A 75-word response to J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring by Garry Friesen, former professor at Multnomah University:

A story rewritten may best express my feeling about the book. A woman in 19th century London anticipated hearing two great preachers—James Parker in the morning and Charles Spurgeon in the evening. The next day a friend asked for her response. "What a wonderful preacher James Parker is." She paused, and then compared the evening sermon. "What a wonderful Christ Spurgeon preaches."

Tolkien is by far the better story teller than Lewis, but when I finish Tolkien I say, "What a wonderful story teller Tolkien is." When I finish the simple The Chronicles of Narnia, I am moved to say, "What a wonderful Aslan is told in Lewis's story." I rate The Fellowship very high and love it. But I still wish that Tolkien had created an Aslan figure rather than Gandolf, Frodo and Aragorn. "Frodo lives" as they say, but that does not compare to "the stone table has cracked and death itself is working backward. The Lion is alive and on the move."