Sunday, November 20, 2016

Week Six: Heroic Journey


For week six, I read the Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien.  I also watched all three of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit films as well.  I was really excited when I found out this book was on the reading list for this week. I have fond memories of this book from before I could even read; studying the illustrations on the inside cover of my father’s copy for hours and trying to recreate the map perfectly – well as perfectly as a child could have without tracing. Having read the book already I knew what I was getting into, but I did feel I needed a bit of a refresher.  After re-reading the book and re-watching the movies, I can definitely say I much prefer the book. Not to discredit Peter Jackson in any way, but experiencing the movies after reading the actual story just kind of feels like a chore. There was just too much “fluff” added to the films and the story definitely did not need to be stretched across three approximately three-hour movies. And don’t even get me started on that awful romance between Kili and Tauriel. Do not get me wrong; I think the movies by themselves are great, especially for a person who might not have read any of Tolkien’s work yet. It is a great way to introduce his stories to a different audience and I think it has been very successful in doing just that. I just feel when comparing the films to the book, if I was forced to only be able to enjoy one for the rest of my life, I would always choose the book.

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