The Lord of the Rings
J.R.R. Tolkien's great fantasy novels The Hobbit and the three
books of The Lord Of The Rings (The Fellowship Of The Ring, The
Two Towers, and The Return Of The King) have been keeping
readers spellbound for generations. I was quite late for work
one morning when I made the mistake of picking up The Return of
the King, thinking I'd just read a few more pages. I got
completely wrapped up in the story and forgot everything about
my everyday life!
The absorbing tales begin with The Hobbit when the wizard
Gandalf involves comfort-loving hobbit Bilbo Baggins in a great
conflict between good and evil. The Lord Of The Rings continues
with a larger cast of characters in Middle Earth. While The
Hobbit might be read by itself, most people who read the Lord of
the Rings trilogy can't stop with the first one alone... they go
through all three.
When Peter Jackson made films of The Lord of the Rings, he had
to deal with countless devoted fans who would be watching
closely to see what he did to the stories. How did it work out?
Quite simply, he made perhaps the greatest trilogy ever brought
to film. Tolkien's words were often preserved, and the changes
that were made in the plot were done so sensitively that it was
easy to see they were needed for the different medium of film.
The theatrical releases were widely acclaimed (The Return of the
King won eleven Oscars), and the DVD versions of the Lord of the
Rings are even better, including about eleven hours of material
beyond what was shown in theaters. The popularity of the books
has reached new heights since the films came out.
Naturally, people have created many items that can evoke this
image-rich world, such as Lord of the Ring posters. Whether you
are reminded of Middle Earth by a poster or map on your wall or
simply hold memories in your mind, you'll be touched by the
great dramas which have meaning for us all.