I have a confession to make. I never finished reading Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. Considering that I go to a “nerdy” school and the fact that I write for BB, I’m aware that I can be tried more than once for this cardinal crime. I started reading the volumes some time in middle school and just couldn’t follow through to the end. Since then, I simply “haven’t had the time” to give the three volumes another fair chance. (I know, that attempt at making an excuse was about as weak as my attempt to read the novels in the first place.) Point is, please forgive me.
Oddly enough, however, I have read The Hobbit multiple (four or five, depending on if you count the time that my mother read it to me) times and absolutely adore it! I remember even making a board game based on it for a book report in elementary school. Some might explain my difference in taste for the books by commenting that The Hobbit is considered as children’s literature while The Lord of the Rings is not. What can I say, I will always be a sucker for fun, well-written stories that use simple prose and involve dragons. Can you really blame me?
The Hobbit is a fantasy novel. The protagonist, Bilbo Baggins, is a hobbit. These are fictional home-loving “relatives” of the human race. Bilbo takes a step (rather, thousands of steps) away from his rather comfortable and predictable lifestyle when he joins a band of dwarves in their quest to steal treasure that is guarded by Smaug, a dragon. Of course, the journey to Lonely Mountain (where Smaug sleeps upon the treasure) is not smooth cruising for the company. It includes plenty of trolls, elves, goblins, and giant spiders (and not to mention a certain magical ring) to keep readers engrossed in the magical tale.
December 14 this year marks the release of a film adaption of The Hobbit produced and directed by Peter Jackson, also the director and producer of The Lord of the Rings film adaptions, which were extremely well done. (Of course, my opinion might not hold much value since I didn’t actually make it through the books, but my friends who have read the books and seen the movies wholeheartedly agree.) Long story short, I’m stoked! The first is being released in two parts; the second installment is scheduled to be released just barely under a year later, on December 13, 2013.
