New to the book, and finding it hard to read? Many report this, so I’d suggest the following:
- Jump straight into Chapter 2, The Shadow of the Past. All you need to know is that Frodo inherited the ring from his uncle Bilbo, who is now far away.
Most readers would anyway know that from the first of the films. - Continue with Chapter 3, Three Is Company, where the Black Riders appear.
- Then skip to Chapter 9, At the Sign of The Prancing Pony. The story will still make sense. And this is how it was done in the Jackson films, and in the much earlier BBC dramatization.
- Once you are properly into the story, you can then go back and fill in the gaps. You will now see where the details fit. And be interested enough in the characters to want to learn more about where they came from.
Long Revolution 