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CliffsNotes on Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit
Join the journey through Middle-earth in the study guide of these two epic fantasies suggestive of life in medieval days, a classical battle between good and evil and the quest for a magical ring. This guide covers all four volumes of this unforgettable fantasy.
86 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 18, 1977
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 6, 2015
I've been doing a massive re-reading project of Tolkien's works in English, which is a struggle to me because of his archaic language structure.
So I sought out study guides and reference materials, right? What I was hoping for what a chapter by chapter breakdown, pointing out important allegorical/symbolic/historical/etc information to heighten my understanding of the books themselves and the lore behind it.
That's not what I got here.
I've never read a Cliff Notes before, but this was a barebones Wikipedia plot summary of a book. I could've found this information for free in a few seconds with Google and this was not at all helpful to me.
The best part was at the back which is basically some essay topic ideas such as "symbolism of light and dark", "The nature of evil within Gollum, Sauron, Sauruman, etc etc"
This would be okay I guess for someone who needed a refresher but honestly you'd do better by googling plot summaries than spending money on this.
So I sought out study guides and reference materials, right? What I was hoping for what a chapter by chapter breakdown, pointing out important allegorical/symbolic/historical/etc information to heighten my understanding of the books themselves and the lore behind it.
That's not what I got here.
I've never read a Cliff Notes before, but this was a barebones Wikipedia plot summary of a book. I could've found this information for free in a few seconds with Google and this was not at all helpful to me.
The best part was at the back which is basically some essay topic ideas such as "symbolism of light and dark", "The nature of evil within Gollum, Sauron, Sauruman, etc etc"
This would be okay I guess for someone who needed a refresher but honestly you'd do better by googling plot summaries than spending money on this.
January 13, 2022
عالی. برای طرفداران ارباب حلقه ها و تالکین
June 12, 2024
This is unfortunately not a good resource for someone who wants a quick summary and/or notes on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. There's occasional misinformation like "Gandalf tries to drive the animals away with flaming pine cones, but in doing so he sets the trees afire".
The goblins started a bonfire to try to burn them down. As if Gandalf would be that clumsy.
"Finally Gandalf has enough and deposes Saruman as chief of their order of wizards and causes his magic wand, the sign of his former authority, to break in two."
I suppose this is a nitpick, but they have staffs not wands.
"The shadows cast by the torches on the walls give Sam an appearance of unnatural size, and he frightens off one of the last orcs..."
The orc was scared of the power of the ring that Sam was holding, not because of the torchlight.
"She (Rosie Cotton) was apparently secretly betrothed to Sam Gamgee before he left the Shire with Frodo".
No? He wasn't? Where is this coming from?
It's just enough to annoy me, like the author is trying to summarize the books without having read them. You're better off finding a summary on the internet. Encyclopedia of Arda is a good resource.
The goblins started a bonfire to try to burn them down. As if Gandalf would be that clumsy.
"Finally Gandalf has enough and deposes Saruman as chief of their order of wizards and causes his magic wand, the sign of his former authority, to break in two."
I suppose this is a nitpick, but they have staffs not wands.
"The shadows cast by the torches on the walls give Sam an appearance of unnatural size, and he frightens off one of the last orcs..."
The orc was scared of the power of the ring that Sam was holding, not because of the torchlight.
"She (Rosie Cotton) was apparently secretly betrothed to Sam Gamgee before he left the Shire with Frodo".
No? He wasn't? Where is this coming from?
It's just enough to annoy me, like the author is trying to summarize the books without having read them. You're better off finding a summary on the internet. Encyclopedia of Arda is a good resource.
April 7, 2012
I bought a used copy of the 1977 Cliffs Notes on the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit a few years ago at the Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College (Illinois), which owns J.R.R. Tolkien's desk.
Although I've read the books and seen the movies many times, and discussed both, I'd never read the Cliffs Notes. They feel a little dated and are not entirely accurate - for example, Gimli accompanied Frodo on his quest, not Bilbo as noted in the Glossary of Names - but I still found them informative. The book will find a place on my Lord of the Rings shelves.
Although I've read the books and seen the movies many times, and discussed both, I'd never read the Cliffs Notes. They feel a little dated and are not entirely accurate - for example, Gimli accompanied Frodo on his quest, not Bilbo as noted in the Glossary of Names - but I still found them informative. The book will find a place on my Lord of the Rings shelves.
March 25, 2015
My son in 5th grade has a book report due on thursday on this book. Any suggestions?
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews