The Hobbit-- Reading, does it make a difference?

I have been thinking a lot about our modern society, and all the technologies we have been bombarded with,  and I think it has majorally disrupted our wanting to talk about The Hobbit.
Gone for now are the days when you went to the library, or if you had the cash, went into a store and put your money on the counter and then rushed home with your treasure and read and read and thought and thought whenever you had an extra five minutes and you tucked that memory somewhere in your thoughts and came back to it from time to time.
But now you go to see a movie because it is the buzz of the day, everyone is talking about it around the water cooler. And perhaps you get a few ooohs and aaahs if you say that you actually read the book and it is in your opinion an awesome book. And then, slowly it dies away and only the die hard fans are left and the rest, well who cares, there are a thousand movies waiting to be seen and perhaps when you are old and nothing else interests, you will go back and examine the thrill again of that time.
It kind of reminds me of that movie where , well the series anyway, where you skated and skated and when you reached a certain age, you had to voluntarily die and it was so anxiety producing for all those or any of those who actually chose to critically think and want to live.
I remember seeing the reruns and on the last day a guy made it above ground and found I think , books and it was like he stumbled upon the Garden that was southwest of Eden. I cried a lot over that.
LOTR is about ordinary people for the most part trying to right a wrong, trying to preserve life that allowed you to live in peace, according to your kin and how they set things up, and once in a while the tribes crossed paths and there was wonder and amazement for those who thought a little outside their experience, like Truman when he realized there was so much more.  And some never knew, or little and they did not care, just lived like.
But the gathering evil suddenly made their thinking much different, just like now. We get in a bind and all the cell phones and ipads and sattelites in the world won't make up for the trouble you are in. And you remember vaguely a movie and it had a lot of emotion like you were facing, smashing back evils. And you go back and read and are filled with emotion. Then you find that others are too and you band together again for a while. And you remember or learn anew and there is a comradeship.
And that goes for LOTR and The Hobbit. For someone has to read the original or all is lost. So you hope that in the world someone besides you cares. If not, Sauron's of this world win.
So I am going to make time , somehow to re read all of it, and I will remember and encourage others to do so, movie or not. That is what it is all about. Last winter our whole family had a weekly The Hobbit read. We all read, even Hasia and we had treats after and talked and argued and felt somehow we were a part of something noble, something that mattered and we could use it in our lives. But we had to cut out a lot of stuff and be more simple and it was so worth it.

Very thought-provoking post, leelee. I do not think the joy of reading has vanished entirely, but I believe you're right in saying that fewer choose to read when they can "just watch the movie instead". I hear it all the time. And I'd join you for a reread, but I reread both LotR and TH only a few months ago, and I am now reading the A Game of Thrones series, so fear not - at least on this forum you will still find those who can enjoy a good book

As I have just posted in another thread, a young colleague of mine has seen AuJ and it inspired her to read The Hobbit. She loved the book and she’s not going to see DoS, because she doesn’t want that experience to be ruined. Now she's going to read LotR, next week I will lend her my copies.

Unfortunately I believe this is the exception that proves the rule. Modern society and modern technologies overwhelm us with all kind of information and sensation but nobody has time anymore to care and think about it. It’s consumed and forgotten. It doesn’t leave a trace, so to say. Moreover most new movies (music, books, put in whatever you want) are not really worth discussing it. They are produced for the masses, with the only purpose to make as much money as possible. Recently a friend spoke of ‘fast-food-movies’ and I think he nailed it.

As far as LotR and Jackson’s movies are concerned, there is another problem that bothers me. I’m afraid, that under the weight of Jackson’s adaptions, the book is fading. I hate the thought, that e.g. everyone thinks of Elijah Wood when he reads the name Frodo. Tolkien created such a wonderful world, I don’t want it to be reduced to PJs interpretation. But it is hard to get the movies out of your mind, once you’ve seen them and probably even harder, when you’ve seen them first and read to book afterwards.

Interesting thoughts, leelee (though I hope you meant "right a wrong" )

I'm rereading LotR now, but I wish I'd waited another year. I've found that I don't think I should read this book too frequently—I don't want it to become too familiar.

