The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien

The Hobbit is one of my favorite books, so here's a discussion on the book and also on the movies.  

  
Book - Plot Summary:  In the tranquil Shire, there lives a race of little people known as hobbits. They are calm, sensible people and live cozily and quietly. Bilbo Baggins, an especially practical hobbit, certainly does not long after adventure, but it's thrust upon him when Gandalf the wandering wizard arrives on his doorstep, bringing with him a pack of slightly riotous dwarves. Thorin Oakenshield, the heir to the dwarf kingdom of Erebor, hopes to reclaim his kingdom from the greedy dragon Smaug who took over it many years ago. Gandalf wants Bilbo to come along as a "Burglar" (or you can call it Expert Treasure-Seeker, if you like). At once Bilbo is flung into an adventure that surpasses his wildest expectations. As the Company travels over the Wilderlands of Middle-Earth, Bilbo must fight enormous spiders, evade trolls, riddle with a strange slimy creature known as Gollum to keep his life, travel down a river in a barrel, and ultimately engage a fearsome dragon. And what's that mysterious ring he picked up in the goblin tunnels? Bilbo's unexpected journey will change him forever. 

Book - Discussions: This book is easy to read, and very funny, written in a whimsical style. I read it at around eight and understood most of it, although I was a little confused about the ending and understood more when I re-read it later. This book remains one of my favorites.
   As for characters, Bilbo is an amusing hero. He's reluctant to leave his cozy hobbit-hole, but agrees to do so when one of the dwarves questions his courage. He proves to be quite courageous when the need arises, but throughout the story he remains the sturdy sensible hobbit, wishing to go back home, or for a pocket-handkerchief, or at least to have a nice meal of eggs and bacon. Although the dwarves are suspicious of his ability to help them, Bilbo surprises them by turning out quite brave and even rescuing them all a few times. 
    Gandalf, the quick-tempered wandering wizard, never loses faith in Bilbo. He firmly believes that Bilbo is the perfect addition to the Company and that joining the Company will be the best thing for Bilbo. Gandalf himself is an inconsistent member of the Company; occasionally he sticks around and gets the dwarves and Bilbo out of tight spots, but sometimes he merely disappears or deliberately leaves them alone to figure things out for themselves. 
     Thorin Oakenshield, the heir to the kingdom of Erebor, is the most distant to Bilbo, and distrusts his ability a little, but he is quick to appreciate Bilbo when the once-timid hobbit proves himself valuable. 
    The other dwarves of the Company (Balin, Dwalin, Fili, Kili, Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur) all have various perceptions of Bilbo and although you don't get to know some of them very well, you discover a few things about them. For instance, Thorin's nephews Fili and Kili are the younger dwarves who are always in good spirits and willing to help. Bombur is very fat and can be a little lazy. All of them demonstrate loyalty to each other. 
     As for other characters, the dragon Smaug is simply the most perfect evil dragon I think I've ever read about (aside from other dragons of Tolkien's invention). He's clever and perceptive, and isn't scared of the dwarves at all. Depending on their region, the elves in The Hobbit treat the Company differently. Learned Elrond of Rivendell welcomes them gladly, but the elf-king of Mirkwood (identified in other books as Thranduil) distrusts the dwarves and locks them up in his dungeons. Lake-town, the little town near the conquered kingdom of Erebor, is a place of timid fishermen ruled by a greedy and rather weak Master. There aren't as many characters to keep track of as there are in Tolkien's famous Lord of the Rings, but they're richly drawn and humorous. 

Overall: I highly recommend this book!

   Now for the movie. I have seen the entire Hobbit movie, so here are my thoughts. First of all, I would have preferred that the story kept to the original plot and stayed in one telling, one movie, instead of adding different plots in and making three movies (An Unexpected Journey, The Desolation of Smaug, and The Battle of the Five Armies). I still really enjoyed the movies, though. 
   
