About book The War Of The Ring: The History Of The Lord Of The Rings, Part Three (2002)
This book is fascinating if you are a huge fan of The Lord of the Rings and are interested in detailed minutiae about how the story developed, and/or a writer interested in process. This is the 3rd of the series of 4 books in which Christopher Tolkien minutely dissects his father's various drafts for Lord of the Rings in what was clearly a labor of devotion. Christopher often grumbles about trying to decipher illegal manuscripts on which the first draft was often written quickly in pencil and then overwritten in ink. He doesn't try to guess what his father had in mind at any point, unless J.R.R. specifically mentions something in his notes,(and when that happens it's marvelous) instead merely documents the process. This volume covers a good portion of The Two Towers through the end of Book V in The Return of the King. Here Christopher Tolkien attempts to resurrect the process J.R.R. took as he slowly moved forward on the ms. from around 1946, then an almost 2 year hiatus, to begin again in 1948. At this point the narrative wasn't characterized by major changes that required circling back to the beginning as was the case in writing The Fellowship of the Ring before Tolkien really had a grasp of the story he was telling. Although there were lots of changes in details as J.R.R. was writing, the main characters and story arc were in place. I found it fascinating to watch the narrative take shape and to contemplate all the starts down a path where J.R.R. then changed his mind,for example at first Denethor did not go mad and commit suicide and gives up the Stewardship to Aragorn. It was interesting to see how much trouble J.R.R. had with choreography, i.e. what happened when, in the story of Frodo and Sam's encounter with Shelob at Cirith Ungol. So, in reading this account it's possible to see where new invention keeps taking place as the story progresses.Christopher also included plot outlines written at various stages. It was interesting to see how those plot outlines evolved as the work progressed because although certain events were always foreseen, the details of the story changed quite a bit as J.R.R. wrote. One of the main difficulties J.R.R. seemed to have at this stage was in chronology because at this point we're following a number of different narratives as the Fellowship breaks up into Merry with the riders of Rohan, Aragorn and the Paths of the Dead, Gandalf and Pippin at Minas Tirith, and Frodo and Sam going into Mordor. J.R.R. was constantly revising the chronology to adapt to the narrative and vice versa. One can see all the painstaking work that went into it. In addition, nearly all the names changed from J.R.R.'s first idea. For instance, I was surprised that Arwen's name was not decided until nearly the end of the book. Instead she was Finduilas. Elladan and Elrohir started out as Elboron and Elbereth (seriously). All in all, I found it fascinating to watch how a work of genius is built through sheer hard work, millions of small decisions that all had to adhere in a logical fashion to the overall scaffolding of the story and how the story was crafted into the final epic tale.
It will probably work out very differently from this plan when it really gets written, as the thing seems to write itself once I get going, as if the truth comes out only then, only imperfectly glimpsed in the preliminary sketch. (219)This is what J.R.R. Tolkien wrote to his son, Christopher , as he was working out the ending to The Lord of the Rings. This volume, The War of the Ring (Part 3 of The History of The Lord of the Rings series, and Volume 8 of The History of Middle-Earth series), shows Tolkien's drafting of much of what became The Return of the King. And indeed, as Tolkien wrote in the letter, it really seems that the story is created through the process of writing it, though he devised a number of different outlines for the conclusion of the story. It is uncomfortable at times to see Tolkien confidently stating that he is only a handful of chapters from the end--knowing as we do now that there was so much yet to write, and so much revision yet to happen before the final form was reached. But what a journey, looking over Tolkien's shoulder as he wrestles the ever-emerging story into its full, final version.This volume follows the format of Christopher Tolkien's previous entries in the History series, by now very familiar to anyone who has read even just the first two parts of the History of The Lord of the Rings. Many of the chapters in The War of the Ring, especially in the first half of the book, are very short, which psychologically helps me read the book faster. Christopher is still very concerned with the developing chronology of the story, and I continue to find it less interesting than he does. But in this volume most of his chronology commentary is removed to the end of each chapter, where it can be read, skimmed, or skipped. Here is an example of what those sections sound like:It will be seen that in their dating these time-schemes proceed from the schemes A and B (see p. 118), in which the day passed by Frodo among the slag-mounds was February 4, and in which he came before the Morannon at dawn on February 5. (141)To my reading, not the most enthralling parts of the book. But that's only personal preference and interest. The book as a whole, like the entire series, is incredible, and I enjoy it more with each volume I read.My reviews of the other volumes in The History of the Lord of the Rings series: The Return of the Shadow The Treason of Isengard Sauron Defeated
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I've never read any of the History of the Lord of the Rings. I've always wanted to, but would rather reread the Lord of the Rings! But I decided to read The War of the Ring.While I found it interesting, and in parts extremely interesting, I did not find it mesmerizing. While it is noteworthy to see J.R.R. Tolkien's genius at work, and I especially enjoyed his letters to his son ("A new character has come on the scene (I am sure I did not invent him, I did not even want him, though I like him, but there he came walking into the woods of Ithilien): Faramir"), I feel like the book that was published is his final vision, and it is complete for me without reading any of the draft material. I may pick up some of the others books some time, but they are not a priority for me.
—Jane
90 pages of this book were devoted to getting the Rohirrim mustered at Dunharrow, and I nearly stopped reading because it was just so boring.
—Liz
I loved reading this book. Its beauty is in its contribution to both the "History of Middle-Earth" and "The History of the Lord of the Rings" by providing background depth to the "Lord of the Rings" that we all love. It represents the novel from the "Flotsam and Jetsam" chapter to the parley with the 'Mouth of Sauron' scene.We see Gandalf's evaluation of Saruman's skill as a wizard. Gandalf is shown to agonize over what the palentir was and we see his attempt to discover its place within the scheme of unfolding events.More details are provided about the Treebeard, the Ents, and the Hurons. Also, (again) even more details about the palentir, not just the one taken from Isengard, but all five. Three of the five are described as part of the action: first, at Isengard; second, we see details of the role another plays in triggering the downfall of Denethor, Steward of Gondor; and third, another is retrieved from the Paths of the Dead when Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli pass through during their mission to conquer the Corsairs, immobilizing them as a threat and to take action that increases their own military numbers.This volume of "The History of the Lord of the Rings" is different from the first two volumes. In the earlier volumes we see J.R.R. Tolkien stumbling around attempting to discover what his story is. He changes from writing a sequel to a children's story to writing a dark heroic saga with links to his legendarium. He goes through many changes in his cast of characters and finalizing what their names will be.By the time he has reached the material represented in "The War of the Ring" Tolkien knows what kind of story he is writing and who the characters are going to be. Instead of another presentation as seen in the first two volumes of "The History of Middle-Earth" we see details that were more developed than what remained in the final version of "The Lord of the Rings"Also, the book describes the chronology of when Tolkien wrote different parts of the book. "The War of the Ring" does a wonderful job of giving us more from the "Lord of the Rings". Sometimes those extra details answer background questions about what was in the novel. But, it always provides more depth to one's experience of that great novel and the world in which it is set.
—Phillip
