My last read of the last year was none other than The Hobbit. I had always wanted to read this classic, having loved the films and Tolkien's Middle Earth. When I had first thought about reading the series someone had told me his writing was boring, the books were boring and way too complicated to enjoy, and that they felt like reading a history textbook. That last bit had discouraged me. I never liked History. I still don't like it. When I heard the books being compared to History textbooks I was put off and I decided to push them further away along with the rest of the books in my TBR pile. A couple months ago, when we finished a Hobbit/LOTR movie marathon, I decided it was time and finally grabbed Abbie's copy of The Hobbit and dived in.
Tolkien's writing was far from boring. In fact, I actually enjoyed reading The Hobbit a lot. I loved the way he wrote as if he was telling the story to me face to face. It brought back the good times when I used to be a kid and my school's library periods would have Story Day where my favorite sweet voiced library teacher would read a book out to us. That's how I felt reading The Hobbit. I was in the story but not like I feel when I read The Harry Potter books (my favorites by the way!). Instead of feeling like I was next to Bilbo going through all his adventures with him, I felt like I was being told all of it first hand. Tolkien's writing made me feel like I was part of his story in a very important way but as a listener. I knew the way the story would go, of course, because I had seen the movies first. Yet, I felt like I had to somehow get my voice through to Bilbo to warn him or tell him what to do. I was like that kid from the first Never Ending Story movie; trying to get my voice through to tell the characters what to do, somehow feeling like it would actually alter the story. It was a beautiful experience.
The book was good. I loved the characters, the adventures, the storytelling style, everything. However, I do have to say this, and you'll possibly hear me saying this for the first and maybe the last time ... the movies were better! Oh my God, yes, I said that. I really did just admit that the movies were better than the books. Before I'm charged guilty for this blasphemous statement, let me explain myself.
See, I was certain when I began reading the book that, just like it always happens, I would find that the movies toned down a very brilliant book series by cutting out all the awesome details. Also this was the first time ever that I was reading a book after having seen its movie adaptation because with me it is usually the other way round. So I went in with all these expectations but found that the book actually didn't even have all of the characters that the movie did. I kept reading and noticed that if I'd read the books first I wouldn't have imagined the Dwarves to look like they did in the movies. In the books they are somewhat childishly described (I remember a blue beard and all!) and definitely aren't as cool as I thought they were in the movies. Thorin, for sure, I wouldn't have imagined to be the way he was in the movies - all king like. I did Google it up and I think The Hobbit was meant to be like a book for kids? If that's true, and I can't really say for sure because I didn't really dig into the search results, then that makes sense.
It's not just the Dwarves who I found to be less ... grand. Yes, grand is the word I was looking for. I say the movies were awesome-r because of how grand they've made them. The battle at the end was just mind blowing on TV but in the books most of it happened while Bilbo was passed out. Forget all of it, there was no AZOG THE DEFILER in the book. Now let me tell you, and again I wouldn't have expected this to come out of my mouth ever, I missed Azog! Hahaha! Azog literally gives me goosebumps while watching the movies. I fear him! Horror movies don't easily scare me anymore so no, I'm not easily scared. But Azog and his pale skin and the inhuman voice and language ... I fear Azog, okay?! I find myself grabbing a cushion or covering myself with a blanket when I watch The Hobbit because of that guy. And the scene where he opens his eyes under the frozen water ... kills me. I was almost offended that he wasn't in the book at all and surprised at my feelings! Hahaha! Oh and speaking of missing characters brings me to another one I missed in the book: LEGOLAS! Without the swish of his miraculously perfect hair and his swag and his sass the book felt incomplete to me.
There were countless other places in the book where I found myself turning a few pages back to make sure I hadn't accidentally flipped more than a page because there was so much from the movies that was missing. There was no battle between Azog and Thorin, which is something I love in the movies. There was no Legolas killing Bolg. There was just so much missing. I do wonder how fans of the books must have felt when they watched the movies. Did they love all the extra detail and richness the movies added to Tolkien's world? Or did they feel offended at all the changes and additions? I also wonder how I would have felt if I'd read the books first and I'm not sure about that. Would I have been upset or happy?
Regardless of me being in love with the grandeur of the films, I still did love reading The Hobbit. It was fun to read the original classic and my book-loving heart loved Tolkien's story telling style too much. The movies will always be my favorite though because after all, who knew I'd turn out to be an Azog fan? Hahaha! I do plan on reading the Lord of the Rings books as well but not right away because I'm starting Tom Felton's Beyond the Wand next. I don't know if I'll see the same details missing from the LOTR books compared to the movies as well but I'm excited to find out. I'm also a little nervous because that history textbook comment still rings in my ears. Will I end up liking the LOTR books like I did The Hobbit? There's just one way to find out and once I do, I'll report back with details!
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