Reading The Lord of the Rings for the first time: Part 2 - The Two Towers 👁️

Just a heads up, this review is rather chaotic…

Reading The Two Towers curiously took me longer to read than The Fellowship of the Ring, not for any book-related reasons but for the fact that I hit a bit of a weird patch. You know the kind of mood where you can’t seem to focus on anything, you try and watch TV, but you're just not feeling it, you pick up a book, read a few sentences and think…meh…I can’t be bothered—that kind of mood.

And then, straight after that, the other kind of mood where you becomes slightly obsessed with something and think that maybe you’ve found your calling in life and you can’t focus on anything else until you come back to reality. But weird really, I get this sometimes, but it’s safe to say that I’m back to normal now.

Real footage below of me getting back to normal:

So what did I love…everything. Lol, at this point, I am such a Tolkien fangirl. I love his prose. The way he describes everything in such rich detail, except maybe Shelob, that description did make me gag slightly!

Tolkien’s whole love affair with nature and trees speaks to my soul, and I feel like the whole story could be read as a fable on climate change. You have champions of good, the elves, the men and the hobbits etc., who live in harmony with nature and then you have Saruman and Sauron agents of darkness whose dwellings are the foul centres of industry. It works as a thematic way to read the LOTR, much like Dune can be read as an anti-imperial / anti-colonial work.

Treebeard and his non-hastiness made me chuckle, and tbh I wrote an article for work about an ancient tree in Surrey called the Crowhurst Yew because I was in that whole vibe. Ents and trees are just awesome, and I love the quote from Legolas in the Fellowship when he says ‘I am at home among trees’ because I would have to agree with him; there’s just something magical and soothing about them.

As I’m on the subject of Legolas, I think I love book Legolas more than movie Legolas! He is funnier, slightly sillier and totally on the same wavelength as me, lol. Like when he can’t think of a logical way the hobbits could have disappeared, he makes up a weird story about them flying off, and when he finds them again, he cares not for how they came across pipeweed like Gimli but says ‘ I would sooner learn how they came by the wine’. Like Legolas is a whole mood, and I love him.

I think the Voice of Saruman was much better in the book than in the movie, and I am curious to see what he does next as Peter Jackson killed him off, yet in the book, he still lives! That’s a crazy difference that I really didn’t see coming, and I’m intrigued to see what he does next…though I don’t expect any good to come out of the actions of the evil wizard.

Another surprise is how the book was formatted. Of course, in the movies, we flick between all the characters all the time, so for the books to be just focusing on Gandalf and co for the first half and then the second half with Frodo, Sam and devious little Gollum was rather interesting. And I guess that will be very much the same for Return of the King as Frodo and Sam are pretty much almost there in terms of how it was in the movies anyway; perhaps there’s some other crazy stuff that gets in the way of them leaving the orc lair and getting to Mount Doom that Jackson didn’t include in the movies!

And what didn’t I like…that I cried when Sam tried to wake Frodo up ‘it’s your sam’ fucking chokes me up every time! And then he tries to get ready to go on without him. Man, tears they were streaming down my face, I feel like Fix You by Coldplay could be the anachronistic soundtrack moment that Peter Jackson just missed out on. Just imagine it, pure cinematic excellence…

Ok, I didn’t mean for this review to get quite so ridiculous but we’ll just roll with it. This is what happens when you blog without a plan. Lol what am I talking about this whole blog is unplanned, I just ramble about books, movies and random stuff and I really wouldn’t have it any other way. But, back to my main man Tolkien. He is brilliant, the book is brilliant. BRING ON THE RETURN OF THE KING!!!!

Reading The Lord of the Rings for the first time: Part 1 - The Fellowship of the Ring 💍

I have watched the movies a billion times, but this was my first reading of the first novel in the trilogy. I tried many years ago, but I found the print too small, and I would get a headache nearly immediately. I didn’t realise that I needed glasses at this point. Fool of a Took!

