I know we will all chose Baltar
but is still want to do ir
AT first I was going to question your decision; however, Jelly beans are far superior to the hobbit.
I don’t think I ever even tryed to read the hobbit.
If you don’t read it, eat it!
Just about ANYTHING is far superior to The Hobbit, in my view. I’ve tried to read that darn book TWICE, and I always make it to the same point and get exhasperated. Bilbo Baggins should have kicked all those rude elves, wizards and Druids (or whatever) out of his house for the bunch of moochers that they were. Would’ve saved EVERYONE a whole lot of trouble.
In carnival side-show culture it is. 
I spent the weekend doing pretty much nothing. I went to Flagler Beach to meet up with some college friends and spent the weekend in the pool and a few hours at the beach. We drank beer, at some pizza and grilled. I didn’t go near a computer (thus my absences). It was one of the most relaxing weekends i have had in a long time and now i am back at work…sigh…
EDIT [the only bad part of the weekend was i got as sunburned on the shoulders and slept on a couch that was barely bigger than my torso. but that was minimal compared to the awesomeness of the rest of the weekend.]
The Hobbit reads like a YA book rather than adult literature, even though it has some lofty themes. I think for most people if you don’t read it at a young age it’s hard to get invested in. The adventure story is pretty great, though: shy, hairy, fat little man who likes sitting still and smoking pipes gets roped into becoming a petty thief and winds up a hero of sorts. There’s a dragon! And wizards! And trolls! And Really Creepy Big-ass Spiders!
I hated The Hobbit. I never actually finished it. I found the writing clunky and couldn’t get into the story. Mind you, I knew the story because I saw the cartoon version (oh the horror), but the book… yeah.
It’s shameful. But it’s the only book I’ve never been able to finish.
No waaaaaayy, dude!
Anyway, I saw the cartoon when I was…5, I think? It scared me then, but thinking back to it now, I think I’d like it. I don’t think I’ve ever read the book. You’d think I’d remember something like that.
I’m going to totter off now and take my memory pills before I walk out of the house without pants.
I LOVED that cartoon. It was why I picked up the Hobbit and read it as soon as I was old enough to make it through such a long book. It’s totally cheesey and lame but still good.
Ditto that. Plus my Dad’s casual mentiion of the Lord of the Rings and how it was much more advanced made me want to read the rest of them.
Managed to get my Dad to read Watchmen. He enjoyed it a lot, next step is Sandman.
What about the books on tape? That came in the wooden box? We had to listen to them every car trip… despite my love for fantasy and sci-fi, I didn’t actually read the LOTR trilogy until about 6 months before Fellowship came out.
And it’s really interesting Starbuccaneer what you say about the movie, because I had the totally opposite reaction. 
I highly remcommend The Sillmarillion as a book on tape. Because of all the eleven names and places etc, it’s a hefty thing to get through by reading. But by audiobook it’s a pleasure.
I saw the cartoon at a young age also, i enjoyed it
Thanks, Im considering getting that, and thats mighty helpful
Thanks, Im considering getting that, and thats mighty helpful[/QUOTE]woohoo, mah library has it, im picking it up tonight
The Noldor are my favorite elves: But I have to admit that Feanor, son of Finwee, brother of Fingolfin really needs to lighten up. He gets so worked up about things. He really should learn to chill and be more like the Vanyar sometimes, know what I mean?
Only one? I’ve failed to finish many books, though few because they sucked out loud. Mostly other things take priority over my reading (say, putting together a graduate music analysis curriculum, which is why I’ve yet to finish “John Adams,” which also reads like molasses, no matter what anyone says about David McCullough’s otherwise wonderful prose). Two times it’s been because I just didn’t have the time AND didn’t get it (i.e. it was MY fault, not the book’s): Anna Karenina (mostly no time, actually, though around page 500 I stopped being able to tell characters apart…my fault) and Don Quijote (which, in my defense, I was reading in the original 17th century Spanish. So there!).
The Hobbit just annoyed me. Not Stephen Deadalus in “Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man” annoyed (I still finished the book. It was good. I just HATED the character). More like, “Bilbo, you’re an idiot and I can’t buy into this story at all” kind of way.
I’ve also been told that you have to read the book when you’re young to really get it, but I don’t buy it. Good children’s literature surpasses age. My first grader (as of today) and I have been reading through The Magic Treehouse series. Now those are great young reader’s books! They’re simple and engaging and are fun both for the kids and their parents.
The Hobbit’s just, I don’t know, awkward. I seriously couldn’t get past the first couple of chapters.
And yet, fully expecting The Lord of the Rings to be more of the same (and there are problems with that book, IMO, certainly–cough–Tom Bombadill–cough, cough) I found it incredibly fascinating. So I know Tolkien is capable of engaging fiction.