In my opinion, the best
piece of writing I have ever read is J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. In his books, Tolkien creates an
entirely new world from imagination, which he populates with creatures and
lands never before heard of. Middle-earth and its inhabitants are not just flat
things on a page; they have unspoken histories, secrets hidden deep in dark
woods, and wild stories as old as the hills themselves. All of these elements
make Middle-earth seem as real a place as the earth I live in.
Tolkien is a master of word pictures. Although he, like
Dickens, takes a long time to explain something, in the end I am able to see
characters like Samwise Gamgee and places such as the Passage into Mordor as
clearly as if they were right in front of me. I can feel the dirt coating my
skin, see the distant fires of Mount Doom, hear the screams of battle, and feel
the fear as Frodo fights with the sinister spider Shelob. Every detail is so
vivid, and the words are so beautiful, that the feelings of what I read stay
with me long after I put the book down.
The themes of Lord
of the Rings are also part of what makes this my favorite piece of
literature. Courage in the face of ultimate evil, the shining of a light in
dark places, and hope in the midst of despair are clearly portrayed in
Tolkien’s trilogy. Almost every character in the books makes tough decisions,
and many of them end up doing what is right, even if they know that in the end
it will cost them their lives. At the end of the trilogy, though, it is clear
that the good side, through determination and sacrifice, soundly defeats the
evil side.
Fantasy is my favorite genre of all time, so it is
probably no surprise that the Lord of the
Rings is my favorite piece of literature. It can be argued that Tolkien’s
books about Middle-earth are the basis for every other piece of fantasy that
has come after it, and I would not disagree. Perhaps that is why I enjoy them
so much. However, I would be more prone to say that I enjoy them because they
give me courage to follow God even into the pit of Mount Doom, remind me that
even if I am not in the foreground I can still make a world of difference, and show
me that I can still have hope in the midst of darkness.
