Finished reading: The Return Of The King by J.R.R. Tolkien 📚

Darn - I really wanted to like this book more than I did. I thought it would engage my imagination more than the first two, since I’ve seen this movie fewer times than I have The Two Towers or The Fellowship of the Ring. And it’s definitely true that I didn’t have as many cinematic tableaus to rely on… but that may have been a detraction, because I found this book boring almost all of the way through.

I was a big fan of the chapters with Sam and Frodo, but I really had to struggle to make it through the rest. Conversations felt repetitive, descriptions felt flat, and relationships didn’t feel alive. The one exception to this is Faramir and Éowyn - I loved both of these characters individually, and loved when they got together.

I don’t have much more to say, here… overall, This series just isn’t for me. My friend Josh, hearing my complaints, still made a compelling argument that I might still enjoy The Silmarillion, so that may yet be in my future.