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80 years after its making: JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit was published on 21 Sep 1937

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brianr:
I read LOR first in my teens and must have read it a dozen times since.  I saw each movie 3 times on the big screen and have the DVDs. I think I have only read the Hobbit twice and while I saw each movie, I did not like them. Agree just one big battlefield and if the epic LOR needed 3 films why did they stretch the much smaller book into 3, pure commercialism.  Of course I live in the country where the films were made although I have never actually set out to visit the many sites which draw tourists.
However LOR set me on a life of reading Fantasy novels, especially the Shannara series by Terry Brooks.  I am just reading the first of his latest series "The Fall of Shannara" which will apparently be his last, he writes 1 per year and a series is usually 3 so he must plan to retire at 75 as he is the same age as me.  ;D

Corax:

--- Quote from: brian on September 21, 2017, 02:42:58 pm ---I read LOR first in my teens and must have read it a dozen times since.  I saw each movie 3 times on the big screen and have the DVDs.

--- End quote ---
Me too. LOR is a great book. And also the movies are a masterpiece. I really enjoyed watching them on the big screen. Unfortunately there are very few theaters that show films in OV in Germany. So I bought the DVDs when they were available as UK import.


--- Quote ---why did they stretch the much smaller book into 3, pure commercialism
--- End quote ---
I didn't get that,  either. It was all for making money.

Jeff Wrangler:
I read The Lord of the Rings trilogy once, over the break between the fall and spring semesters in college. I tore through those books, but, in retrospect, reading them seemed like a chore, but reading them also seemed like a point of honor, as in those days even college boys were big into that sort of thing (Dungeons & Dragons, etc.). I remember thinking that the whole series seemed pretty dark, though that tone did seem appropriate to the stories. And Tolkien lost me at the talking trees; I found that a bit much. I suppose the memory of the reading being a chore is why I've never had the slightest interest in seeing the films. When you come right down to it, I'm just not into the fantasy genre. I dismissed Game of Thrones out of hand when I heard there were dragons. I'd rather read history or a good murder mystery.

Nevertheless, The Hobbit has always been a joy to me. I've read it a number of times. Critics may have dismissed it as childish trash, but what do critics know?  ;D The pictures that form in my head as I read The Hobbit are like Disney animation at its classical best. And in my opinion anybody who is tired of classic Disney is tired of living (apologies, Dr. Johnson).

(I recognize that the Jackson films are masterpieces of film-making; I just have no interest in seeing them. And I was offended by the idea of making three movies out of The Hobbit.)

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