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.
No comments:
Post a Comment