Book Review – The Fellowship of The Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

Like with The Hobbit, there’s not much I would write here that would be of great value that probably the millions of other readers have said and discussed. However, the story through the mind of a child might offer some insights that would be of value. For 2024, I read the story to my 8-year-old; going about half a chapter at a time. As the reader, Fellowship offered many slow spots that made it, at times, difficult to encourage a sit-down and read time. The Hobbit had been undertaken previously as a backdrop and the only movie watched so far is the Rankin Bass The Hobbit version after reading the book. The following is a review by the 8-year-old with only questions prompted by the father:

The Listener enjoyed the plot as a whole. The story follows the slower passage of time without being too long in between plot points. The details used laid out the world and the length of the description helps add to the sense of time passage for just the right amount of time. The Listener liked how the journey wasn’t smooth and it offered a lot of exciting moments between the travel section. Overall, she found the pacing was done well and enjoyed the world-building a lot [a bit too slow and too detailed in the world-building for the reading dad].

The characters were a big hit with Listener’s favorite, Gandalf, returning as the mysterious but kind wizard. Sam was also a new favorite as he exhibited a mixture of seriousness and silliness. Frodo was a fine character and some parallels were seen between him and Bilbo but also being his own character worth following. The Listener liked how many fewer characters there were than in The Hobbit as she wasn’t able to remember or image all the dwarfs but all the distinct characters. The interactions between the characters were interesting and the connections between characters in different parts of the story made for a more interesting and well-rounded story; also the unrealized backstories yet to be uncovered or fulfilled are exciting to think about what may be coming up.

The best scene for the Listener was Khazad-dûm and the battle with the Balrog [somewhat added to the enjoyment was the Reader really getting into the voices and rising action]; although the final outcome of that plot section was not enjoyed and the loss felt in the story was felt in the Listener. Another favorite scene was Galadriel’s mirror scene [again aided by a passionate reading] but on the opposite end, she didn’t enjoy Boromir’s turn towards the end of the book.

In comparison to The Hobbit, she enjoyed it more than Fellowship as it was self-contained and there was no “cliffhanger” ending. However, she is looking forward to the next book. The Listener gave the score a…