The Hobbit Re-read

“I’m going on an adventure!”  said Bilbo Baggins

~JRR Tolkien in The Hobbit

Only great books deserve “re-reading” and The Hobbit (Wikipedia link), the 1937 published book by JRR Tolkien, is certainly one of those! I just finished reading it again on my Kindle and of course discovered “new stuff” not in my memory! He pretty much introduces a new character or creature in every chapter and then brings them all back together for the epic “Battle of Five Armies” at the end of the story.

I will not write a full or formal review but just share some first impressions and personal feelings on the re-read of a favorite book, which I followed by a re-watch of the 3-movies version of the book . . .

Book vs Movie(s)

I’ll get this off my chest first. I rarely like the movie version as well as the book with only a few exceptions like Harry Potter where those movies faithfully followed the books. The latest film series version of The Hobbit by Director Peter Jackson (Wikipedia link) is good or well-produced but in no way as good as the book and in fact does not follow the book in several places! He changes the order of some events, leaves out events and creates new events not in the book, plus, as is typical with American movies, it exaggerates the violence and gives way too much time to the battle scenes, glorifying violence, pretty much the whole 3rd movie, while the book gives a couple of chapters to it.

When I read an adventure book like this I use my imagination to create the scenes and characters and gain so much more than when I skip the book and just watch the movie. So if not too late, I strongly encourage you to read the book first! 🙂

My first introduction to The Hobbit was a little short animated movie years ago which I wish I still had. The story, or the 306 page Kindle book, could have very well been told in one good movie, but Hollywood is first about making money, so they added to the story to make it three 2.5 hour movies. They are good movies, but the book is better! 🙂

Why I Like The Hobbit Book

I am a person of adventure travel and this is one of, if not the best, adventure travel book of them all! And as a fellow-blogger recently wrote, you read books partly to discover yourself and The Hobbit does that somewhat for me, as I relate my adventures to Bilbo Baggins’ adventures and see my weaknesses and strengths in his along with motivating me to continue discovering something new in every chapter of my life. And for me there is an element of faith involved in such living, more implied than stated in the book, but made real in my Costa Rica adventures where I’ve grown closer to God.

Re-reading this classic book just motivated me to continue my discoveries and adventures in my own “Middle Earth” of Costa Rica, in the literal middle of the Americas! Like each chapter of the book, each trip in the wilds of Costa Rica introduces new characters, new creatures and new experiences to me; and they’re all posted on my blog and also in my CR TRIPS photo galleries where already 85 adventures can be seen in photos, from “lonely mountains” to dark forests and strange creatures! 🙂

“May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails, and the moon walks.”

~JRR Tolkien as Gandalf

¡Pura Vida!

Yes, I’ve already started re-reading The Lord of the Rings book. My Kindle version is all together in “one book” though usually published as three books titled like the three movies and in the intro I just learned that Tolkien wrote these stories originally as 6 books! This is a longer and heavier read than The Hobbit and will take a lot longer to complete. I will probably report by the three major sections. 🙂