The Lord of the Rings Reading Vlog - Book 2 of The Fellowship of the Ring

[@thefantasythinker]

Nice! Your summation of events make it feel like I'm reading them again right along with you.

[@MattonBooks]

And why aren’t you? 😜

[@liviajelliot]

This was so cool! I was watching this with someone and we were like "do you remember that part!" "he's so right!". It was really enjoyable, I hadn't really watched vlogs before, and it was great; you definitely made me want to read LOTR again!

[@MattonBooks]

Glad to hear it Livia! 😀

[@safinan8008]

Hi 👋 great vlog 🎉

[@MattonBooks]

Thanks Safina. 😀

[@francoisbouchart4050]

I agree that LotR is a lament for the wonders of the past. I was also devastated when Gandalf “dies” in Moira.

[@MattonBooks]

Nooooooo, you can’t kill HIM! 😆

[@leahandchad9882]

Thank you for making this video. I have a one-volume edition that I’m planning to re-read next year. I’m thinking I’ll start with the appendices.

[@MattonBooks]

That’s not a bad idea at all. 🙂 Or maybe even better - start with the Silmarillion.

[@teaandreads]

I love these videos, I listen to and watch them while cruising. Keep doing the chats as well. I would also ask, do you think you can ever discuss how it is to live in Europe and also showcase the holiday season over there? I am in Texas so I am unfamiliar with your great place. 😊

[@MattonBooks]

Glad you’re enjoying them. 🙂 I’d be happy to chat a bit about living in Europe sometime, but I don’t have family here and don’t really do much special for the holidays, so it’s hard for me to say much about that.

[@janicesattler615]

I watched your vlog for book 1 this week after finishing my reread of it. So excited to see the second part is up now. I will watch it as soon as I am done with my own reread of book 2!

[@MattonBooks]

Glad you’re enjoying the book & the vlogs Janice. 😀

[@janicesattler615]

and both didn't disappoint @@MattonBooks :) I finished the Fellowship this afternoon and finally watched the vlog! Thank you for your great insights. Looking forward to other vlogs in the future!

[@MattonBooks]

@@janicesattler615 Two Towers coming up in Jan! 🙂

[@Johanna_reads]

I remember being sooooo bored when reading the Council of Elrond as a teen. 😅 I felt like it went on forever. I loved it when I reread Fellowship a couple of years ago. I was gullible and convinced Gandalf was dead the first time I read the book. Younger generations will never know that experience. I might slightly prefer the books over the movies, but I love that Arwen had a greater role in the movies, and the soundtrack is one of the best!

[@MattonBooks]

The Council DOES go on forever! 😆 But it’s interesting stuff that’s being divulged. Can’t remember how I took it when I was 9, but I can only imagine I was bored too. Yeah, pretty much impossible for anyone today to buy into the despair of the fellowship when they escape Moria, which is a pity. Female characters & romance weren’t exactly Tolkien’s thing, but movies need both, so I totally understand pulling Arwen and her relationship with Aragorn into the foreground. And it makes a little more sense than the most legendary elf ever, Glorfindel, turning up for one chapter, just to get Frodo across the ford. 😉

[@guyincognito461]

You may have overlooked Gandalf's point about pity and killing in regards to Gollum. If it wasn't for Frodo's mercy Smeagol wouldn't have been able to lead them secretly into Mordor, thus proving Gandalf's point about hasty punishments and not being able to see all ends.

[@MattonBooks]

I didn’t overlook that, I just don’t think that Gandalf was thinking Gollum should be spared so that he could be a Mordor tour guide. Gollum is treacherous and dangerous throughout, and no one knew ahead of time that he’d actually prove to be useful. Gandalf’s call for mercy was pure compassion. It’s just a pity he proved to be irredeemable in the end.

