Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien

Finally, I am getting back to my blog! The real miracle here is that I've found enough time in my elementary school teacher schedule to actually read and finish some (ok, two) books. Those two books were The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien and The Fellowship of the Ring, also by Tolkien.

This is my second go-round with these books. At the recommendation of my dear old dad, I first read The Hobbit in sixth grade. Naturally, I continued reading the series throughout my middle school years and became borderline obsessed with the movie releases around that same time.

In November of this year, anticipating the release of the Hobbit movie, I decided to re-read the book. I ALWAYS do my best to read books before viewing their Hollywood counterparts, mostly because I like reading so much that I want to read the books anyway, also because I enjoy comparing books to their movies and a little because of the bragging rights I get from being able to say that I read the book.

It was an even better read than I remember. Tolkien wrote The Hobbit for a younger audience as a prequel to his Lord of the Rings trilogy, which made it interesting with a little more humor and levity than he put into his other novels. I enjoyed traveling on the valiant yet dangerous adventures with the naive but eager Bilbo, and laughing along with the dwarfs' blunders. (Note: in his books, Tolkien purposefully writes the plural of "dwarf" as "dwarfs," not "dwarves.")

Critiquing books vs. movies can be fun, or it can be tedious. Most of the time when I watch a movie that is based on a book, I can't help but pick out all the little changes that were made. I understand that changes are necessary in the translation from a book to a movie, mostly stemming from the fact that a reader has the privilege of reading much more from the narrator's point of view that needs to be communicated differently on the big screen. When I'm deciding how much I like the movie version, I ask myself if the changes are justifiable or not. Was it a change that was necessary to take the author's beautifully written words and get the story to make sense on screen? If it makes sense, then ok. If not, get off your high-up Hollywood horse and do what the author intended.

With The Hobbit, I walked into the movie (at midnight on a school nigh, by the way) truly hoping to enjoy it. I had high hopes for the same quality I enjoyed in the Lord of the Rings movies. Peter Jackson, the director, had already won my trust with the work he did on the trilogy, and I may have been less inclined to see the movie if it were directed by someone else.

I enjoyed the movie very much. Recently, I heard people discussing their opinions on the movie's shortcomings and pitfalls, which they are completely entitled to. However, I thought the movie did a very nice job of portraying Tolkien's work based on his original novel, notes on what he wanted to rewrite (I haven't actually read these but I know Peter Jackson did and I trust that he was faithful to them) and other works by Tolkien that brought together bits and pieces of Middle Earth history that answer questions and tie up loose ends. I can't wait until all the movies are out on DVD and I can have a big movie marathon to watch th whole story, from The Hobbit part one through the final scene of The Return of the King.

My only complaints are these:

1. The actor playing Bilbo in the short scene of The Fellowship of the Ring  is different from the actor playing Bilbo in the Hobbit movie. That will be a blatant discrepancy when I have my movie marathon, but possibly fixable with Hollywood movie editing magic. Also, the way in which he finds the ring is slightly different between the two movies, and neither are 100% consistent with the the details in the book.

2. Some of the history of the dwarfs in the movie did not match up with the book story. This was probably to simplify the story for the movie-goers, and to cut down on the length of an already-long movie.

3. There was no Pale Orc pursuing Bilbo and his company (correct me if I'm wrong.) I hope that was something in Tolkien's notes that he wanted to go back and change, but I have a feeling it was the movie-makers searching for a more exciting antagonist.

Currently, I am reading The Two Towers (second book of the trilogy) and looking forward to finishing my reread of the series. It is frustrating that I still don't have the time like I used to for reading (or writing about my reading) but it's also refreshing that I have some time, and thank goodness for that.