I have always loved the Lord of The Rings franchise, from the movies (The Hobbit trilogy excluded) to the video games.
I read the Hobbit several times, and The Lord of the Rings once as a child.
However, I was far too young to appreciate the trilogy for what it was: a masterpiece.
There are many ways to describe how the stories of Middle Earth hit different. This is my favorite way to summarize it:
1. Imagine a Story
2. Build a world to contain the story
3. Write a language to further flesh out the universe
This is a typical procedure for a fantasty writer. LoTR, however:
1. Write a language (because why not)
2. Build a world for the language
3. Imagine a story that takes place in this world
With the story came allusions to an immense universe that we barely get a glimpse of. This is high fantasy.
But that's about Middle Earth and the trilogy as a whole. I want to talk about The Fellowship of the Ring individually.
I will be mostly drawing comparisons between the book with its movie counterpart, since I read it from the perspective of someone who watched the movie first.
TFOTR is divided into two parts: part 1 consists of the hobbits' journey from the shire to Rivendell.
Part 2 consists of the fellowship's journey from the Elven haven to... well, no one is quite sure.
In fact, the One Ring's final destination is a topic deliberately avoided in the fellowship.
Boromir of Gondor wants to take it back to Minas Tirith. Frodo knows in his heart that it must be taken to Mt. Doom to be destroyed.
Both destinations are to the South East of Rivendell, so the decision can be put off for most of the second half of the book.
There's a lot of content that is disproportionately cut from the hobbit's adventures, which is an understandable cinematic choice on Peter Jackson's part.
These cuts include whole chapters (and characters), such as the mysterious Tom Bombadil.
A common criticism of the hobbits' stay at Tom and Goldberry's home in the Old Forest is that it doesn't fit with the rest of the series, or even the rest of the book.
While that's true, I think Tom's homestead represents (for me) the last step of "innocence" and the hobbits' true departure from the shire.
(Tolkien hates allegories, so this probably wasn't intentional, but sometimes it doesn't matter so much what the author meant compared to what the reader interprets.)
I liked Frodo a lot more in the book than in the movie. In the movie it's easy to think of Frodo as a young man.
In the books, Bilbo leaves the shire when Frodo is 33, and 17 years later Frodo embarks on his own journey at the age of 50.
He's a respectably middle-aged hobbit, and the movies don't do that justice.
In the movie, Frodo is infuriatingly clumsy and frail. He trips in the snow, he gets skewered in Balin's tomb, he's immediately incapacitated by the Witch King's Morgul blade.
In the books, Frodo suffers from the Nazgul's blade, but is able to continue traveling and speaking, even joking with his companions to put them at ease.
Actually, book Frodo shows a lot of spunk on Weathertop. He attempts to stab the Witch King, and shouts the name of "Elbereth" (queen of the Valar), causing the Nazgul great pain, which ends up saving his life.
At the crossing of the ford, movie Frodo is unconscious and carried by Arwen (oh geez) to the safety of Rivendell.
In the books, despite his great pain, he rides across himself, challenging the Black Riders:
"By Elbereth and Lúthien the Fair,' said Frodo with a last effort, lifting up his sword, 'you shall have neither the Ring nor me!"
He chastises Boromir for throwing a rock into the pool outside Moria, which was replaced in the movies with Aragorn stopping Merry and Pippin from doing so.
Based off of their character development in the movies this was fitting, as this interaction between Frodo and Boromir would have felt out of place.
On a similar note, I felt as though hobbits seemed much less defenseless in the books.
When the Nazgul are in Buckland, the residents take to arms and blow their horns, rallying for a fight against the highest servants of Sauron, though they knew not who they were.
Finally, I liked the interaction early on (also in the shire) with Frodo, Sam, and Pippin with Gildor's company in the Woody End. It's our first interaction with elves and... they're leaving.
The theme of elves departing Middle Earth is introduced right from the start, and when we see how beautiful and graceful these creatures are, it's quite sad.
Elves are magnificent, but it seems like they're not sticking around to take care of Sauron, or even help that much.
This is irritatingly evident when Gildor refuses to answer any of Frodo's questions (Frodo: "What are those black riders that just tried to kill me?" Gildor: "We know exactly what they and absolutely could tell you. But we won't :3
(The real excuse is only marginally better: "Then I think it is not for me to say more – lest terror should keep you from your journey.")
I think this interaction is significant in that it warns now that elves aren't going to bail Middle-Earth out this time.
With notable exceptions, the race of men is on their own.
Overall, I loved The Fellowship of the Ring. As an aside, I listened to it via the Tokybook audiobook, which I cannot recommend enough.
You can listen for free at: https://tokybook.com/fellowship-rings-audiobook-01/