Which of the three TLotR books is your favorite????????

[radagastly]

Originally posted by thewichtking:

what does no one like the lord of the rings? apparently because no one is posting witch is there favorite tlotr book!

I think the problem here is that Tolkien originally wrote this as a single volume, and, times being what they were (just barely post WWII, paper unavailable) he was forced by his publisher to split it into three volumes. They did not have the resources to publish the entire book as a single volume and still make a profit. The only reason it's a Trilogy is practical, not artistic. It was meant to be read as a single, continuous narrative, not a trilogy. It's hard to choose one volume when the story is clearly only one volume to begin with.

That said, I still must say that "Fellowship" is my favorite. I've always preferred Act I to Act III. Set-up is far more difficult than the final pay-off. If you write ten chapters that are great, the last three pretty much write themselves. Not entirely, but rather effectively.

It must be difficult to write a climax, THE DESTRUCTION OF THE RING, when other adventures, the marriage of Aragorn, the Coronation of the King, the journey back to the Shire with Saruman and all the other encounters were still to come.

"The Scouring of the Shire" is the climax of the story as far as Tolkien is concerned. Same for most of it's readers (though, not necessarily it's movie fans.)

As far as "Favorites" are concerned, I still go back to "Fellowship." Set-up is far more challenging. I stand by it!