After I got glasses, I was then put off because I was worried that I wouldn’t enjoy the books, as if the hype of J.R.R Tolkien and the brilliance of the movies might not come through in the books. An example of this is Blade Runner and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? I had watched the movie (several times) long before reading the source material and found that I hated the book, it was dull and boring, and the huge deviations from the plot that Ridley Scott had made in the film made it so much better, so so much better. Could Peter Jackson have done the same? Perhaps, was all that was on my mind, so a few more years passed until I finally picked up the book this past month.

And I can wholeheartedly say that I absolutely loved it! Much to my relief. However, a part of me felt sorrow that I hadn’t read it sooner. But I know for sure that I will re-read this book many more times throughout my life. Moreover, perhaps if I have children (very unlikely) or in my role as an Aunt to my (almost certain) future nieces and/or nephews, I will read these books to them.

The magic that Tolkien weaves is not only in the fantastical plot and the cast of characters (elves, wizards and dwarves) but also within the way he crafts the story and describes the settings. I want to visit The Shire, Rivendell and Lothlórien because of how beautifully realised they are and Tolkien’s keen love for nature really shines through in his descriptions of these places. Furthermore, It is easy to see how much work and time went into creating his middle-earth, a lifetime really and its magnificent. The scope and mythology permeate every line, and the charming (though often disliked) song interludes only add to this.

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Narratively, The Fellowship of the Ring is a solid beginning to the adventure, and it’s obvious that the trilogy was originally intended to be one whole book, and I kind of still view it that way, same for the movies; the extended editions feel like a whole mini-series rather than three separate movies.

Tonally, I love how Tolkien writes. There is a seriousness and gravity to the story, but there is also great lightness and humour, especially at the beginning; I found myself chuckling aloud at the drama of Bilbo’s dealings with the Sackville-Baggins family. Another thing that felt better in the books was the passing of time. In the movies, the fellowship’s journey doesn’t seem to last anywhere near as long as it does in the book, and that’s because those epic aerial shots in the films don’t last anywhere near as long as Tolkien’s descriptions. And rightly so, different mediums have different ways of telling a story, and a film can’t dwell on the small details for as nearly as long as a book can.

However, one thing I will say against the book is that I kind of found Tom Bombadil a bit shit. There I said it. In my opinion, Jackson did well to leave him out of the movies as he doesn’t really serve much purpose to the wider story thus far anyway (does he even come back again?). I know there’s a divide between Lord of the Rings fans about Bombadil, and I must say that I am on the side that sees him as a non-entity. Maybe that’s harsh, but I also feel in further re-reads I’ll probably skip his chapters! Perhaps, it’s his selfishness that irks me, as it’s clear that Bombadil is too wrapped up in his own life to worry about what might happen if the ring gets into the wrong hands. Even stoic and eternal Elves, ancient Ents and the majestic eagles help despite their ‘oldness’, so to have Tom Bombadil sit out the most important fight for middle-earth just exposes him as an absolute arsehole. That's the tea ☕

As for the rest of the characters, I love them all, though not equally. Samwise is so bloody wholesome, Aragorn is equally as charming and valiant as he is in the movies, but perhaps a little graver, and I have to admit that since I was like 8, I’ve had a massive crush on the character (of course, who wouldn’t when he is portrayed by the dashing Viggo Mortensen lol).

Frodo is perhaps less annoying than he is in the movies; Legolas is as cute as always and more interesting as in the movies he’s kind of just there to look cool and state obvious things. Gimli is just Gimli; Merry and Pippin are perhaps not as mischievous as they were in the movies? And Gandalf, you ruddy legend, though his ‘you cannot pass’ doesn’t hold the same gravitas as ‘YOU SHALL NOT PASS!’.

Lastly, Boromir, he’s a bit of a twat, a broken record if you will, and I must say in the movies, I preferred his brother Faramir, but of course, we won’t meet him until later in the trilogy. But his purpose of demonstrating the weakness of man in the face of the one ring is still very much pertinent and just as brilliant as Sean Bean portrayed it in the movies.

