His style takes some getting used to, and it does drag in the beginning.
In my opinion, it picks up at about Chapter 10 (Strider). If you’re going to skip the first section, I’d recommend starting there.
Once you get into them, they’re some of the most immersive books I’ve ever read. Tolkien’s style is so richly descriptive that I felt like I was there a lot of the time. I distinctly remember when the Fellowship is standing around at the base of Orthanc in Isengard and talking about what to do about Saruman, and each person weighs in. At some point, the first person to speak talks again, and I immediately felt outraged that they’d skipped me. :)
His style takes some getting used to, and it does drag in the beginning.
In my opinion, it picks up at about Chapter 10 (Strider). If you’re going to skip the first section, I’d recommend starting there.
Once you get into them, they’re some of the most immersive books I’ve ever read. Tolkien’s style is so richly descriptive that I felt like I was there a lot of the time. I distinctly remember when the Fellowship is standing around at the base of Orthanc in Isengard and talking about what to do about Saruman, and each person weighs in. At some point, the first person to speak talks again, and I immediately felt outraged that they’d skipped me. :)