Sumptuous slipcased edition of Tolkien’s classic epic tale of adventure, fully illustrated in colour for the first time by the author himself. Limited to a worldwide first printing of just 5,000 copies, this deluxe volume is quarterbound in leather and includes many special features unique to this edition. Since it was first published in 1954, The Lord of the Rings has been a book people have treasured. Steeped in unrivalled magic and otherworldliness, its sweeping fantasy and epic adventure has touched the hearts of young and old alike. Over 100 million copies of its many editions have been sold around the world, and occasional collectors’ editions become prized and valuable items of publishing.
This one-volume deluxe slipcased edition contains the complete text, fully corrected and reset, which is printed in red and black and features, for the very first time, thirty colour illustrations, maps and sketches drawn by Tolkien himself …
Sumptuous slipcased edition of Tolkien’s classic epic tale of adventure, fully illustrated in colour for the first time by the author himself. Limited to a worldwide first printing of just 5,000 copies, this deluxe volume is quarterbound in leather and includes many special features unique to this edition. Since it was first published in 1954, The Lord of the Rings has been a book people have treasured. Steeped in unrivalled magic and otherworldliness, its sweeping fantasy and epic adventure has touched the hearts of young and old alike. Over 100 million copies of its many editions have been sold around the world, and occasional collectors’ editions become prized and valuable items of publishing.
This one-volume deluxe slipcased edition contains the complete text, fully corrected and reset, which is printed in red and black and features, for the very first time, thirty colour illustrations, maps and sketches drawn by Tolkien himself as he composed this epic work. These include the pages from the Book of Mazarbul, marvellous facsimiles created by Tolkien to accompany the famous ‘Bridge of Khazad-dum’ chapter. Also appearing are two poster-size, fold-out maps revealing all the detail of Middle-earth.
This very special deluxe edition is quarterbound in cloth and red leather, with raised ribs on the spine and stamped in two foils. The pages are edged in gold and, contained within, are special features unique to this edition. It is limited to a worldwide first printing of just 5,000 copies.
I'd like to note that there's nothing inherently wrong with this classic. Tolkien paved the way for high fantasy and has inspired so many phenomenal works of fiction, from novels to films to tabletop RPGs. But the narrative style of The Lord of the Rings is dry and was difficult to engage with after the hobbits left the Shire. I respect Tolkien and am certain my stories would be vastly different without his influence, but I'd much rather watch the condensed and visually striking films than slog through another thirty hours of text. I understand the draw and loyalty of Tolkien's biggest fans, he simply isn't for me. After struggling through the text for weeks, I finally called it at the 25% mark.
If you are in need of a thoughtful, well written review of the three books constituting the Lord of the Rings trilogy, please look elsewhere.
I decided to reread J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" for the fist time since I read the trilogy of books when I was in Junior High School some forty years ago. The blue, green and red paperback books purchased from a Scholastic Book Fair that first I read did not survive my many house moves in the intervening years. Much later, I had purchased a copy of the 1991 Special Edition beautifully illustrated by Alan Lee which sat on a bookshelf for several years until recently unread. When I finally did pull the heavy single volume down, I found it almost too heavy to hold in my lap to read. So I went out to my local used book store (Recycled Books in …
If you are in need of a thoughtful, well written review of the three books constituting the Lord of the Rings trilogy, please look elsewhere.
I decided to reread J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" for the fist time since I read the trilogy of books when I was in Junior High School some forty years ago. The blue, green and red paperback books purchased from a Scholastic Book Fair that first I read did not survive my many house moves in the intervening years. Much later, I had purchased a copy of the 1991 Special Edition beautifully illustrated by Alan Lee which sat on a bookshelf for several years until recently unread. When I finally did pull the heavy single volume down, I found it almost too heavy to hold in my lap to read. So I went out to my local used book store (Recycled Books in San Jose) and bought the slightly smaller, hardcover movie tie-in edition that is the subject of this review.
Because this edition of the LotR trilogy was first printed in 1994, the only evidence of the Peter Jackson film adaptation is limited to the graphic design of the dust jacket. The plates used to print the book I read were apparently worn and left some blemishes which rendered one or two letters illegible on a few of he pages, but the text overall was perfectly comprehensible.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy of books was originally published in the middle of the previous century and has been read by millions of readers in several languages around the world. Consequently, the books have been extensively reviewed by many professional journalists over the decades. The purpose of this review is to encourage readers of the LotR trilogy to not stop reading at the apparent climax of the story that occurs in the middle of "Book Six". I found the closing chapters to be a necessary and rewarding "cool-down" from the world-ending consequence, action and questing of the preceding 930 or so pages. The penultimate chapter was particularly fun to read as battle-hardened heroes return from their quest to find their home in disarray and must rally fellow villagers to set things right.
