The (yawn....) Hobbit is a real sleeper. Do you agree?

[charlotteb]

I had a great idea last year for us to read thru "The Hobbit" and "LOTR". I was so excited as we have enjoyed the movies! But, oh my goodness, it was not (as another poster put it..) my cuppa tea! We really struggled with The Hobbit. The only reason I finished it was to make a point to the kids of finishing what you start. We did not even dare try LOTR! I wanted so much for us to love these great books, but we just couldn't!

[Ravin]

Tolkien books in this house take up in excess of one full shelf on our bookcase, and our daughter is named after a Silmarillion character...so siding on the "blasphemy!" side of things. :tongue_smilie: Except I don't really take blasphemy all that seriously.

 

I never read LOTR until DH sent me a copy and said "read this!" Being at sea made sure I had nothing better to do, and I loved it. Have since read it several times and sat in long lines to see the movies opening night, etc. DD's room is decorated with pictures from The Hobbit.

 

But DW#2 has never read Tolkien, and we love her anyway. She does at least like the movies!

[Nicole M]

When I read this thread title, I thought, "You think The Hobbit is boring?! Try The Lord of the Rings!"

 

Like most books, I prefer them read to me. I tried reading them all, with the old eyeballs, and it was a no go.

[Bokons]

I loved The Hobbit when I read it in high school. Then I read the first LOTR book when I was 22 and thought it was okay. I tried to read the second one, but gave up very early on, and haven't tried them again.

 

I find that when I get to wordy descriptions (in any book), I usually skim through them, or just skip them.

[Amber in SJ]

I have to say that The Hobbit was the gateway book to my love of all fantasy literature. I read it alone under my covers when I was 6 years old. Now I look at my 7yo and think "What was my mother thinking?" I skip the spider part in The Hobbit every time, when I am reading to myself.

 

LOTR is my happy place. It is the series I re-read when I am sick, depressed, lonely, etc. I re-read them at least once a year. I adore the themes of love and friendship, loyalty and sacrifice, good and evil. I will even admit to being able to recite huge chunks of dialogue with the characters on screen the first time I saw LOTR and I cried when some of my favorite scenes came out exactly the way I had imagined.

 

My entire family (so far) loves the fantasy genre.

 

OTOH I have already admitted that I find Jane Austen to be slow going for my taste and I have to either read Dickens out loud or have it read out loud to me, otherwise I am asleep before the end of the first page.

 

It is a good thing there are so many excellent choices out there for everyone to enjoy.

 

Amber in SJ

[Ellie]

Nope. Enjoyed the Hobbit (didn't *love* it, but enjoyed it enough to read multiple times). And really, if you want to read LOTR, you must read the Hobbit first.

 

Maybe it just isn't a good read-aloud for you (or the dc).

[SonshineLearner]

I remember really liking it when I was young, and my dad read it to us.

 

:-)

[AuntieM]

I think most of the elements you've mentioned here are from the Trilogy -- am I correct? So far, we have no romance in The Hobbit, and none of the characters you've mentioned. (I remember seeing them in the trilogy movies...)

 

Here is what doesn't 'work' for me with The Hobbit: they should have just stayed home. I'm not too sympathetic with their 'need' to go and get back at Smaug. As far as I can tell (I'm only halfway through, remember...), the journey is motivated by revenge.

 

In the Trilogy, I believe they are motivated to save all that is good and right and beautiful in the world by destroying the power of the Ring. Now, THAT I can hang my hat on. Not revenge against Smaug, the nasty dragon who took our gold and destroyed our village. And they seem to have no PLAN. They're just going. To get their gold. And fight Big Bad Smaug. (Or, am I missing something?)

 

I don't care enough about their gold, or even about them avenging the deaths of the people who Smaug killed. I'm trying to care, but I just can't seem to eek it out.

 

(Perhaps some of you are now putting me on 'Ignore.' ;))

 

I'll keep trying. Because, as I've said, I want to like (LOVE, even) these books.

 

Well, I suppose you are right. I think part of it, for me, for The Hobbit itself (as the gateway to Middle Earth) was all through the question, "Why Bilbo?" Why did they have to take Bilbo along? Couldn't the dwarves have just gone along without a hobbit? Yet along he goes. And as I kept reading, I kept looking for that answer.

 

And the tale would not be the same without him.

 

I guess as I am reading, Tolkien or any other fantasy writer, I am always looking for the author's beliefs behind the story. The worldview that drives his characters to behave in certain ways. In The Hobbit I see that the ordinary, even foolish, can accomplish significant good. That the greedy sometimes do have to face the consequences. As a Christian, I see a story in which God's words, "For I know the plans I have for you..,"

are exemplified by the tale. I see Tolkien's love of nature and his disdain for those who would not shepherd it well. But besides that, I just like the story. Something so fantastical and complex could never have flowed from my pen, so I stand in awe of it. I feel the same way about Moby Dick, and that's an entirely different story altogether.

 

Of course, opinions will vary. I just like it so much that I can't imagine anyone not. But then, there is my dh.... he enjoyed the movies, but he didn't make it past The Hobbit, either!