[@guyincognito461]

@@MattonBooks I wouldn't say irredeemable as a matter of personnel fault. Gollum, after all was heavily influenced by the power of the ring. The corrupting influence though maybe not a direct allegory by Tolkien can be seen as having similar affects as drugs on an addict. All the same, I think Tolkien was right to make it a point to the reader that there is still good in people, even those that do bad things, so we can't be too quick to cast judgments on them especially those that we can never take back.

[@MattonBooks]

@guyincognito461 Sure, Gollum can’t really be blamed for being Gollum, a point made over & over. He’s 100% a creature of the Ring. I just meant irredeemable as in he died being a sneaky bastard, and never managed to overcome the Ring’s hold on him, but then, in so doing, he saved Frodo from the same fate. And Tolkien, through Gandalf, made the case for mercy so eloquently very early in the book: “Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement.” Doesn’t apply to orcs though, apparently. 😜

[@108rico]

Maybe as well as arguing against direct action against Sauron and saying that the ring had been lost down the Anduin and into the sea, Saruman was subtly using his voice on the White Council? I wonder if he could do that without them noticing

[@108rico]

Meaning, why the hell did it take 'the wise' so long to do anything or figure out what was going on. However, even when Gandalf was actively on the case he took decades and decades to get the info together

[@MattonBooks]

@108rico Yeah, it feels a lot like a plot hole to me. Throwing the Ring in a fire is a pretty easy thing to do, so why TF wouldn’t Gandalf ride to the Shire and do that AS SOON AS he had even the faintest notion that it might be THAT ring?!? 😳 Maybe he’d been putting something a bit stronger than Longbottom Leaf in his pipe? 😆

[@108rico]

Tolkien and his world work on such extended timeframes and I sometimes wonder how these immortal characters spend their time. Like when the Witch King or Sauron or Morgoth leave decades or centuries between some of their major attacks on the good guys @@MattonBooks

[@MattonBooks]

@108rico One of the things I’m looking forward to after this re-read is diving into the Silmarillion. So much in the trilogy hints at lore that isn’t delved into, and I know from DNFing the Silmarillion back as a teen that these hints are just the tip of the iceberg.

[@108rico]

I thinks the pity/compassion thing is effective in the long run even though many of the efforts put into Gollum seem like a waste. It only seems to have some effect once Frodo shows trust in Gollum's Smeagol side because he can truly relate to him and the effect the ring has on a ring bearer. This enables Frodo and Sam to find their way safely to Mordor. Unfortunately the ring and the increasing power of evil as they get closer to Mordor and the interaction Gollum has with Faramir twist him up pretty good and he betrays them, but this still enables them to get into Mordor and all the way to Mount Doom undetected. Finally. Gollum's betrayal and taking the ring from Frodo enables the ring to be destroyed and the mission is a success. And this is an interplay of pity and betrayal because Gollum is only able to do this at the end firstly because Frodo brought him along and then on Mount Doom because Sam didn't kill Gollum when he could have. The whole quest only hangs on by its fingernails at so many points and the influence of pity towards Gollum when it seems so undeserving is one of the ephemeral points to allow good to triumph over evil

[@MattonBooks]

But that was kind of my point - Gandalf’s plea for mercy isn’t practical, it’s not about keeping Gollum around since he might be useful. It’s purely based on not being able to give a life back once you’ve taken it. Yes, in the end Sméagol’s failure to overcome Gollum proves extremely useful, doing something Frodo couldn’t and saving the world, but that’s not why he deserved compassion in the first place.

[@108rico]

Yep, but Gollum didn't respond to anyone's mercy except Frodo's. Aragorn said something like I don't think he'll ever love me and I wasn't gentle on him @@MattonBooks

[@MattonBooks]

@@108rico Which kinda makes sense. Other than Bilbo there isn’t another person in Middle Earth who can even begin to imagine what Gollum’s been through, and how he got to be what he is, than Frodo.

[@108rico]

Yep for sure and Bilbo didn't really get to spend the quality time together like Frodo and Gollum did :)@@MattonBooks