holm, John LeMesurier, Michael Hordern and Robert Stephenson. Ian Holm is particularly brilliant in his tortured and beautifully realised descent into despair. The production values are second to none and in some ways surpass the Peter Jackson film simply by allowing your imagination to fill in all the details. Peter Woodthorpe is stunning as Gollum\Smeagol and sets a very steep challenge for Andy Serkis to rise to in the forthcoming Two Towers movie.

Naturally, this is an adaptation and as such is abridged, but the only notable omissions are Bombadil, The Old Forest and the Barrow Wights. Some of the music may not be to all tastes (I personally dislike the Eagles proclamation of Saurons defeat) but all of it is beautifully orchestrated and delivered. Highlights for me would be William Nighy as Sam singing a part of the fall of Gil-Galad and his song in the tower of Minas Morgul. Gimli's recitation of "In Moria, In Khazad Dum" has wonderful emotion and resonance and Bilbo's last song is a beautiful and heartbreaking accompaniment to the scene at the Grey Havens.

Miranda Richardson's Galadriel has great power and she handles the temptation of the ring masterfully. Likewise Eowyn's challenge to the Lord of the Nazgul is amazingly powerful.

The main problem in a radio production is in finding a natural way to describe visual scenes without clumsy "Look Frodo, It's a big walking tree..." lines. This is handled very well for the most part particularly in the Battle of Helms Deep. Brian Sibley's decision to use the Minstrel of Gondor to tell the tale of the Battle of Pelennor Field is less successful but I found that after the first sitting I started to quite enjoy the effect.

I hope this short review has been enough to convince you that this is a very worthy addition to any collection and I hope that it appears in the correct section when you look for reviews of the Radio Play.

As a side note, although it is good, the BBC production of the Hobbit does not reach the heights that this production does, primarily due to poor choice of music style and a less than charismatic Gandalf.

181 of 189 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful -- if a bit impractical -- Edition of the Book, January 6, 2004

By	A. C. Johnson (Oakland, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Lord of the Rings (Hardcover)

This is a particularly beautiful edition of The Lord of the Rings (ISBN: 0618260587 ), and is probably best suited for someone who is already a fan of the book, rather than for someone who is reading the book for the first time.

The format of this edition is larger than most books tend to be making it very difficult to read in any position other than sitting upright holding the book on your lap or on a desk. Each of the three volumes features a beautiful glossy dust jacket and is filled with a dozen or so full color illustrations by the famous Alan Lee.

My main problem with this edition, besides the weight and size of the books, is that the pages containing text are glossy paper. The glare caused by this type of glossy paper make it a little irritating on the eyes when reading for long stretches of time. It would have been much nicer had they published this edition with matte paper for the text and saved the glossy solely for the illustrations.

If you are a fan of Alan Lee's artwork, and don't necessarily intend on READING this edition, though, this is a great piece to pick up and will most likely be the type of book you end up treasuring for years to come -- even if it isn't the one you give your kids to read.