Reading The Lord of the Rings

I am halfway through The Lord of the Rings, reading it for the first time in English. Some things the movie actually did better than the book. Also, the choice of style is quite interesting...

The first time I read this book, I was around twelve. The library near my house—an actual oasis in the cultural desert where I spawned in this world—had the three volumes, heavy doorstoppers, with a beautiful cover, glued spine, and neat typography. It was in a Brazilian Portuguese translation, since English versions of books in Brazil are almost impossible to find, and are extremely expensive when found.

I had a strong impression of this book. I call it a book, instead of a trilogy, because, to me, it is a single book divided in three volumes. It was intended to be this way, and it works well as such. To call it a trilogy is imprecise, since actual trilogies finish most of the plot points in the end, leaving only a few threads hanging to convince the reader to buy the next installment.

Back then, I did not have many options for listening to music while reading. I did not have a computer, nor internet access. That was back in 2006. I arrived a little late in the digital era. So, the only thing I had to listen to was a CD with some Mozart symphonies, especially the 25^th.

I read the entire trilogy in a single week, under the warm winter sun, while this Mozart CD played in loop. Even today, years later, if I listen to Mozart, the image of the Middle Earth materializes in my mind clearer than reality itself. I can see its colors, sense the tastes and smells, and remember the textures of that place. The details of the plot—especially the stuff that do not show up in the movies—had vanished from my mind for many years, but the setting has always been with me.

The movies were the reason I kept remembering the plot. It has been almost like a yearly ritual that I have with my wife, to binge-watch the trilogy, hopefully the super-extended director’s cut. The movies must be the best adaptation ever made of a novel. They not only respect and love the source material, but they even improve it.

Yes, I am reading the books again, after so many years. And, this time, I am reading a digital version in English that I bought, that includes the three books in a single package. I just finished the battle of Helms Deep.

It is such an interesting and surprising experience for me, to read this book in the original language. The translation that I read had a contemporary, “blockbuster” style of prose that could be found in any novel, anywhere. Dialogues were natural, regardless of character. I had no idea that Tolkien had intentionally used an antiquated writing style, and that his prose had such a poetic cadence that made the text sound like it was being sang. I also had no idea that characters spoke so differently based on their races: hobbits were casual speakers, while elves were poetic and theatrical; men were heroic and epic, and dwarves were profound and emotional.

To me, this is the essence of The Lord of the Rings. If we look at this novel from a plot perspective, for example, it is quite simple and linear. The premise is almost childish. The hobbits must go to the evil place and carry the MacGuffin, and destroy it to save the world from the Big Bad. And, there is a war. Honestly, if a fiction writer tried to pitch this premise to an editor today, he would probably be rejected. Readers would ignore the pitch promptly.

But, then, you open the book and read the prose, there is that sound. You are suddenly transported to a magical, musical world—a world where even the simplest plot feels epic, ancient, important, worthy of song and legend.

The Lord of the Rings does not have a hard magic system. The rules that dictate how magic works, its costs and limitations, are unclear. It is almost impossible to say how Gandalf’s spells work (except for a few comments that he makes about what he cannot do). But, one thing is clear throughout the novel: magic is based on speech. It is done by verbally commanding the elements, or by invoking the names of old heroes.

This is a novel about the power of music, poetry, and language. It is an ocean of sounds that create a magical world. Who cares about the plot? All we need is movement: characters that go from place to place, speaking epic things, having theatrical, over-the-top dialogues, and casting magic, singing epic songs, and throwing witty one-liners on one another.

Yet, despite the richness of the books, and the precise, unbelievable skill with which Tolkien wields his words, the movies actually improved his work. Some scenes of the books felt a bit disappointing, compared to the movies.

For example, in the movies, the orcs are sarcastic, mean, and a bit funny. Their darkness is balanced by a kind of goofiness that the books do not display.

Another of my favorite scenes is Gandalf's rescue of Theoden in The Two Towers. The books display a similar scene, but, in the movies, it is more streamlined. And, in the books, Gandalf and the others are too gentle with Gríma. I love that, in the movie, Gandalf treats Gríma like a pathetic creature, and gives him no importance whatsoever. He calls him a “witless worm” right away.

There are many other moments that the movies did better. Boromir, for instance: his arc, psychology, and his death were more meaningful. Arwen is better in the movies as well (at least until this point). The fact that she is the one who summons the flash flood to save Frodo, instead of Glorfindel, makes her presence more vivid early in the story. She is a bigger, more important character in the movies, and the book really needs some interesting female characters. It’s too much of a sausage party.

Then, the books have some things that are better. For example, Tom Bombadil and Goldberry are great, weird characters. They are completely pointless to the story, and, yet, they are some of the most memorable creatures in that universe. An old mage-like being, older than time, immune to the One Ring, married to a hot fairy goddess, daughter of a river, living the good life in the woods… Tom is the biggest element of power fantasy in the Middle Earth. Who would not want to be that guy?

Also, keeping with the theme that magic is based on speech, music, and poetry, the most magically powerful being in the Middle Earth, Tom, sings all day and speaks in verse many times throughout the story.

I love The Lord of the Rings. The hobbits are my kind of people—they value good food, good drink, and good bed, and do not care or bother with the outside world so much. Their metaphors are always food-based. They love gardening and nature, and their homes are warm and cozy. If I ever lived in Middle Earth, I would want to be a hobbit.