The Fellowship of the Ring: It Sucked, Then It Got Decent

Alright, so it took me much longer than I expected to finish The Fellowship of the Ring. That's not a good sign. If I am enjoying a book I can usually finish it in under a week, even if it's pretty long. So the fact that I spent several months getting through the Fellowship says a lot.

So what is it that I dislike about this book? For the most part, it's the characters. There's too many of them. Usually I like books that have a lot of characters, but none of these have much of a personality. Even Frodo, the hero of the story, is rather blah. Merry and Pippen (and later on Legolas) have almost no lines, and it is too easy to forget about them. When Strider was first introduced, I thought he was awesome. That was when it was just him and the hobbits. But when Gandalf, Gimli, Boromir and Legolas came along, Strider was pushed to the side and lost alot of his charm.

As for the ones I liked: Sam and Boromir. Sam is just a sweetheart. He's a country hick. I love him. Although I am convinced that he's in love with Frodo. There is a ridiculous amount of bromance between them, too much for them to just be friends. And Boromir, I can't say enough about Boromir. In my opinion he had the most well defined personality in the whole book (which isn't saying much, to be honest). He's the only one who has an opinion of his own and doesn't just blindly agree with everything Gandalf or Strider says. He's loyal, as shown when he wants to go back and defend Minas Tirith even when no one else in the Fellowship thinks it's important. Not to mention, he's right about the Ring: if the right person got ahold of it they could easily drive out the evil forces. Too bad these traits make him seem like a jerk to everyone else.

But the character I hated most was Gandalf. I have nothing positive to say about him at all. It seems like he was only created for exposition, and when the exposition was all finished there was no longer a need for him. While each of the other characters have very few lines, Gandalf never shuts up. Just look at chapter two. It's a long chapter, and most of it is Gandalf explaining what happened in the past to Frodo. Pure exposition. It's like J.R.R. Tolkien didn't even try to disguise it. And we're supposed to believe that Frodo didn't know any of this before the book starts? Honestly, it was only after Gandalf dies that I started liking the book. (And then he comes back in chapter five of The Two Towers, sadly.)


Just a few things that confused me:

• Tom Bombadil (He was fun, just... odd)
• Everyone randomly breaks out into songs all the time. I was not expecting that at all.
• If Frodo's quest is supposed to be a complete secret, why is it that most of the people he meets seem to know that he's the Ring Bearer?
• The Black Riders are unable to enter towns, or at least buildings.
• I'm really surprised that the wizards are unable to teleport. It would make this series a lot shorter.

Sorry I complained so much. I'm really tough on books, especially ones that are supposed to be really good.