I did mean right a wrong. You are right of course, if we read it too often we become too familiar and the wonder fades. I just meant we must read the book, we just must or we end up going from scene to scene from the movies in our mind and that s sad. I remember in the Silmarillion the absolute wonder I felt at the magic and the other world feeling and the word 'rightness' shouting in my mind. Here was somewhere I could join the force of some good men and women that not only cared about themselves and their families but all of middle earth. Pure unselfishness that let their characters shine forth like a diamond star that never tarnished.
And strangely, as I tried to fall asleep, the famous words in a hole in the ground came to me and I wondered why he said that. Really it was a house in the side of a hill. It was not something that was opened up on the ground and you went down inside it and dwelt there. It was an assortment of dwellings that simply opened into the side of the hill. Funny how words get stuck in your head and you don't really analyze them.
What did he feel like John I mean, when he took that precious piece of paper and penned those words. Did he feel something pulling at his brain and heart that was beyond him. Or did he toy with it because it was a unique concept?

leelee wrote:I did mean right a wrong.  You are right of course, if we read it too often we become too familiar and the  wonder fades.  I just meant we must read the book, we just must or we end up going from scene to scene from the movies  in our mind and that s sad.

Not a problem for me. I honestly can't stand to watch any of the movies. The less I remember of them the better, for reasons opposite from the book

You sound wise and a calm person, a lovely combination of Radaghast and Gandalf and you have keen eyesight. why do you not lead us on a journey of how your mind see things, I would definitely sign up!

Thanks

Rhiannon wrote:
As far as LotR and Jackson’s movies are concerned, there is another problem that bothers me. I’m afraid, that under the weight of Jackson’s adaptions, the book is fading. I hate the thought, that e.g. everyone thinks of Elijah Wood when he reads the name Frodo. Tolkien created such a wonderful world, I don’t want it to be reduced to PJs interpretation. But it is hard to get the movies out of your mind, once you’ve seen them and probably even harder, when you’ve seen them first and read to book afterwards.

Hi Rhiannon,

There's no doubt that happens. Before Jackson, there was a long line of Tolkien artists who had effectively standardized how we see Middle Earth, and as a result my mind will never be as free to imagine that world again.

But I think it's probably a fair price to pay. There are two ways a story can fade: into the shadow of it's own fame, or into the oblivion of the back room of a used bookshop with thousands of other unwanted old books, some of them truly brilliant.

This fame seems better to me. It insures that many people like your colleague will be appreciating the books for many years.

I think it's true that reading as a form of entertainment has become less relevant to a great number of people, but there are those who still do it. Once prose was looked down upon when poetry and meters were the popular things. I don't think it's too different. There will always be those who are interested in what they are interested in.

Radaghast wrote: I'm rereading LotR now, but I wish I'd waited another year. I've found that I don't think I should read this book too frequently—I don't want it to become too familiar.

I reread it ever so often as well. My problem is I have a bad memory and don't to 'lose' anything. Of course I'll always remember what I deem to be the "spirit of Tolkien"    but I like to stay versed in the finer details too.   

It's odd because, even though things may become more familiar overall, this time certain details seem harder to figure out that didn't before; Helm's Deep, for example. But even with my first reading of it, I found myself wishing there was a blueprint. I think that's one case where remembering the movie might actually be helpful at least as far as the layout of the place.

David H wrote:
But I think it's probably a fair price to pay. There are two ways a story can fade: into the shadow of it's own fame, or into the oblivion of the back room of a used bookshop with thousands of other unwanted old books, some of them truly brilliant.

Hi David H,

that's a very wise and good thought. I've never seen it this way. But it also makes me sad, cause it's a high price and it makes me even sadder when I think about all these brilliant old books that maybe remain unread. After all, reading always does make a difference  