Overall, I have loved reading the first part of The Lord of the Rings, and I can’t wait to pick up the next book and continue the journey. This story is so familiar to me because of how many times I’ve watched the movies, but I equally like the surprises of how the source material differs from its cinematic adaptation.

I also feel like I’m on a journey with firm friends, and it’s lovely to read a story in such uncertain times that sees the slow and arduous triumph of good over evil. It’s a comfort book that makes me feel all cosy and warm inside, and wishing I could be reading it on a chaise lounge in the middle of Rivendell. Wouldn’t that be something?

March Books

The Dark Forest (黑暗森林) by Liu Cixin

I sped through The Three-Body Problem, the first book in Liu’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. I don’t quite know why nearly a whole year has passed before I picked up the second book tbh. I really liked this one too and read it rather quickly, not as fast as the first one but we’ll get into that in a minute. Actually, let’s get into that now, this book had a massive flaw, the whole dream woman subplot.

I found Luo Ji’s whole romance storyline incredibly cringe-worthy, the idea of him dreaming of a woman and then her existing, in reality, is just stupid and a bit too Pygmalion for my liking, and it doesn’t add anything to the plot. If anything it just shows up Liu as not being able to write a decent female character. Although, someone on the r/threebodyproblem subreddit makes a compelling argument as to why this happens in the novel, and yeah I’m inclined to agree with them, however, that doesn’t excuse how badly written she is, like does she even have a personality? If anything she is just a glorified plot device and there to make a tongue in cheek comment on ‘the dream woman’ cliche.

But let’s forget about the bad because this book has some phenomenal moments, especially when it gets into philosophy and ethics. The whole Zhang Beihai storyline took an amazing turn and really demonstrated how far people are willing to go to survive! And the theory/metaphor of the universe being a dark forest is so disturbingly brilliant.

I also have to replicate these quotes from the book because I got chills reading them 😂

'If I destroy you, what business is it of yours.'

'Darkness was the mother of life and of civilisation.'

'Don't say where we are! Once we know where we are, then the world becomes as narrow as a map. When we don't know, the world feels unlimited.'

Can’t wait to finish the trilogy and read the mammoth tome that is Death’s End, and I will be reading this soon as I am in such a Sci-fi reading mood at the moment!

Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi - Sága Book Club Review

This book is not like any other book I have read. I was mesmerised, and still am by how Emezi weaves her prose, it’s poetic and energetic, brimming with life. The story is fascinating and devastating in equal measures and I think I will have to re-read it another few times to fully grasp its complexity, or perhaps I never will as I am a white cisgender female. I also loved how Emezi explored African folklore and gender identity throughout the novel and I think this is the kind of book that needs to be taught in schools, it’s imaginative and informative so there are naturally lots of things to learn from its pages and so much room for analysis.

Ultimately, Freshwater is a book that will stay with you, but beware that some elements such as rape, suicide and self-harm may be a bit too much for some people as these themes are triggering, so if you haven’t read it yet or if you’re thinking of recommending it to someone bear that in mind. I think I have so much to say but I just can’t find the words to say it. I love when that happens with a book because that’s when you know that you’ve just read something remarkable, I also think that after mulling it over for a week or two I’ll be more coherent in my thoughts.

But right now, I’m going to hand it over to BBC Africa's Princess Irede Abumere and guest reviewer media specialist Yvette Uloma Dimiri.

Book Club: Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi

This month we are travelling to Nigeria via Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi. Emezi is an Igbo and Tamil writer who goes by the pronouns they/them/theirs.

Freshwater is a somewhat autobiographical coming-of-age story and explores the idea of a fragmented self through the story of Ada, a young Nigerian woman who is inhabited by several Ogbanje.

“An ogbanje is an Igbo spirit that’s born into a human body, a kind of malevolent trickster, whose goal is to torment the human mother by dying unexpectedly only to return in the next child and do it all over again.” - Akwaeke Emezi [1]

I was drawn to this story because I remember coming across an Ogbanje in Chinua Achebe’s acclaimed Things Fall Apart and being rather fascinated with the supernatural entity. Here I feel like Emezi is going to use the Ogbanje as a device to explore cultural and individual identity and gender dysphoria, which are such compelling and important subject matters. Especially, as we are still living in a time where transphobia rife.

