If you thought Fellowship was racist, oh boy do you have a lot to work through on this one! 

The Bad
There are more serious criticisms I have, but the pacing is very inconsistent. Some sequences move naturally into one another, while other times action grinds to a complete halt or alternatively appears out of nowhere. Reading this made me think Tolkien really could've used a heavier-handed editor.

For the worse parts, there's obviously the racist depiction of the Uruk-hai, who even referring to the heroes as

"Whiteskins"

. Yet they don't even seem that bad compared to the treatment of Gollum, a key character in this volume. Described as "a thin black fellow," Gollum exists to be depraved and tortured only to turn on his master. He's the 17th century trope of The Unfaithful Servant, with the mind of an 18th century caricature of an insane asylum patient with the voice and body of a 19th century "African savage." All of this made palatable in the 20th century by Tolkien's fantasy setting, laying the groundwork for these bigoted tropes to continue onward in Fantasy writing well into the 21st century. 

Beyond this, the most striking thing about Gollum is how much empathy I felt for him on this read through. His terrible treatment at the hands of our protagonists made me lose much more empathy for the others, even the beloved character of Faramir who I lost all love for on this read. 

Some people reading this may think I'm just bringing values from today onto Tolkien's writings, but he really is the last gasp of such blatant misogyny in 20th century literature as many many others had moved past such bigoted ideas. Beyond that, I can't read it without these elements deeply affecting me, since Gollum and the Orcs are a key fixtures in over half of the chapters. 

The Good
Despite everything else, there are glimmers of greatness in this text. Treebeard and the ents manage to tell an incredibly compelling ecological narrative, despite being the most divorced dudes I've ever read in a book. As always, the nuance and complexity of the influence of the Ring remains a highlight. 

Beyond that, the homoerotic subtext (and oftentimes just text) is much stronger in these books than in any of the others. In Book III, we get small subtext in how Legolas and Gimli speak so fondly of one another. But that seems like small potatoes compared to Sam's deep and explicit love for Frodo. There is space for non-romantic readings of their relationship, but the power of these queer readings remains potent even out to today. I can only imagine how impactful they must've been when these books were written. 

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All this said, the negative parts affect almost every single section of this reading. I can't view this book without those other parts, and for that I almost gave this book 1/5. But there is still good stuff in here, despite everything, earning the books an extra +1.75 stars. This book is incredibly painful to go back to, but there are still many reasons to return to it. 

Definitely a tougher read than Fellowship, primarily because of long passages with little action. Tolkien’s nature descriptions remain beautiful, though, and I really enjoyed learning about Rohan. The last chapter in particular was such a highlight — I have a newfound appreciation for Sam from the novels.

Honestly, from a reader’s POV, I would argue that this volume in particular is hindered by its structure: Aragorn/Legolas/Gimli follow a relatively archetypical adventure arc in Towers, which is definitely more ‘engaging’ than Sam/Frodo’s emotional journey. The adaptation is pretty aware of this juxtaposition and wisely changed the sequencing. 

Also, side note, but I was surprised to find this Treebeard much more endearing (and bearable 😭) than his film counterpart. Same goes for Pippin and Merry, Peter Jackson really did them dirty. 

The second half was better than the first half, however, that does not make up for the slow, mostly uneventuful pacing and the tedious amounts of exposition.

Amazingly written, and beautifully immersive. So much better than the first one, where I was constantly frustrated with Frodo. Finally everyone is using their braincells, and the story is moving faster. Love that this book gives more dimension to the 'side-characters' and shows us how every person has something to contribute.

Special shoutout to Sam, who is so gloriously in love, and is honestly one of the more intelligent characters in the story.