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Books Related to The Lord of the Rings J. R. R. Tolkien - ISBN: 0007203632
THE Book and THE Guide - Rated
This is a beautiful boxset, with the cover designs of the incorporated three volumes of the novel repeated on the outer sides of the box. The paperback editions of the aforementioned three volumes are the latest editions (2005) and therefore contain the presently definitive text.
What can I write about The Lord of the Rings that has not already been written? It is, I believe, a magnificent novel which will appeal to many different types of reader, whether they be fans of fantasy / science-fiction / adventure or not. The only people I would not recommend this book to are those who do not enjoy reading at all. Assuming that you still partake to any extent in this sadly dwindling pastime, I suggest that although the novel can be somewhat challenging in the sheer number of locations and characters it presents, this should mean no great difficulty for adult readers. Younger readers may find it heavy-going (as I did at age 14), but as Tolkien himself pointed out, one cannot expand one's vocabulary by reading a book aimed at one's own age-group, but rather, by reading a book aimed above it. I did not myself know that Tolkien said this before reading so in the accompanying 'The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion'.
Which brings me nicely to the aptly described "definitive annotated guide". This volume is indeed a 'companion' of the highest order. It not only contains comprehensive notes on the text, but also includes the 'Nomenclature' and time-schemes penned by Tolkien as an aid to himself and others, as well as a list of the differences between the original and more recent editions (errors present from the beginning as well as those due to ill-managed reprints and revisions throughout the book's history, and the emendments made to correct these).
Never in my not-inconsiderable experience of my favourite novel have I found any guide so utterly useful and interesting.
I have but one minor gripe, being this: I assumed that the page numbers heading each of the notes in the Reader's Companion would refer to the pages of the edition it accompanies in this package. This is, however, not the case. This is no great problem, though, as the authors of the Companion had the foresight to also precede each note with the first line of the paragraph to which it belongs. Since the notes are also divided into the appropriate chapters of the relevant Books and Volumes, this does not even begin to tarnish the fifth star I have awarded this excellent set. I heartily recommend this to any reader, old or new, but most especially to those who either do not already possess the definitive text of the novel, or have yet to sample the delights of Hammond and Scull's guide to its intricacies.