It is true, there will always be those that either stumble upon Tolkien and become hopelessly in love with his works or it could be someone who stumbles upon Beatrix Potter and falls in love with her mixture of brutal honesty ( example-  Peter Rabbit's father ignoring the warnings and ravings of Mr. McGreggor and becoming a rabbit pie in the skillful hands of the Mrs.) and her enchanting gift of writing. But we are talking of , well to me, one of the finest works of imagination of all time. The way we could find our way from the lane of Bilbo Baggin's home to the Last Homely House and on to the Misty Mountains and onward, it is so real. And you just cannot tell it all with a motion picture or series of them. Something would always it seems, be wrong and something would always be missing.
I visited a site that Orwell visited, and he skillfully tried (we shall see in time ) to invite the inhabitants to our site . I was impressed with how long they have been together and the way they stuck to Tolkien and discussed it. I may be wrong but I think someone on there said they started at a Barnes and Noble discussion place in 2000 and are still going and that is something else. So I suppose in this vast cyber highway there will always be someone with whom LOTR and  The Hobbit will always be current.
Maybe the reading and the movie was a once in a life time thing and we had our joy. Maybe in the distant future some idealist , young and full of promise, and having a fair bit of gold can start over again and all over the world the buzzword will be the work of JRR Tolkien. Who knows?

Maybe I am weird but the LOTR films are exactly how I imagine the books, so maybe I am lucky because for me the films are a fantastic window onto Middle Earth. Hobbiton is exactly how I imagine it, Rivendell is even better than how I imagined it, Minas Morgul is uncannily like how I imagine it in the book, as for Minas Tirith it blows my socks off how beautiful it is in the film. So I dont get a sense of disapoinment in these films at all, quite the opposite in fact. I love em.

Some of the films is pretty close to how I envision things-mainly because The Shire, Wilderland etc in the films are pretty close in some respects to similar landscapes in the UK, others such as Minas Tirith or the Glittering Caves are totally at odds with how I see things.

With the way Tolkien describes his landscapes I have a habit of getting a different mental picture everytime I re read the books, so I never get that worked up about the wrong shades of grass or the overly mossy rocks in the way a certain Scotshobbit might...

Don't type Tolkien related stuff into Deviant Art there is so much wonderful stuff there you will never be able to get you own imagery back...

The hardest thing to get out of my head is dour-ass Orlando Bloom's Legolas.

these might help


http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Category:Images_of_Legolas

I am still traumatized over Boromir in a mini skirt and Viking horned hat.

Yeah...and the gaint carrot man treebeard...

That's something we can all agree on Bakshi's film was so weird (not necessarily bad-I actually kinda like it) there is no danger of own imaginations taking it too seriously.

I like your new Forum Avatar Figgs   

malickfan wrote:Yeah...and the gaint carrot man treebeard...

That's something we can all agree on Bakshi's film was so weird (not necessarily bad-I actually kinda like it) there is no danger of own imaginations taking it too seriously.

I like your new Forum Avatar Figgs   

cheers! this is my original avatar based on Mrs Figg from Harry Potter .

When I first came an looked at that avy I knew Julia was a multi layered person with a fine mind.

The only multi layers I have got is 3 jumpers cos its freezin   

In a hole in the ground lived a Yoghurt. Not a nasty,dirty,wet hole,filled with the ends of walnuts and an oozy sausage,nor yet a dry,bare,sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a yoghurt hole,and that means comfort.
It had a perfectly round door like a pineapple,painted green,with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a turnip shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without celery, with potato walls, and floors tiled and carbonated, provided with polished chairs and lots and lots of plums for hats and coats-the yoghurt was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on ,going fartingly but not quite straight into the side of the Hill-The Hill,as all the potatoes for many miles round called it-and many little round doors opened out of it,first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the Yoghurt: mushrooms,bathrooms,cellars,pastries (lots of these) ,wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to carrots),kitchens,dining-rooms,all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same parsnip. The best rooms were all on the lollypop side (going in),for these were the only ones to have windscreens, deep-set round windscreens looking out over his garden,and mealworms beyond, sloping down to the river. This yoghurt was a very well-to-do yoghurt, and his name was Brillopad. The Brillopads
had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of menopause,and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich,but also because they never had any hemorrhoids or did anything unexpected: you could tell what a Brillopad would say on any question without the bother of asking him. This is a story of how a Brillopad had an adventure, and found himself doing time and saying things altogether under influence. He may have lost the plot, but he gained a criminal record-well, you will see if he gained anything in the end.

malickfan wrote:these might help


http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Category:Images_of_Legolas

I like this one: