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| The Lord of the Rings (50th Anniversary Edition) | 
| Author: J.r.r. Tolkien
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Category: Book
List Price: $85.00
Buy New: $49.56
You Save: $35.44 (42%)
New (28) Collectible (1) from $49.56
Avg. Customer Rating:  166 reviews
Sales Rank: 3099
Media: Leather Bound
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 1184
Shipping Weight (lbs): 4.5
Dimensions (in): 10 x 6.6 x 2.7
ISBN: 0618517650
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.912
EAN: 9780618517657
ASIN: 0618517650
Publication Date: October 21, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Absolutely Brand New & In Stock. 100% 30-Day Money Back. Direct from our warehouse. Ships by USPS. 1+ million customers served-In business since 1986. Happy Customers is Our #1 Goal. Toll Free Support
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| Customer Reviews:
 Very nice edition to have October 13, 2008
This review is only about the `50th anniversary edition' and not about the master work of J.R.R.Tolkien.
I don't see any issues with the quality of the book. Like few other reviewers mentioned, the folded map is glued together and you need to take little care while viewing it for the first time without damage. That is not an issue or a reason to give this excellent edition a poor rating. Most of the deluxe editions won't be friendly to read due to unusual size and weight. People buy them because they adore the content and feel proud to have them in their bookshelves. I find this book very comfortable to read also. The paper quality is awesome, very smooth and silky and gives a very nice feeling when you read.
The UK edition of this book from Harper Collins appears to be of superior quality but the price is 150% more then this US edition. I personally like the US edition more due to the more flexible paper used which enables a better reading. Also UK edition don't' come with maps and also no red color font used.
If you want to experience reading `Lord of the Rings' never like before, then don't think again, go for this edition even if you already have other editions with you.
Smites every othe piece of modern fantasy October 12, 2008
As far as this edition goes, I had a great experience. It's a steal for just over $50. Bit I'm not here to review this edition, I'm here to review Tolkien's masterpiece. Here it goes:
The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien is in my opinion one of the single greatest books ever written. Tolkien spent nearly ten years writing and compiling the book, and every word of it is so incredibly descriptive and perfect, that the ten years was time well spent. Every sentence of Tolkien's masterpiece is precisely written and full of life. The book comes closer to the saying "a picture's worth a thousand words" than any other book I've ever read, describing every picture he wants you to see as vibrantly as humanly possible. For these reasons, this book is quite faultless, and it never fails to leave out any details.
It's easy to tell that this is a book of a higher order, written completely out of pure devotion to describing this immaculately-composed world of Middle-Earth. Many writers try to envision their fictional worlds, but Tolkien does much more than that: for him, his world is real, and every aspect of Middle Earth is as fully explored and depicted as the real world. Tolkien created a full world all his own, complete with many new languages and alphabets that he invented, family trees, a complete history, and absolutely every other detail you could imagine.
After reading The Lord of the Rings, in addition to complete astonishment, I also feel a bit sad, but not for the reasons you may expect. I feel unhappy because I know I will probably never read Harry Potter or Eragon again, because the extensiveness, descriptiveness and overall perfection of Tolkien's works doesn't only Harry Potter or Eragon to shame in my mind, it downright smites them (in a good way). Every piece of modern (and overly praised) fantasy that I've ever read is like a string with several, or sometimes many other strings hanging off of it. However, Tolkien's Middle Earth is like a complete net, extending in all directions- fully explored, rich and resonant in every way.
In every other fictional novel I have ever read, names appear to be created and applied because they sound either good in the context of which they are given. In Middle Earth, names are conceived based on race, language and tradition. For example, many names of those who live in Rohan have the prefix eo, because eo belongs to part of the old word for `horse' in the now-unused language of the inhabitants of Rohan. Horses are the most predominant way of life in Rohan. Nothing in Middle Earth is random or without a history. Every alphabet, language, name, family tree and everything else has a story.
There is, however, one main aspects that a reader may not enjoy. As I said earlier, Middle Earth is like a net, going out in every direction. For this reason, and the fact that nearly everything from language to history is unique and new, it is an exceptionally difficult book to dive right into and start reading. Take a look at these sentences from the Appendices (page 1035) "After Ardamin the Kings took the sceptre in names of the Numenorian (or Adunaic) tongue: Ar-Adunakhor, Ar-Zimrathon, Ar-Sakalthor, Ar-Gimilzor, Ar-Inziladun. Inziladun repented the ways of the Kings and changed his name to Tar Palantir `The Farsighted'. His daughter should have been the fourth Queen, Tar Miriel, but the King's nephew usurped the scepter and became Ar-Parazon the Golden, last King of the Numenorians." This definitely goes to show how incredibly complex the book can be at times. To read the book, it takes a lot of concentration and willpower to effectively read and comprehend.
Other than the occasional extremely complex segments in the book, and the amount of work and concentration it takes to read the book, I believe everyone that is interested in any form of fantasy should pick up this book and give it a try. However, I think if everyone did so, JK Rowling would be broke, and so would every other modern fantasy writer. It is incredibly deep and utterly flawless, and its beautiful and vivid descriptions never cease to amaze. I would recommend this book to anyone willing to give it enough time, patience and respect to comprehend all 1031 pages of it.
For now... October 4, 2008
For now I just can say that it is a primorous job. And it must be said that it is a complete work of perfection, an item of beauty.
Henceforth I have to begin my reading.
The best and only version to have for true fans September 30, 2008
This piece is magnificently presented, a true collectors edition, true there are some issues with the maps at the front and back which seem to be glued together and are hard to pull apart (Personally we haven't tried to open them nor will we as we are not too worried about not being able to see the maps) the rest of the book is greatly presented - the way I always imagined the book to be.
Delivery was a little slow but then again we are in Melbourne, Australia so we understand the delay as we selected the basic freight level.
Anyway - highly recommend this version of the book to any true fan out there
Best gift ever September 28, 2008
I bought this gift as part of a set of wedding gifts for my friends, their cake had the one ring writing on it so it fit, and they absolutely loved it. Everything about the product resonated quality, especially the leather.
Recommended for anyone who loves the Rings.
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