It’s undeniable that literature is a powerful tool in the road to normalisation and through reading, I have become a more understanding and accepting person, and for that reason that I why I have selected Freshwater as our March book.

Where to purchase your copy of Freshwater

Audio: Audible

Secondhand: Abebooks

New: Bookshop.org 

Just check back here at the end of each month to discuss the book and find out what we’ll be reading the following month.

The Journey So Far…

[1] Emezi, A., (n.d.) Transition My surgeries were a bridge across realities, a spirit customizing its vessel to reflect its nature.. [online] The Cut. Available at https://www.thecut.com/2018/01/writer-and-artist-akwaeke-emezi-gender-transition-and-ogbanje.html [Accessed 6 March 2021].

February Books

Intimations by Zadie Smith

Written during the first days of the Pandemic this collection of essays covers random thoughts and feelings Smith had at the time and she also reflects on the Murder of George Floyd. I’ve never actually read any of Smith’s fiction so I thought I would start with her essays and I liked her writing style so I will be checking out her fiction in the future.

Oedipus Rex by Sophocles

I listened to an audio adaptation on Audible that you can download for free as part of your audible subscription. I think everyone knows Oedipus Rex to some extent, perhaps because of Freud’s controversial Oedipus Complex theory more than anything else which is interesting in itself, how something becomes part of a collective cultural memory. I didn’t realise that the play takes place during a pandemic so that was interesting. I used to read Greek plays in the school library during lunch break (I can’t remember which ones tbh) but this was my first encounter with Sophocles and I must say that I did enjoy the audio adaptation as really for me plays become so much more accessible when dramatised either on stage or by audio.

The Hound of the Baskerville’s by Arthur Conan Doyle

Here ends my reading of the Sherlock Holmes books. For some reason I just don’t get on with them, I find them rather bland and boring if I’m perfectly honest. I just don’t get what all the fuss is about. Is Sherlock Holmes and an interesting character? Sure, but that’s about all that Doyle has going here. The mystery in Baskerville’s wasn’t even that interesting and the vibe wasn’t as spooky as I had hoped, which is the only reason why I picked up another Holmes story, the hope of Gothic elements. The cover is pretty though…

Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami - Sága Book Club Pick

What a heartwarming novel. I absolutely adored this book and I am so happy that I finally read it. Kawakami’s story of two people, a teacher and his former student re-connecting after many years is just the kind of book I needed right now. The writing is uncluttered and is essentially an episodic slice-of-life narrative which is clearly a result of how it was published in Japan as it was originally serialized from July 1999 to December 2000, before becoming a novel.

One of my favourite things about Strange Weather in Tokyo is how the seasons drift by and that this subtly drives the narrative. We follow the characters as they encounter each other sporadically and it is dependant on the seasons as to where they will meet and what they will eat. This tradition of seasonal eating is a very Japanese practice, there is even a word 旬 ‘Shun’, which refers to when ingredients are at their most optimal for eating. While the principal characters engage in eating Shun foods and drinking copious amounts of beer and sake together (sounds like quite the ideal ritual…am I right?) they form an attachment, that soon blossoms into love.

“I felt a sudden rush of warmth in my body, and felt the tears well up once again. But I didn't cry. It's always better to drink than to cry.”

The novel is told in first-person from the point of view of Tsukiko, a nearly 40-year-old former student of Sensai who is himself some 30 years her senior. She is shy and doubtful and I found her character really quite relatable, as I am those things myself. I also think that love is born out of quality time shared and that it almost creeps up on you, just like it did to these characters. I won’t spoil the ending but it was both expected and unexpected, perhaps a better way to put it is that I saw it coming but I didn’t think it would be executed in the way that it was. I think Strange Weather in Tokyo has certainly become a new favourite and I’m sure I’ll revisit it many times in the future.

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