THE RETURN OF THE KING by J.R.R. Tolkien
I had forgotten how good this book is; the last chapters, which had always seemed a bit tacked-on and anti-climactic, especially surprised me.
The Battle of the Pelennor Fields did not disappoint. It was full of stirring calls to battle and blood and death and destruction; the slaying of the chief Nazgul was especially good (although I must confess Tolkien’s having his cloak fall empty to the ground Kenobi-style isn’t quite as impressive as Jackson’s imploding-Nazgul bit).
The way Tolkien brought the different narrative threads together for the battle chapter was masterful; after spending a few chapters on the Rohirrim and Aragorn’s taking the Paths of the Dead with Legolas, Gimli, and the Dunedain, he moves the action to Gondor, and brings us all the way through the night when the armies of Mordor lay siege to Minas Tirith. That chapter ends with the confrontation between Gandalf and the Witch-King - who then departs, because the Riders of Rohan have arrived. And then, having seriously whetted our appetites for carnage and valourous deeds, Tolkien jumps back and recounts the journey of the Riders from Dunharrow to Minas Tirith, which takes a whole damn chapter, but the added wait makes the Battle all the better when he finally gets to it. (But, wisely, he waits to fill us in on Aragorn’s doings between his arrival at the Rock of Erect and his arrival the Battle until after the battle is over.)
My new favourite chapter is “The Scouring of the Shire.” I’ve been thinking a lot lately about anarchy as a political program, and while reading the Lord of the Rings, it’s occurred to me that anarchism and monarchism are a lot more compatible than one might think. And when Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin finally return to the Shire to find it much worse than they left it - in the throes of a brutal, Communistic industrialization carried out by Saruman and his henchmen - the natural affinity of those two political philosophiesis highlighted. The presence of a King in Minas Tirith - who has reasserted his claim to all the ancient realm of Gondor, including the Shire - makes the hobbits’ overthrow of Saruman possible and ensures a lasting peace in the Shire, but it’s the hobbits’ assertion of their right to live free and unmolested that actually produces the desired result. And, beautifully, the hobbits form an ad hoc and (mostly) decentralized militia to accomplish the removal of Saruman, all on very short notice.
I want to mention one last thing, which is how well Tolkien handles the interplay of sorrow and joy. I’m only going to mention it, and say that the last chapter moved me almost to tears, and leave it at that. Well, almost: Peter Jackson’s most serious fault in filming these books was his reduction of the rich emotional tapestry Tolkien wove to trite, maudlin sentimentality and ham-fisted attepmts to manipulate his audience’s emotions.
So. If you’ve never read the trilogy, or it’s been more than a few years, do yourself a favour and read them.