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Agustin

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Agustin is currently reading

The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2)

by J.R.R. Tolkien

bookshelves: fiction, 1001-booklist, currently-reading

Reading for the 3rd time

read in January 2012

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Agustin said: " I read the first book of the trilogy a long time ago and immediately started reading the second one. It's just school started at the same time and well...look at my updates to see how long it took me to finish. I can't blame my slow reading because o I read the first book of the trilogy a long time ago and immediately started reading the second one. It's just school started at the same time and well...look at my updates to see how long it took me to finish. I can't blame my slow reading because of school or other things that took priority. The Two Towers was interesting, don't get me wrong, but there were some things within the story that just really bugged me as flaws (that I know many will disagree with) and in the end led me to only be able to tackle this book in bits at a time.

The first book had a lot of traveling (of course) but there were destinations reached and obstacles faced. The destinations were fascinating (the mines of Moria) as well as the people met (Tom Bombadil). The internal conflict within the fellowship was dynamic. The cast of characters each gave something to the story and the way they interacted really made the story move.

Now onto the second book: The first half of the book is strictly following Merry/Pippin as well as the rest of fellowship excluding Sam and Frodo. At first this REALLY bugged me. I mean, these are the main guys taking on this great task, why are they not mentioned?? However, once the second half of the book started, I kind of wished that we would go back to following the others. I didn't realize how great the first half of the book was until I was deep into the second half. The first half is so true to the first book (fascinating destinations, cool people met along the way, interaction of the characters) that made it great and unable for me to put down.

Following Sam and Frodo was a bummer. Their journey felt repetitive with the same trials and tribulations occurring over and over and OVER. The fellowship is of course now separated and the main destination is Mordor. The places faced along the way aren't really that great. In my mind I pictured them walking for hours through fields with nothing else much going on. It just seemed lame. There weren't any parts in the book where my heart started racing (like the mines of Moria) and this was really disappointing. I understand that this walking is necessary for the story but I think the dynamic that is Frodo and Sam's relationship just doesn't do much for the second half of the book. If Gollum/Smeagol wasn't in the second half of the book, I honestly would have dropped the book then and there. I wouldn't have been able to stand it. The fact is Sam is portrayed as too much of a effin pansy that sucks up and follows religiously an even greater pansy by the name of Frodo. There would be NO CONFLICT without Gollum. I just don't think that's the way it should be.

Yes I realize that these are young hobbits who have been thrown into this terrifying/impossible task and they aren't supposed to be "macho-super men" but jeez...COME ON!! I just couldn't tolerate the constant tiredness and fears of Frodo. It was really annoying. And then the constant caring and sucking up by Sam to the point where I had to ask myself at times if these two were lovers in between pages of the book.

I could go on and on with this review. The bullet points are the relationship between Sam and Frodo don't make for good reading when they are the only characters...among the fellowship, it is fine.

I was really contemplating giving this book 2 stars but 3 were given purely on the fact that the end finally gives me hope for what the third book might contain and that makes me happy. ...more "

progress:

(page 255 of 734)
— Jan 06, 2012 04:10PM

Feb 06, 2026 08:48AM · see review

Agustin’s Quotes

“Friendship ... is born at the moment when one man says to another "What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . .”
― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

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