J.R.R. Tolkien’s "THE TWO TOWERS"
A book review by Dennis D. McDonald.
I found myself alternating between my Kindle edition of this book, the paperback, and the recorded version narrated by Robert Inglis. A friend and I had recently watched the extended editions of the three Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings movies, and the Two Towers recorded edition was suddenly available at my local public library, so I grabbed it.
My top-level impressions:
Robert Inglis’ one-man performance of the recorded version is incredible. I’m sure that the main actors in the Jackson films must had studied it very closely, as there are significant similarities between the audiobook and Jackson’s actors’ movie performances. Standout similarities include Gollum, Sam, and Gandalf.
Just reading the English language version of the novel is a beautiful experience. The writing flows like few other authors I’ve read. Some might call the language and writing old-fashioned; I think they are beautiful and poetic.
I was struck by the masterful rendering by Peter Jackson of scenes from the book. Even when abridged, Jackson and his team were able to express the essence of Tolkien's tale in situations such as the awful climb towards Shelob’s lair and Frodo and Sam’s fraught relationship with Gollum as it leads them to Mordor. Most of all, the battle at Helm’s Deep. The language is at times like poetry, at other times like a voice of doom describing the darkening of the land and the approach to the Black Gate.
Certain sequences in the book are much longer and much more detailed than some of those in the movies, such as Faramir’s interrogation of Frodo and Sam and Treebeard’s wistful longing for the Entwives.
Reading and listening to The Two Towers forces one to confront the sheer ferocity and inventiveness of Tolkien’s imagination. Add to that the amazing beauty of his English language style.
Going from this to a lesser work can be a sobering experience. Before finishing The Two Towers, I took up a very famous Hugo Award-winning science fiction novel (RINGWORLD) and I was immediately struck by the mundane and lifeless prose when compared with Tolkien. The SF novel’s imagination and story are famous and deservedly so, but after Tolkien, the writing and the characters and their interactions seemed lifeless, banal, and pedestrian. I had become spoiled!
Review copyright (c) 2024 by Dennis D. McDonald
