Sunday, April 18, 2010

A Beginner's Guide To The Lord Of The Rings The Two Towers

By Chandra Leonard

If you are looking at the book The Lord of the Rings The Two Towers and are feeling a little overwhelmed by how thick it is, you are not alone. Many people who have read The Hobbit and The Fellowship of The Rings have found that some portions are hard to get through. However, as it links together the first and third books, it is important for you to read since it answers many questions and provides information you need to make the third book, The Return of the King, make sense.

The book is important but is often difficult for people to get through for a number of reasons. The plot tends to have patches of intense action which are interspersed through long periods of travel. Because of this, many people find that they tend to skip over the rich descriptions of the landscape through which the characters travel in order to concentrate on the action scenarios.

Because the movie tends to simply allow the terrain to speak for itself, much of the focus is suddenly on character development, dialogue and actual action. Instead of spending time reading about what the moss on a statue looked like or what the texture of a cloak felt like, we can see the characters passing the landmarks and wearing the clothing. Jackson's team was made up of amazing make-up artists who were able to turn humans into fearsome orcs and Uruk-hai. Suddenly, you can see the way creatures such as Ents look and how they sound rather than trying to picture it in your head.

The two towers mentioned in the title refer to the tower of Saruman, a corrupt wizard who has fallen under Sauron's sway, and the tower of Sauron itself in Mordor. Saruman is busy creating warriors that will be used to crush the remaining forces who are still putting up a fight against Sauron. Saruman is creating fearsome creatures known as Uruk-hai that are stronger, tougher and more brutal than anything that has come before.

Throughout the movie, you are introduced to some of the other characters which do not form the Fellowship but which are no less important. They include Theoden of Rohan, a human king who is fighting to keep his people safe. You meet the Ents, giant tree-like creatures who can walk and talk and who are truly fearsome when angered.

This story allows us to find out more about the main characters and the reasons that they behave the way they do. We learn more about Aragorn and are introduced to characters such as Eowyn, one of the Rohirrim who plays a pivotal role in the third book. We learn more about why Boromir would be so desperate to possess the ring that he would have taken it from Frodo by force.

If you are someone who loves action, this book is filled with some of the most incredible scenes of any in fantasy literature. The main battle is that of Helm's Deep, where humans hole up and are besieged by Orcs, Goblins and Uruk-hai.

If you are someone who tried to read the book and were unable to get through it, you need to see this movie. The special effects, scenery and pacing are excellent and make it definitely worth watching.

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