"Among the greatest works of imaginative fiction of the twentieth century."
—
Sunday Telegraph
"An extraordinary work — pure excitement."
—
New York Times Book Review
"One of the great fairy-tale quests in modern literature."
—
Time
"A remarkable book."
—
Newsweek
"One of the very few works of genius in recent literature."
—
New Republic
"A work of immense narrative power that can sweep the reader
up and hold him enthralled for days and weeks."
—
The Nation
"The Lord of the Rings is a narrative of rare imagination,
filled with wit, compassion, startling power and lyrical beauty."
—
Commentary
"The most original and varied creation ever seen in the
genre, and certainly the most self-consistent; yet it is tied
up with and bridged to reality like no other fantasy . . . Tolkien
has made his world a prodigious, and, so far as I can judge,
unshakable construct of the imagination."
— Douglass Parker,
Hudson Review
"Tolkien’s stories take place against a background
of measureless depth . . . That background is ever-present in
the creator’s mind and it gives Frodo and company a three-dimensional
reality that is seldom found in this kind of writing."
—
Washington Post Book World
"A masterful story — an epic in its own way—with
elements of high adventure, suspense, mystery, poetry and fantasy."
—
Boston Sunday Herald
"A grim, tragic, brooding and beautiful book, shot through
with heroism and hope . . . its power is almost that of mysticism."
—
Toronto Globe & Mail
"Here are beauties which pierce like swords or burn like
cold iron."
— C. S. Lewis
"The first thing one asks of an adventure story is that
the adventure should be various and exciting . . . Tolkien’s
invention is unflagging."
— W. H. Auden
Praise for The Fellowship of the Ring
(Being the first part of The Lord of the Rings)
"No fiction I have read in the last five years has given
me more joy."
— W. H. Auden
"Filled with marvel and strange terrors . . . an extraordinary
and distinguished piece of work."
—
New York Herald Tribune
"A unique, wholly realized other world, evoked from deep
in the well of Time, massively detailed, absorbingly entertaining,
profound in meaning."
—
New York Times
Praise for The Two Towers
(Being the second part of The Lord of the Rings)
"An extraordinary work — pure excitement, unencumbered
narrative, moral warmth, bare-faced rejoicing in beauty, but
excitement most of all."
—
New York Times Book Review
"One of the best wonder tales ever written."
—
Boston Herald
"Here is a wonderful story, set in a world which paralyzes
the imagination, and told in magnificent prose. What more can
an author give?"
—
Chicago Tribune
"[Tolkien’s] imagination can create regions that really
are ghastly or really heavenly. He can create creatures that
are incredibly credible. His is a never never land that seems
real while you are in it."
—
Boston Globe
"The author writes with wit, humor, imagination and a profound
understanding of human nature—or just nature. . .
The
Two Towers is written by a person with a deep perception
of the world of living things—what is, might be, or might
have been."
—
Hartford Times
Praise for The Return of the King
(Being the third part of The Lord of the Rings)
"There are very few works of genius in recent literature.
This is one."
—
The Nation
"A triumphant close. . . a grand piece of work, grand both
in conception and execution. An astonishing imaginative tour
de force."
—
Daily Telegraph
"In the highest and most complimentary sense, this is escapist
fiction at its finest, yet at the same time it has profound
relevance to our troubled age."
—
Arthur C. Clarke
