You might think this was inevitable. And it's not unusual, as it is often voted the top novel of the 20th century. I'm not sure it would tick all the boxes for "the great novel", but if you have enough imagination to let elves and dwarves be among your main characters, then there isn't much this book can't offer you.
Like what?
Well for a start, elves and dwarves. What I mean is, when we normally encounter creatures of faerie, it's going to be twee, or kitsch-fantasy, or normal mundane life with short hairy people. TLOR is in a different category: Tolkien created the world first, (not the plot and then stuck some dwarves on it to spice it up). The development of Middle Earth began decades before TLOR was published - as a philologist he used his knowledge to create languages and melded these with peoples, and an entire coherent history (this is why, although they vanished from the movies, the poems and songs in the book they carry the air of ancient times and places - because, in effect, they do; they aren't artificially aged - they come from another time, so to speak). This multi-layered sub-creation provides a massive and detailed canvas, upon which JRRT later spun out the colossal tale of the Fellowship pursuing the solution to the ultimate problem.
It grows a landscape that lives in the imagination forever. For years afterwards, the sight of grey hills (and more recently, of mine-workings) bring a sense of Middle-Earth, a distant sound of the horns of Elfland.
The characters are fully formed, with real lives, no matter how fantastical. And their mutltitude of motivations and interply prevent one dimensionality. And there are selfless, noble acts of courage and friendship (often removed from the movies, presumably because we moderns know that you can't have true noble-heartedness - eg Faramir and the Ents)
It moves from homely to epic. The opening chapter could be a wordy sequel to the Hobbit. But once the hobbits encounter the Barrow Wight (absent from the films), and the menacing unseen presence of the Riders, an uneasy sense builds that we aren't in Kansas anymore. By the time they enter Moria we are on a crescendo of increasingly epic moments. And there are no simple solutions, but a final hundred pages that stays forever.
Basically, it's got everything - which is why most such tales that have followed have been pale imitations and always suffer by comparison. And it's much better to read than to watch.
If I had to have one novel on my island, this is it.
And thanks to Minty for another fun list!
