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The Two Towers is the second volume of the
adventures of Frodo the hobbit, whose fate is to destroy the Ring of
Sauron in the fire of Mount Doom, Mordor, before the Dark Lord takes
back the One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One
Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them...
At the end of
The Fellowship of the Ring,
Frodo, Sam, Pippin, Merry, Aragorn, Gimli, Boromir and Legolas; the Company of nine minus one (since Gandalf fell into the depths of Moria with the Balrog), is scattered. Frodo, after Boromir attacked
him, realized that the rest of his companions might also start
craving the ring and has made up his mind to go to Mount Doom on his
own, but Sam wouldn't leave his master...
The first part of
The Two Towers
(book III) focuses on the other characters, who have been attacked
by Orcs-soldiers. Aragorn rushes to Boromir when he hears the sound
of his horn, but too late: Boromir is dying. Making up for his one
treacherous act against Frodo, he lost his life trying to protect
Pippin and Merry, but in vain, since the Orcs captured them
anyway... Gimli, Legolas and Aragorn follow the tracks
left by the Orcs, hoping to find the hobbits
before they meet an untimely death. Along the way, they encounter
men of Rohan who ambushed and killed the Orcs-soldiers. They
haven't seen the hobbits... Looking then for Pippin and Merry in the forest of Fangorn, our three
heroes spot a strange old man with a beard and a
cloak, whom they suspect could be the evil wizard Saruman...
Meanwhile, Merry and Pippin, who have managed
to escape the Orcs, thanks to much luck
and a bit of cunning,
try to find their way through the forest of Fangorn, where they meet
a strange creature, the Ent Treebeard. Treebeard tries to convince
the rest of the Ents that they must
vanquish Saruman, who regularly sends his army of Orcs to cut down
the trees of Fangorn. The Ents are finally roused and the whole
forest seems to be moving forward toward Isengard, where Orthanc,
Saruman's tower, proudly stands...
Will ensue three battles: one involving Orcs
attacking the Rohirrim in Helm's deep, the other one concerning the siege of
Orthanc by the Ents and Huorns, and
finally a battle of minds involving Saruman and his nemesis... New characters are introduced that will have an important part to
play: Théoden king of Gondor, his son Eomer and his daughter Eowyn; the
Lady of Rohan...
Book IV focuses on Frodo and Sam, as they
bravely make their way toward Mordor, guided by Gollum/Sméogul, the
ex-hobbit who thinned out and stretched during the long years when
the Ring was in his possession (cf.
The Hobbit). Drawn to his "precious", Gollum had been following
the Company since the beginning, but Frodo manages to tame him and
orders him to lead the way to Mordor. Sam, who hates Gollum and can
gather neither trust nor pity for him, has a hard time dealing with
this unlikely companion. Through the Dead Marshes and to the
Black Gate of Mordor, under the searching gaze of
the Eye, they will follow him...
Will the dwarf, the elf and the man be
reunited with Merry and Pippin? Will the Ents be able to defeat the powerful wizard? Which self of the
wretched hissing creature will finally take control: Sméagol or Gollum? What
hardships await Sam and Frodo on the lands bordering
Mordor? How will they all escape the dark menace of the Nazgûl, the
winged wraiths?
You will have to read The
Two Towers to find out...
I personally found the second part of the Lord
of the Rings more hard-going that
The Fellowship of the Ring.
Narrations of battles and strategies didn't hold my interest as
much as the depiction of life in the Shire or in Rivendell. I loved
the part about the Ents, troll-like creatures who are looking for
their Ent-wives, the confrontation of Saruman, and the story
of the Palantiri... I am becoming weary however of their progression
on the road which sends me too often checking out the map to find
out where exactly they are. I also find the lineages of men and elves very
confusing and it takes a lot of enthusiasm for Tolkien's works in
order to gather enough patience to figure out who's
who and who does what. I finally stuck to the main story and tried
not to care about not following every thread, even if I hate when I
don't grasp everything in a book ...
Still Middle-earth is a wonderful invention
and one can only applause Tolkien's incredible imagination. I also
like Tolkien's
sense of humor and the way the characters and their
relationships evolve throughout the story (I am thinking about the
unlikely friendship between Gimli and Legolas, or about Sam Gangee's growing
devotion towards Frodo, which leads him to
heroic, though clumsy, acts...)
The conclusion of the story of the One Ring is
the subject of The Return of The King, last volume of the trilogy.
The movie airs around Christmas time, and I
wonder how faithful it will be to the book. I don't suppose they
will focus the first half of the film on Legolas, Aragorn, Gimli,
Pippin and Merry and the second half on Frodo and Sam... They will
probably alternate scenes, which would be the sensible way to go, it
seems. Let's wait and see...
Rating: 
© Discussing Books,11/18/2002 |
Critiques
