This is the heroic epic of Beowulf, the Geat from Sweden, arrives in Denmark. He has an encounter with the monster Grendel, Grendel's mother and a dragon.


Wow. The language in this book was amazing. A mouthful of words that added a richness to the piece. The storyline and morals are very typical of pre-Christian stories but I was annoyed with the insertion of Christian religion in the story. There's already a pagan mythology in the piece such as the Weird, the goddess of fate and it distracts you from the story. But I totally recommend reading the poem as it's the first major anglo-saxon piece of poetry.

Okay, so it was okay. Not what I was expecting. Took me forever to get through it because I kept falling asleep but eh. Me and epic poems have never got along anyway. It's pretty good as far as arrogant heros go. The fight scenes arn't all that bad either.

This continues to be my favorite book of all time. I love everything Ken Follett writes but this one is extra special. It spans four decades and captivates you with the history, romance, scandal...everything there should be in a good epic novel. It's so magical that my dad has read it four times now and I'm on my second trip through this amazing experience.

Follett's novel is a mystifying puzzle involving the execution of an innocent man interwoven into this story of medieval intrigue and ingenuity. When a pious monk and an ambitious stonemason conspire to erect a magnificent cathedral, they are plagued by the malevolent machinations of an unscrupulous priest and a rapacious landowner. Though cursed by an extended series of political battles, military campaigns, and natural disasters, Prior Philip and Tom Builder transcend adversity and exploit every opportunity in order to continue construction. After Tom's untimely death, his gifted stepson vows to complete the project and commits himself to protecting a valiant young noble woman threatened by a spurned suitor. The book has a succession of suspensful subplots and held my interest throughout.

Great story but poor writing. Too shallow, not rich enough. Lots of gratuitous language and scenes.

I did enjoy the mental images the book presented.

A masterpiece of a book. This book can appeal to any reader...it has revenge, romance, action, honor, and death.

I enjoyed the continued plotline and religious and political commentary in this book, but I didn't enjoy Follett's writing style. It was blocky and lacked true emotion much of the time. Overall, however, I enjoyed it. I don't know if I'll read the sequel, though.

This was a fascinating story that sucks you completely into medieval England. Follett tried to tied up every single loose end which meant that the novel was quite a bit longer than it needed to be.

The most interesting parts of this book for me were the parts describing the Garden, and Adam and Eve before and during the fall. The last two books, where Adam is shown what's to come for humanity, are less interesting and kind of obnoxious.
I like Milton's interpretations of the fall. They make God seem awfully petty. The Garden is described as so wonderful, and to be kicked out of it is the most horrible thing. Punishment seems way out of proportion of the crime.

Typically, I get half way through this, abandon it for months, perpetuate my inertia by assuming it'll take too much of me to get back into it, then spontaneously remove it from my shelf one morning and whack out the remaining half in less than a day. Of course it was amazing; I shouldn't need to even allude to that. I was left somewhat distraught, though: Milton's writing is so alive, so fiery, when it is about Satan, and Adam and Eve's pain, and the terror of their love and, thieving my opinion from Blake, the discrepancy between that magnificence and the flatness, the falsity, of the sections concerning heavenly beings left me feeling as though I'd been denied something yet more fantastic. I feel peevish attacking Milton for not being consistently breathtaking - it should be enough just to have written the chapters of disarming amazingness that he has done - but still, I feel the God bits were written out of obligation, and as such are unspeakably crude. They disappoint and frustrate me; they turn even beautiful language into a grey mass of ... nothing, really. It sounds a false dichotomy even to read it back to myself, even hours after feeling that disappointment, but it's true, I know it. Anyway, that's why this gets a four: for being superb only inconsistently; for causing me pain that I abhorred as well as pain that I welcomed. I will read it to my children, but not in its entirety.

Reading this book, I'm of the devil's party and I know it. I think I'm with Empson on this one... I would be more certain of it if his book, 'Milton's God', didn't cost £815.00! Yes, I felt that deserved an exclamation mark.

