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turtlekat23's review against another edition
informative
3.0
Highly recommend for Christians who enjoy Tolkien, maybe not for those who are of a different or no faith. Also, if you haven’t read the books, this will not make sense. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one and am glad I have read the books fairly recently as it goes fairly deep into them. Though Tolkien was clear his works are not allegorical like his friend CS Lewis’s, there are clear themes that reflect his faith in his writing and it’s really cool to see.
snufkinsnufkin's review against another edition
4.0
Aragorn is a Christ figure and Gandalf is a Christ figure and Frodo is a Christ figure and Sam is a Christ figure and
samuel_peterson's review against another edition
4.0
Paperback. 3.7 stars
I envy a friend who was able to study great texts under Prof. Wood at Baylor - how wonderful must those Socratic seminars have been! This book was poignant and exposed a breadth of knowledge and wisdom about the Gospel and about literature which cut deep into the heart of anyone who loves Tolkien. As someone who loves the Lord of the Rings but can sometimes read a passage over and over trying to discern its meaning before hopelessly moving on, Raplh Wood has taken pains to read everything pertaining to demystifying the texts. With remarkable brevity, Wood is able to explain the deepest and central ideas of the Gospel and expose their essence everywhere within Tolkien's works. Here is just one example in Wood's assessment of Mercy and Forgiveness as the basis of the Love Tolkien displays in Bilbo's pitying Gollum when first finding the Ring:
"Tolkien captures the transcendent, even divine quality of real love by having it issue in a pity and pardon utterly unknown either to the warrior cultures of the ancient world or to our own equally merciless culture of competition - [such love] is the key to our own transformation." 155.
As he wrapped up the book, he provided this quote from Sam (aka the hero of the book) as offered it as the summation of a Christian's heart of servanthood amidst a broken world:
"I know we are going to take a very long road, into darkness; but I know I can't turn back . . . I don't rightly know that I want: but I have something to do before the end, and it lies ahead, not in the Shire. I must see it through sir." 163.
Read if you love the Creator of the Universe and the Lord of the Rings or are at least interested in those two.
I envy a friend who was able to study great texts under Prof. Wood at Baylor - how wonderful must those Socratic seminars have been! This book was poignant and exposed a breadth of knowledge and wisdom about the Gospel and about literature which cut deep into the heart of anyone who loves Tolkien. As someone who loves the Lord of the Rings but can sometimes read a passage over and over trying to discern its meaning before hopelessly moving on, Raplh Wood has taken pains to read everything pertaining to demystifying the texts. With remarkable brevity, Wood is able to explain the deepest and central ideas of the Gospel and expose their essence everywhere within Tolkien's works. Here is just one example in Wood's assessment of Mercy and Forgiveness as the basis of the Love Tolkien displays in Bilbo's pitying Gollum when first finding the Ring:
"Tolkien captures the transcendent, even divine quality of real love by having it issue in a pity and pardon utterly unknown either to the warrior cultures of the ancient world or to our own equally merciless culture of competition - [such love] is the key to our own transformation." 155.
As he wrapped up the book, he provided this quote from Sam (aka the hero of the book) as offered it as the summation of a Christian's heart of servanthood amidst a broken world:
"I know we are going to take a very long road, into darkness; but I know I can't turn back . . . I don't rightly know that I want: but I have something to do before the end, and it lies ahead, not in the Shire. I must see it through sir." 163.
Read if you love the Creator of the Universe and the Lord of the Rings or are at least interested in those two.
adelaide_reads's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.75
library_bookwyrm's review against another edition
5.0
Absolutely wonderful look at Tolkien's Middle-Earth works and the Catholic theology that influenced them. While it is definitely scholarly, it is also definitely Christian, which may throw off some readers. But I would recommend it to anyone interested in theology and literature, or the thought behind The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.
pickett22's review against another edition
3.0
It was a good book, some very good points. Wood has a lovely way with words. It felt at times as if I was reading a devotional. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it did get annoying at times because that's not what I was looking for.
kulaaid's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
The Author Ralph C. Wood did a wonderful job theorizing the connotations of Christianity within the pages of J.R.R. Tolkiens works.
With a focus on the Silmarillion, The Hobbit, and mostly within the Lord of The Rings Trilogy, the author presents the reader (or, in my case, the listener) with passages and motifs that mimc the stories and theological ideologies of the Christian Bible. He easily broke down the book based on ideas and overarching thoughts. It read more like a very well written essay than a book.
As stated previously, I listened to the audiobook narrated by Nadia May, and it was an interesting listen. I definitely recommend this way as Nadia has a wonderfully calm voice, and her English accent is in no way hard to understand. In fact, hearing her pronounce Tolkiens words made me quite happy.
With a focus on the Silmarillion, The Hobbit, and mostly within the Lord of The Rings Trilogy, the author presents the reader (or, in my case, the listener) with passages and motifs that mimc the stories and theological ideologies of the Christian Bible. He easily broke down the book based on ideas and overarching thoughts. It read more like a very well written essay than a book.
As stated previously, I listened to the audiobook narrated by Nadia May, and it was an interesting listen. I definitely recommend this way as Nadia has a wonderfully calm voice, and her English accent is in no way hard to understand. In fact, hearing her pronounce Tolkiens words made me quite happy.
angelwolf45's review against another edition
4.0
This book was great. If you love to know more about Tolkien's world then this is a great book.
It was a great companion to the books and I really enjoyed this book. The only thing that was a little was hard was that he quotes the 3rd book of the Lord of the Rings and I should have known that before going in because I have not yet read the Return of the King.
Besides that I really did enjoyed the book. It was a very good read and I liked how he matched the themes in the Christian belief and connected them to Tolkiens work. He brought in some other quotes in as well that connect with what he is talking about.
It made me think a lot about the Tolkiens books and the characters that I love in those books and I like when a book makes me think a bit about my faith in God and just about things.
The way that Ralph writes makes it so interesting and know that he did his research on everything he talks about in the book. It was a very good read and it is a very good book to have if you like the Lord of the Rings and want to add to your Tolkien collection.
It was a great companion to the books and I really enjoyed this book. The only thing that was a little was hard was that he quotes the 3rd book of the Lord of the Rings and I should have known that before going in because I have not yet read the Return of the King.
Besides that I really did enjoyed the book. It was a very good read and I liked how he matched the themes in the Christian belief and connected them to Tolkiens work. He brought in some other quotes in as well that connect with what he is talking about.
It made me think a lot about the Tolkiens books and the characters that I love in those books and I like when a book makes me think a bit about my faith in God and just about things.
The way that Ralph writes makes it so interesting and know that he did his research on everything he talks about in the book. It was a very good read and it is a very good book to have if you like the Lord of the Rings and want to add to your Tolkien collection.
imrath's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
4.5
I had assumed this would be a DNF at 5 or 10 percent but it really surprised me. While its field is fairly narrow this is some of the best Tolkien analysis I've ever read. I will be seeking out more by this author. The audiobook is well done despite numerous mispronunciations.