I think you got overwhelmed by the reek chapters, and it shows. I find it interesting that you mention you needed to shower after a reek chapter, that means the digust centers of your brain were overstimulated, which are located in the insula cortex among others. Contrary to "Fear" or "Anxiety", "Disgust" is difficult…

actually he IS better than Tolkien was, by far. The story devices he employs are far more sophisticated, and you can trace them back to Aristoteles Poetics. Tolkien never even got near that stuff.