The Lure of the Ring: Power, Addiction and Transcendence in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings Paperback – January 5, 2019

As the authors detail in chapter 17, not even Tolkien perceived the depth of what he had written immediately. At first he described it as a story about good vs. evil and the exercise of power in that battle. Only on reflection over the following years did he realize that he had created a myth whose meanings await discovery by readers rather than being encoded by an author.One of the values of myth is that its meaning is under-determined. Literary descriptions of narrative and plot, and even assessment of character development, even if they render the story comprehensible, fall short of uncovering mythic meaning. The greater the myth’s complexity, the more variable and unstable its meanings - but also the more useful. Although the range of meaning is constrained by the structure of the story, it opens up ways to imagine our world through a story whose warp-and-woof invites distance from our daily existence to think about what life is.Coster and Strachan exploit the power of Lord of the Rings as myth to evaluate the dynamics of lives enmeshed so deeply in our social settings and relationships that we need the perspective of another world to perceive and understand. Their use of a justifiable fusion of spirituality and psychology (which we separate artificially, to our detriment) prompts us to consider how we are drawn to false construal of power to heal our own deep wounds, only to find ourselves overpowered by dark forces. The only way to extract ourselves is by imagining and stepping into another way of being, a BEING that surmounts our attempts to find wholeness on our own terms (which results in isolation). Only by immersing ourselves in trusting community with others do we find wholeness. It is only our shared BEING that brings healing of our wounds. It is to this realization that their study of Tolkien’s great gift affords the reader a glimpse.

This is a delightful little book that explores an archetypal story from a transpersonal, psychological perspective! That's actually much more complex than the book's language is. I found it quite accessible, intriguing and compelling. My favorite line from the book refers to Sauron's loss of the one ring: "Once his purpose is taken from him, little else can survive." In this time when so many are suffering a crisis of meaning, all would do well to heed that statement and explore the rich mystery of Tom Bombadil as these authors have. Well done!

"The Lure of the Ring" takes un a deep dive into the nature of Sauron, the Dark Lord, and, even more importantly, the nature of Tolkien's most enigmatic and intriguing character, Tom Bombadil, the only living being who is immune to to the addictive call of the One Ring. We come up from the dive with pearls about our own nature; how we are seduced by our injuries into a desperate and doomed attempt to protect ourselves by exerting power over others; how we can be free of this 'lure' and live lives of greater wisdom, joy, and dynamic community with others and with the world.Strachan and Coster have done a brilliant job of articulating and following the threads of both of these paths. The issues they address are timeless and urgent, and their use of Tolkien's mythological world makes the exploration all the more fun. Don't miss it.

This is a very narrow interpretation of LOTR in a psychoanalytic framework. Psychoanalysis has shown little or no validity and has been largely discredited in the field of psychology. If the author wants to interpret in this framework that’s fine, but I wish I knew *before* purchasing the book so I could have made an informed choice.

After all is said and done The Lord of the Rings is a epic of good versus evil. Certainly we gain great knowledge of evil in Sauron. But it is easy to overlook that Tolkien informed us about the even more profound nature of goodness early in his work in the person of Tom Bombadil. Strachan and Coster excel in revealing Tom's true nature, that true goodness is kin to Transcendence. Their book completed my metaphysical understanding of Tolkien's work in a truly satisfying way. Bilbo and Sam are good folk; Tom teaches us the greatness of goodness itself.

What a wonderful read, I loved everything about the book, from cover to contents. Feels like I not only have a better understanding of the enigmatic character of Tom Bombadil and his Lord of the Ring cohorts from both a personal and psychospiritual perspective, but that I have also deepened my own relationship/understanding to power/control/addiction & seduction. I'm very grateful for such illuminations of the very spirited Tom and how by example he can help guide us all towards the light of our true and beautiful nature. Original insights and a very compelling read.

It is, in fact, many year since I read the books, altho' I calculate that I have read them each about 9 or 10 times. I was therefore intrigued the that there would be an analysis of Tom Bombadil - who I missed in the films. It is an interesting book, not very long and, if one is interested in people and books, worth reading.