The Hobbit: Fun Version of LotR

I don't know why it took me so long to eventually decide to read the book. It has a good reputation of being a classic, and its praises, along with its companion Lord of the Rings' praises are sung everywhere. But at last I took it and read ot cover to cover, and because we're talking about Tolkien's book, I finished it in one night.

Bilbo Baggins was a boring person, I should say with my judgement as a human being. As most hobbits he was content with his daily routine of waking up, cooking, eating, and whatever a normal hobbit in his hole usually did. But then came Gandalf with adventure in his mind. The other part of Bilbo gave in to the tickle of adventure and off he went with his 13 dwarf companions, whom he had never seen his whole life before last night.

The quest sounded simple yet dangerous all the same. They were to take back what rightfully belong to the dwarf chieftain, Thorin Oakenshield, namely a treasure beyond any imagination locked in Erebor and guided and claimed by a huge and mighty dragon, Smaug. To get there, they had to pass the Misty Montain and Mirkwood (for my interest, I would like to add that it's Legolas' homeland), they also had to find a secret entrance, not mentioning probable goblin and warg's raid along the way and also possible clash with the natives of Mirkwood (not only the elves, but the animals as well).

Anyway, Bilbo had signed his contract and off he went, without having the complete picture of the dangers mentioned above. Luckily, he found a magic ring early on his way, which could hide the wearer from sight. This ring proved to be so valuable (or should I say precious) for their journey. It didn't serve as useful in the other story, though. Haha.

Unlike Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit is much more relaxed and fun. While Lord of the Rings is more like Illiad and Odyssey, this prequel book is more like Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham kind of story in its fun, informal adventures. The characters are merry and jolly, exactly the opposite of all the grimness of Elrond, Aragorn, and Eomer in LotR.

Other thing to say, I don't really like dwarves after all. (I'm more an elvish person, you know.) Thorin's obstinacy is not really charming, and the dwarves are somewhat selfish at times. Of course it doesn't mean that elves are all saintly. It's quite shocking to see the striking difference between Thranduil and his son Legolas, who later became the best friend of a dwarf. Quite ironic, since it was Legolas' father who imprisoned Gimli's father along with his fellow dwarves in Mirkwood. But I guess people must learn to forget the past.

I'm a little bit surprised to see myself easily fall into so strong a liking to Bard the Bowman, who amazingly slain the dragon with one arrow. He didn't appear until very late in the story and it's just that. Maybe I love him so much because I know that Luke Evans would be playing him in the upcoming movie, and just imagining him bending his bow side by side with Legolas takes my breath away. Or maybe I'm just weak when it comes to bowmen. The number of bowmen in my catalogue of awesome people is considerable after all.

Well, I guess I can't wait for the other two films that will come soon enough. Well, at least the second film is only 3 months away. Let's see if it satisfies all our expectations.