3/2012: JRR Tolkien, "The Hobbit"

GWC Community Book Club Winning Nominees and Polls
#1

Please forgive me if I’m not nominating this book correctly for the March/April 2012 vote, I’m a newb.

I think this would make a good club pick with the release of the film adaptation this year. Also, if you haven’t heard of it before, there’s a podcast called The Tolkien Professor: http://bit.ly/yQhqYp
Corey Olsen is a college prof who teaches a course on Tolkien. He was also a guest on The Geek’s Guide To The Galaxy podcast a while back: http://bit.ly/xsaONd Very fascinating dude if you like to geek out on Middle Earth.

Someone please correct me if I screwed up the Book Club etiquette, thanks!

#2

Welcome aboard. We’ll never “n00b” you, so no need to newb yourself. Tolkein Prof stopped by the Watercooler before you did!

http://forum.galacticwatercooler.com/showthread.php?9281-GWC-Podcast-197&highlight=corey+olsen

Keep all the quality book suggestions coming.

#3

No correction needed! :slight_smile:
(Besides which, we’re nice people around here)
Thanks for the nomination!

#4

Muchas gracias!

#5

Welcome -Philip- !

RE: The Hobbit

Great suggestion, because
A: A surprising number of people who’ve read the trilogy have never read The Hobbit, and
B: It’s a normal-sized novel and not something that one would have to dedicate their entire Spring to reading, and
C: It’s AWESOME !
D: It’s got a TALKING FRAKKIN’ DRAGON! Hello!

#6

Thanks Topgun! You just sold The Hobbit better than I did.

#7

It’s March 1, and I get to announce, to the joy of many, that the Book Club selection for March and April is The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien.

Not far away was his island, of which Bilbo knew nothing, and there in his hiding-place he kept a few wretched oddments, and one very beautiful thing, very beautiful, very wonderful. He had a ring, a golden ring, a precious ring.

SPOILERS AHEAD

#8

And to the delight of many, The Hobbit is our March/April Book Club selection. Get (re-)reading, my friends, and when you’re ready, head over to the discussion. :slight_smile:

#9

Awesome choice folks! (Since I also voted for it, I am somewhat biased)

A great introduction to Middle Earth, Hobbits, Goblins, Elves, and why you NEVER LEAVE THE PATH if a wizard tells you so!

There may also be a bit about some type of ring or something, but I don’t think anything will come of it in the long run. :slight_smile:

Oh, and a quick aside: If you can, look for a copy with JRRT’s original illustrations. Kind of enhances the experience!

#10

I like to recommend The Annotated Hobbit(http://amzn.to/wHmRUh), most recent edition since it was updated from the original. It has great notes and illustrations, particularly the cover art “Conversation with Smaug” drawn by Tolkien himself. I’d love to have a print of that on my wall someday.

#11

My favorite chapter of this book was Riddles In The Dark. This was mostly due to the implications that this would have on later events, well documented in book and film, and what it would mean for the characters. Personally - I was underwhelmed by the battle scenes but to be fair, writing excellent battle scenes has never been a strong point of JRR Tolkien. Further, I do not think it was his intention to write great fights as the story was always larger than the battle itself.

#12

Excellent point. When I think about the Hobbit I don’t necessarily recall the battle scenes. In fact it’s the last thing I remember. Mostly I love the first scene in Bag end when the dwarves show up, the riddles in the dark with Gollum, and the scenes with Smaug. If you google Smaug there are hundreds of great images from many artists around the world. Just shows how many visual interpretations of this material there are. Right now I am finishing reading The Hobbit to my daugther, which I have to say is a ton of fun. However, I have an old copy with some of the drawings from the first animated movie…And as a Tolkien lover they really make me cringe. The dwarves look like their from snow white, the elves look like spindly legged green crappy aliens, and the hobbits look like fat, jolly round faced drunks. Ugh. At least the drawings of Smaug weren’t too bad. I hope My daughter isn’t scarred for life!

Durzo

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sugexp=ernk_fspiked&cp=4&gs_id=d&xhr=t&q=smaug&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1920&bih=989&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=8gN9T9uNPMSU0QHt2JTvCw

#13

I wonder, if there were no books published by Tolkien about Middle Earth and we didn’t already have this very basic frame of reference- how would The Hobbit be received if published as a new work in our present day?

#14

That’s an interesting question. I actually think that it would be received very well!

#15

I’m not sure people would put up with Tolkien’s prose nowadays. But that might also come from my experience of students refusing to even try to engage with any language that is different from the way they speak. :frowning:

#16

I’ve often thought about translating The Hobbit into Text!Speak.

Gandalf: BILBO, LYK, COME WIF US!
Bilbo: LOL! GANDALF U CRAY! I AIN’T NO BRACEGIRDLE FROM HARDBOTTLE.

#17

I’ve just finished The Hobbit for the first time.

Have to say that the adventures were fun, but the characters besides Gandalf, Bilbo and a bit Thorin were waay too generic. All the rest of the dwarfs had little to none personality. And Smaug went out like a punk.

I’m wondering why Radagast, Legolas & Galadriel weren’t in the book. Either Peter Jackson included them only for his movies now, or might I have had a different version of the book?

Have to agree, the meeting of Bilbo with Gollum was the highlight for me as well.

Well, at least I now know the foundations for the new movie trilogy. Sure when the last one is released I’ll have forgotten some of it.

#18

If you enjoy Tolkien at all, I have to recommend the Tolkien Professor podcast, it’s pretty amazing. He was a guest on Episode 197 http://bit.ly/YuJmEd

I’m currently listening to the Silmarillion audiobook and the Tolkien Professor’s Silmarillion Seminar podcasts chapter by chapter. The book is the very definition of a hard read, but the corresponding podcasts make it so understandable, rewarding, and fascinating. No small time commitment, but worth the while!

#19

Not in the book. At least not by name. The elf king who imprisoned the dwarves was Lego’s father, so he could have been in the background in those scenes, but wasn’t mentioned by name. Radagast and Galadriel tie into what happened when Gandalf left the group in Mirkwood, which wasn’t really dealt with in the original Hobbit.

Also, as a random note, the Riddles in the Dark chapter was rewritten for the second edition to lay the groundwork for LotR. Originally, Gollum wasn’t as twisted.

I agree on the recommendation of the Tolkien Professor podcasts.