Review of 'Lord of the Rings Boxed Set' on 'Goodreads'
5 stelle
Puoi trovare questa recensione anche sul mio blog, La siepe di more
È stato un lungo viaggio, ma anche a questa ennesima rilettura The Lord of the Rings ha saputo dirmi cose nuove: un po’ perché era la prima volta che lo leggevo in inglese e insieme a un’ottima guida come A Reader’s Companion; un po’ perché la me stessa di oggi ha accumulato esperienze che hanno gettato nuova luce su alcune parti.
Non vi sto a raccontare la bellezza di leggere proprio questa edizione (ci avevo già scritto un post un annetto fa e direi che è sufficiente come delirio da fan), ma aggiungerò che è un’edizione che vale l’acquisto se Tolkien vi piace proprio tanto. In particolare, A Reader’s Companion è pieno di informazioni che se non siete dellз patitз della Terra di Mezzo potrebbero narcotizzarvi e lanciare maledizione a quella blogger che vi ha fatto venire …
Puoi trovare questa recensione anche sul mio blog, La siepe di more
È stato un lungo viaggio, ma anche a questa ennesima rilettura The Lord of the Rings ha saputo dirmi cose nuove: un po’ perché era la prima volta che lo leggevo in inglese e insieme a un’ottima guida come A Reader’s Companion; un po’ perché la me stessa di oggi ha accumulato esperienze che hanno gettato nuova luce su alcune parti.
Non vi sto a raccontare la bellezza di leggere proprio questa edizione (ci avevo già scritto un post un annetto fa e direi che è sufficiente come delirio da fan), ma aggiungerò che è un’edizione che vale l’acquisto se Tolkien vi piace proprio tanto. In particolare, A Reader’s Companion è pieno di informazioni che se non siete dellз patitз della Terra di Mezzo potrebbero narcotizzarvi e lanciare maledizione a quella blogger che vi ha fatto venire voglia di comprarla. Ecco, se Il Signore degli Anelli vi piace, ma non così tanto, ci sono altre edizioni che fanno la loro bella figura (e costano anche meno).
Per quanto mi riguarda, sono stata contenta di farmi accompagnare durante la lettura da A Reader’s Companion per almeno due motivi. Il primo riguarda la lingua: infatti, nonostante The Lord of the Rings non abbia un inglese proibitivo, Tolkien era anche un linguista e ci sono via, via dei termini desueti, o parole usate con un’accezione particolare. A Reader’s Companion segnala tutti questi termini, dandone spiegazione, senza quindi costringerti a scavare nelle voci dell’OED il significato giusto. Molto comodo.
L’altro motivo di apprezzamento per A Reader’s Companion è stata la fonte di informazioni su una miriade di questioni che riguardano The Lord of the Rings, dalla sua genesi alla sua interpretazione, dai modi in cui alcune parti sono state accolte dallз lettorз (e le successive reazioni di Tolkien) ai suoi legami con le altre opere ambientate su Arda. Molte informazioni erano già in mio possesso, di altre invece non avevo idea ed è stato molto interessante venirne a conoscenza.
Per il resto, leggere Il Signore degli Anelli in lingua originale mi ha dato modo di apprezzare le varie voci dei personaggi, che in traduzione sono andate irrimediabilmente perse nelle loro particolarità linguistiche (e non per colpa di chi ha tradotto, ma per la natura della lingua italiana, non iniziatemi a litigare qua sotto tra pro-Alliata e pro-Fatica, per favore). In particolare, sono rimasta colpita da Tom Bombadil, che in italiano suona piuttosto alieno, mentre in inglese lo si percepisce molto più radicato nella sua terra, sebbene nessunǝ sappia davvero chi sia.
La lettura è stata accompagnata dalla colonna sonora della trilogia cinematografica di Peter Jackson e, occasionalmente, da del buon metal sinfonico. Giusto per calarmi meglio nell’atmosfera: consigliato, se ascoltate musica durante la lettura.
