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Compare FOTR to ROTK and you can see how Tolkien totally changes the style and it jars.
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Although it never really occured to me before, I do see your point here Eurytus. But I think that this goes back to the book being written primarily from the Hobbits' point of view. FotR largely portrays situations where the Hobbits are interacting with the other characters on a one to one (or four to one [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] ) basis and where their adventures are the focal point. This begins to change at the Council of Elrond and with the formation of the Fellowship when the much wider struggle, of the free peoples of Middle-earth, comes into play. By the time we get to TTT and RotK, we are witnessing these events of global significance more directly, and frequently the Hobbits (specifically Merry and Pippin) become virtual bystanders.
I think that this change in style is intentional and that it actually works well since it serves to convey this sense that events of great significance are taking place. Merry and Pippin can only stand by and record them, feeling rather useless (like unwanted baggage, as Merry says) until they are pitched directly into the action. The fact that Merry and Pippin actually tell us of their discomfort at being on the periphery shows, I believe, that this was intentional on Tolkien's part.
I would disagree that this characterises the whole of TTT and RotK. The chapters depicting the journey of Frodo and Sam and the adventures of Merry and Pippin in Fangorn still contain those close inter-personal relationships that characterise the early parts of FotR. But, when we are reading of the great events taking place in Rohan and Gondor, the transition in style is evident. And I don't feel that it jars. Rather it reflects the scale of the events being portrayed.
In effect, the narrative style mirrors the transition of the story from the parochial to the global, but always seen through the eyes of the parochials. And by the end, these parochials have become sufficiently mature and worldly-wise to take on the challenge of their own nation's struggle.