by J.R.R. Tolkien
BBC Audiobook
This second retelling of Tolkien’s masterpiece trilogy of The Lord of the Rings contains more of the same. Like all middle-pieces of trilogies, tensions are unresolved and themes are explored more deeply. Middle-pieces of trilogies are never completely satisfying. The reader does not discover something new (that is left for the first book), and the reader does not come to an end (that is left for the third book). Instead, there is merely more wandering – like the Israelites in the desert awaiting to cross the river Jordan to the Promised Land.
Nonetheless, these parts of life are very important. Alliances must be built; important battles must be fought – and must be even lost – so that bigger battles might be won later down the road. Such is the stuff of life. We cannot be so concerned with the ends – with Frodo’s placing the ring in the fire – that he die along the way in the middle of important trials. Mr. Baggins must journey; Mr. Baggins must grow and mature; Mr. Baggins must learn to give his all only to be asked to give more the next day. The wisdom of Gandalf is not arrived at overnight. The journey – and the wisdom, experience, and gratitude therein – takes precedence. The characters and the reader must learn to take joy in the journey, not just the goals, if the goals are to mean anything and everything. Competence in life – competence in the journey – brings assurance and confidence that the goals will be met, that the eye of evil will not triumph, and that the ring will be delivered to its final destination.
These themes Tolkien brilliantly relates in this second-piece of the trilogy. Now, Mordor awaits.