The Heroic Journey

I read The Hobbit as a kid. I wasn't really psyched to pick it up again as an adult. I remember it being boring and drawn out, especially in the beginning. In fact, I distinctly remember asking myself why the tea party in the beginning took so long to end. Am I contesting that Tolkien isn't a fantastic writer? Not at all. He's just more interested in this book than I ever could be. Upon a more recent inspection I discover that this book is, in fact, pretty boring. Not as bad as I remember (the few fight scenes are pretty cool, and I forgot how awesome the ring itself was as a side-story, along with Smeeeeagol/Gollum) but, I attest, still pretty boring. However, this is the first genuine piece of fantasy that a lot of readers in the world become familiar with for good reason. He has established the living habits of a number of different races and species, and has created through the text a subtle nuance that ties everything together in one way or another. A staple, if you will. His world is absolutely believable, and as far as being a precursor to what is perhaps the greatest fantasy trilogy of all time (or so I'm told, but can believe), I would say it sets the mood fantastically.

Having seen the Lord of the Rings (not read, yet) I feel like this book almost doesn't exist in the same realm. It lacked the epic-ness of it's predecessors, in a lot of ways, but it had to I suppose. After all, it's a bunch of old bearded men traveling together. That can't be too much more exciting than it sounds, can it? (It actually is more exciting than that.) Bilbo registers as almost forgettable compared to Frodo and Gandalf and... some of the other characters. I guess a lot of them are forgettable. But his descriptions of the world, of the cultures, of the languages and settings, that's where the magic in his work lies. That is what made it worth finishing a second time. Quite probably, a last time.

Aside: In this illustration, I used the original pallet swatches for the animated Hobbit movie. Really pretty bad.