Week Six - The Hobbit

J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit was a pretty fun read to my surprise. I was honestly expecting a long, drawn out story, knowing that the movie was around 3 hours long. The way it was written especially drew me in, because of the vocabulary and the occasional musical poetry Tolkien would slip in. 

There were a lot of made up words, which makes sense for someone who studied language, as he basically took time to make up one of his own. I noticed the novel almost reads like a children’s book, which gave it a very childish and fun atmosphere to it. That being said, reading the book made me feel like a kid again. I was able to read and find enjoyment in imagining the places Bilbo, Gandalf, and the dwarves explored on their adventure and it was very easy to get sucked into their fictional world and really want to become a part of it.

In context of the film, I noticed it felt a little more mature compared to the atmosphere of the book. When I was reading the story, I imagined the dwarves being more cute, gruff, and silly, rather than being these big, dirty, hairy men like in the movie. That’s not to say it’s a bad thing. I enjoy fantasy like this because I love the feeling of adventure and the concept of the Hero’s Journey, as well as the adventurers establishing relationships through their journeys and facing difficult obstacles along the way. 

I guess what I’m saying is, the part of the novel I’ve read felt welcoming and like a good time, whereas the film just felt like I was watching people struggle, not to mention some confusion in the beginning. I noticed Bilbo’s family background was not thoroughly explained in the film like it was in the book. They barely touched on the story of his family in the beginning, which basically explains why he changed his mind about rejecting Gandalf’s call for adventure.

Either way though, I’d probably enjoy fully experiencing both the novel and the movie.