Posts tagged The Hobbit

dalpuri:

J.R.R. Tolkien on the inception of The Hobbit.

allinye:

Books that own my soul → The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something. You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after.

allinye

‘The Hobbit’ illustrated by Maurice Sendak? The 1960s masterpiece that could have been. Maurice Sendak’s “The Hobbit,” in pen and ink, 1967 (Credit: Maurice Sendak/Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Yale University) As I eagerly await Peter Jackson’s return to Tolkien with his adaptation of “The Hobbit,” I can’t help but wonder what the film would have become had Guillermo del Toro remained in the director’s chair. Though the story of Bilbo Baggins takes place in a more halcyon Middle-earth than the later “The Lord of the Rings” books, there are pockets of darkness that foretell what is to come. I’ve observed a gravitational pull toward the dark in film adaptations of books primarily published for children, especially in Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” and in the latest installment of Harry Potter. Traditional fairy tales abound with dark themes and places for the hero to adventure, and rightly so — the world can be a dark place. This author cannot think of any better way to broach these notions and address these fears with his daughter than through a story, and “The Hobbit” sits in perfect company with these types of fairy tales.

‘The Hobbit’ illustrated by Maurice Sendak? The 1960s masterpiece that could have been.

Maurice Sendak’s “The Hobbit,” in pen and ink, 1967 (Credit: Maurice Sendak/Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Yale University)

As I eagerly await Peter Jackson’s return to Tolkien with his adaptation of “The Hobbit,” I can’t help but wonder what the film would have become had Guillermo del Toro remained in the director’s chair. Though the story of Bilbo Baggins takes place in a more halcyon Middle-earth than the later “The Lord of the Rings” books, there are pockets of darkness that foretell what is to come.

I’ve observed a gravitational pull toward the dark in film adaptations of books primarily published for children, especially in Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” and in the latest installment of Harry Potter. Traditional fairy tales abound with dark themes and places for the hero to adventure, and rightly so — the world can be a dark place. This author cannot think of any better way to broach these notions and address these fears with his daughter than through a story, and “The Hobbit” sits in perfect company with these types of fairy tales.

“I am to understand that you are inquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people. My great-great-grandfather came to England in the eighteenth century from Germany: the main part of my descent is therefore purely English, and I am an English subject—which should be sufficient. I have been accustomed, nonetheless, to regard my German name with pride, and continued to do so throughout the period of the late regrettable war, in which I served in the English army. I cannot, however, forbear to comment that if impertinent and irrelevant inquiries of this sort are to become the rule in matters of literature, then the time is not far distant when a German name will no longer be a source of pride.” —J.R.R. Tolkien’s response to German publishers inquiring if he was of Aryan descent upon the release of The Hobbit. (1938)

“I am to understand that you are inquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people. My great-great-grandfather came to England in the eighteenth century from Germany: the main part of my descent is therefore purely English, and I am an English subject—which should be sufficient. I have been accustomed, nonetheless, to regard my German name with pride, and continued to do so throughout the period of the late regrettable war, in which I served in the English army. I cannot, however, forbear to comment that if impertinent and irrelevant inquiries of this sort are to become the rule in matters of literature, then the time is not far distant when a German name will no longer be a source of pride.”

—J.R.R. Tolkien’s response to German publishers inquiring if he was of Aryan descent upon the release of The Hobbit. (1938)

historicalmatters:

September 21, 1937: J.R.R Tolkien’s The Hobbit is published.

Lot’s going on in the literary world today.

Story is Crucial

I was dicussing the issue of the importance of story with a friend the other night. We had shared the points in our lives where we came to a real understanding of the importance of story. He said it was when he was in high school.

For me, I was 10 or 11 years old and had just finished reading The Hobbit. I distinctly remember setting the book down after I finished and realizing I had just read a magnificent story. It had intent, meaning, purpose, and my realization of this was, for me (esp. at that age), earth shattering. After that I picked up subsequent books with a whole new purpose … for the story.