Discussions: The general plotline of the movie is the same as the book: Bilbo Baggins the hobbit sets off to travel with Thorin Oakenshield and his Company to reclaim the dwarves' kingdom of Erebor. But a lot of different things happen along the way. 
    For one thing, a leader of the orcs (goblins) arises to defeat the dwarves. This orc, whose name is Azog, antagonized and attacked the dwarves years before. In the Hobbit movie, he returns to defeat Thorin after retreating for a while. In the Appendices, Tolkien makes it clear that Azog was killed before the trouble with Smaug. But in the movies, Azog turns up and pursues the dwarves with his son Bolg and legions of orcs. Not only are they fueled by a thirst to conquer the dwarves now, but they are commanded by Sauron the Necromancer, who is gathering his power. This also is a little out of place with Tolkien's original plot and timeline, and doesn't exactly fit seamlessly with The Lord of the Rings. Gandalf constantly leaves the Company for the purpose of learning about the Necromancer and trying to defeat him with the help of the wizards  Radagast the Brown (portrayed as a quirky hermit with an obsessive love for wildlife) and Saruman the White (portrayed as austere and harsh), along with the Lothlorien Elf-queen Galadriel and the Rivendell Elf-lord Elrond. 

     

Thorin Oakenshield

    Also, Thorin Oakenshield's character is a little darker and grimmer. While he does seem perhaps a little more kingly than Tolkien's character, the movie Thorin lacks the book version's warmth and humanity of character. He's distant and proud, thinks little of Bilbo and in fact doesn't think of much besides getting his kingdom and his gold back. Then he becomes slightly obsessed with his gold. You do get to know some of the dwarves better, which I enjoyed. I really liked the movie version of Balin. 
     Now for Lake-town. (I really, really like the theme music. It's so perfect.) Bard, a captain with a somewhat minor role in the book (trying not to give any spoilers here), was interesting to see more of, but he wasn't quite what I thought he would be like. I imagined him to be a lot grimmer and less friendly. Also, I wasn't expecting him to have three kids. 
The Master of Lake-town is a greedy, weak, selfish drunkard and keeps the people of Lake-town under strict regulations with the scheming Alfred, who carried out the Master's orders. Alfred is a nasty person, but I have to admit that he's fun to quote. 
      The kingdom of Erebor is a fascinating place, a towering castle with underground vaults and chambers filled with gold. I must say, I didn't expect so much gold. And quite a few of the scenes with the dwarves and Smaug in Erebor seem a bit unrealistic. But Erebor is still pretty amazing.  

King Thranduil

   

  The Mirkwood Elves... well... Elves are probably my favorite of Tolkien's magical folk. I didn't like Legolas Greenleaf quite as much in The Hobbit as I did in Lord of the Rings, but watching him expertly slay monstrous spiders was still interesting. Although I like movies better when they're nearer the book, I really liked getting to see the developed King Thranduil. He was perfectly arrogant and cold and distant. Slight spoilers ahead. But I really don't like that he told Legolas to go seek out Strider (from Lord of the Rings), because I worked out that Strider would have been around seven years old. Another example of the skewed timeline... End of slight spoilers. While we're still on the subject of Elves... Tauriel. The made-up Elf Tauriel annoyed me a bit. I suppose it's interesting to see what a female Mirkwood Elf was like, as opposed to the serene Ladies Galadriel and Arwen, but I found her irritating. For one thing, why red hair? Isn't that really Dwarvish, not Elvish? (Okay, that's actually pretty minor). I also just didn't like that a romance had to come up with her and a certain dwarf. If there wasn't a romance, I think I would be a lot more open to her character. Despite all these things, I love the Mirkwood scenes of the Hobbit movie. The woodland palace is so beautiful. I wish there was a real place like that.  
   

  Bilbo, who's really the most important character, is done well. Although it's a pity that the scene of him singing to distract the spiders of Mirkwood was left out of the movies. He remains a sturdy, practical, loyal hobbit in both book and movie.

Overall: There are quite a few things I don't really like about the movies. But still, I very much enjoy watching them, so I do recommend them. 


If you've read the book, what do you think of it? What about the movies?