Typically, I get half way through this, abandon it for months, perpetuate my inertia by assuming it'll take too much of me to get back into it, then spontaneously remove it from my shelf one morning and whack out the remaining half in less than a day. Of course it was amazing; I shouldn't need to even allude to that. I was left somewhat distraught, though: Milton's writing is so alive, so fiery, when it is about Satan, and Adam and Eve's pain, and the terror of their love and, thieving my opinion from Blake, the discrepancy between that magnificence and the flatness, the falsity, of the sections concerning heavenly beings left me feeling as though I'd been denied something yet more fantastic. I feel peevish attacking Milton for not being consistently breathtaking - it should be enough just to have written the chapters of disarming amazingness that he has done - but still, I feel the God bits were written out of obligation, and as such are unspeakably crude. They disappoint and frustrate me; they turn even beautiful language into a grey mass of ... nothing, really. It sounds a false dichotomy even to read it back to myself, even hours after feeling that disappointment, but it's true, I know it. Anyway, that's why this gets a four: for being superb only inconsistently; for causing me pain that I abhorred as well as pain that I welcomed. I will read it to my children, but not in its entirety.

I loved the first half of this book as much as I did in college. Couldn't put it down. The second half is a bit slower for me, mostly battles and such that I can't get into.

I named my cat after the main character, I think that says a lot about how much I loved this book.

I can't wait to read the Fagles translation.

Well I finally did it. Ever since I first read The Hobbit back in elementary school I had been meaning to read J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings but I never did get around to it...until now.

It took me virtually forever to finish this thing. I started in January and it's May now. Yikes, have I become a slow reader. However, it's not just my speed at reading that made this novel slow, there were many parts to it that I just found outright slow going as well.

The Hobbit was an excellent read, hence the reason I wished to always read this novel. Heck, I've read The Hobbit twice! The Lord Of The Rings I doubt I will ever read again.

I'm one of those weird people that like to read the actual stories that so many modern writers have taken inspiration and their ideas from. The Lord Of The Rings is just such a novel. Back in the day apparently, this was one, if not the first big successful 'Epic Fantasy' novel.

The story is one where the entire world (called middle-Earth) is threatened by an ancient evil lord named Sauron. Many side with him and many side with the 'good guys'. There is one group of characters that the novel mainly concentrates on though, four hobbits, an elf, a dwarf, and a few men.

Frodo Baggins (an adopted relative of Bilbo from The Hobbit) is given a massive quest. It is he who must save the world by destroying a ring that can give the Lord Sauron all the power he needs to conquer middle-Earth. The rest of the characters set out with him to assist him in his quest.

The novel tells the story of each character at times but mainly the stars of the novel are the four hobbits. Their stories and activities are told in detail.

At first I have to admit, I hated these whiny little hobbits that slept and ate all the time. It drove me bonkers! All the other types of characters seemed so hard working and noble, how could I like these little guys? Eventually though, Tolkien concentrates almost solely on the hobbits so you really begin to have no choice but to like them. While I never could stand Frodo throughout the novel (I can't remember how many times when he looked like he would die, I actually wished he would!), the other two, Merry and Pippin became favorites. They were these goofy two guys that eventually became the noblest of creatures in the end. They both fought hard and went through great pains to try to save those they loved. The other hobbit was Sam. Who the heck is this slave? I swear, many times throughout the novel I thought Sam and Frodo would fall in love and finally both of them would get out of the closet. If this was written today, these guys couldn't possibly have passed for being straight.

Many have seen the movie, many have seen the cartoon, I have. I can't believe what a wonderful job the film has done to cut out all the tedious bits of this novel (and let me tell you...there are many tedious bits). If they cut three major things down a little out of this story, the eating (eating, wishing for food, preparing food, etc. etc.), the sleeping, and the little scared hungry hobbits walking around getting more scared, then this novel may have kicked some serious butt! It doesn't though.

The above three things are what really dragged this novel down. Hundreds upon hundreds of pages of scared hungry hobbits. I could barely take it. The base story itself is a really good one. Perhaps I am a child of the MTV generation and need action upon action. I doubt it though, I like a little atmosphere but The Lord Of The Rings borders on the ridiculous. There were countless times I'd really get into the story only to have it switch to people eating for the next eighty or so pages (is this story called The Lord Of The Rings, or Cooking With Hobbits?). I just don't understand why there was so much about nothing written in this story. Heck, even when you think the story should be over, it drags on for yet three or four more chapters..end it!

I am happy I finally read this huge thing though. I now can see where many a fantasy writer has gotten their ideas and expanded or refined them. Nowadays fantasy novels are everywhere. They are a dime a dozen one might say, some great, some very poor. Even though Tolkien may have set the standard for Epic Fantasy fiction as we know it, I find I didn't really enjoy The Lord Of The Rings that much. If it had less of the stuff I mentioned earlier the story may have flowed better and had been more enjoyable. Heck, the quest and all was interesting. It just wasn't rewarding enough of a read to have to sift through endless idle hobbit lore. If I ever read Tolkien again, I think I'll stick to The Hobbit.