[Lush]

Far be it from my intent to argue that The Lord of the Rings is perfect (no literary work can claim perfection), but I would have to say, Magician that your criticism is poorly executed; Tolkien's style had its problems, but making sense (within the framework of the book itself) was never really one of them.

Furthermore, Sauron really does come off as simplistic at first (at least he did for me), but then again, if you keep in mind historical figures such as Jeffrey Dahmer, Eichmann, and Ivan the Terrible, you might begin to see that Tolkien's theories are not that far off from real life. Naturally, all of the above examples are human beings that had some good in them, but I would argue that there was also within them a huge capacity for evil.

What Tolkien is working with in relation to Sauron is that supernatural quality that evil takes on when it is divorced from all other human impulses and characteristics. This technique has many mythic connotations, and myth was what Tolkien wanted to create, among other things.

For more background reading you should at least check out The Silmarillion. Other people on this site will probably recommend you other books. For my part, I've neither had time nor energy for anything besides the afore-mentioned volume, as well as The Hobbit, and am unashamed to admit it, but whatever. The thing is, the Silm might give you more context for your thoughts on Sauron and his shenanigans.