Well... I'm Getting Hate for This...
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy… aren’t great.
I don’t like them.
Pause while you gather pitchforks and torches and to the small handful of you with launch codes to get prepared.
Before anyone gets killed off in a bloody, awful way while people chant in elfish or while singing some sort of expository song or ranting about Tom Bombadil… let me explain.
I will not deny that that Tolkien is a genius. There are a lot of great things within these books. The world building is a marvel. I adore it. I think it’s awesome. There is so much to learn from this. I could see the world in my head, easy. Perfect. Wonderful. And they’re very well written.
But… uh, that’s when my gushing stops.
See, character matters most to me in a book. And I didn’t connect with most of these characters. In fact, I nearly DNF’d The Hobbit, because outside of Bilbo… I could scarcely tell anyone apart or feel for any of them. And my connection to Bilbo was… wire-thin at best. (I finished this series as a personal challenge, not because I fell in love with it.)
There are some good character moments, but they tend to be largely unearned or unbuilt upon. There’s a couple decent characters.
Many feel flat though (Aragorn doesn’t feel real… I ended up feeling like he was just that stock goodest good boy.) And some were beyond irritating. (Ugh… don’t kill me for my opinions on Gandalf.)
Okay, but quick aside. Can I say I caught narcissist vibes from Gandalf? Like, he brags himself up all the time, always has an explanation when things go wrong, always gets the street cred when things go right, and he’s like “whoa, you need to stop talking, we don’t have time to waste on YOU explaining what happened to you, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli, the concerns of middle earth are worth more than you, don’t you understand that? Now excuse me while I talk for thirty minutes (at least in the audible version) about everything that happened to ME on my side-quest while we stand around doing nothing and baddies keep moving.” (I don’t care that we don’t see what he did in-scene and this is the way to tell it, but his tone says a lot before he delves into it.)
Oh, yeah. I know people are going to hate this. But oooh the characters and lack thereof. Seriously, I know more about these peoples GENEOLOGIES then I know about THEM.
This dude begot this one and no… that’s… that’s not ever going to connect to me. Could it connect to someone else? Sure? But it feels like cardboard to me.
If I don’t have characters to latch onto… I don’t care how compelling the plot or how beautiful the world… there’s no way for me to step into it. To connect. People connect… and without physically being in a place I don’t usually connect to it. So my ability to join in on this journey is stunted.
Who is Fili again? I sort of get Thorin? Right. Dude wants his home back? I guess. But the mood and tone didn’t hold so it didn’t really seem as important.
I love Sam, though a pretty static character (aside from choosing to go on the adventure) he was devoted guy. Gollum was fun. Eyowyn was cool. And Legolas and Gimli had moments that were decent. Farimir was a decent dude. And the Steward of Gondor probably had the best characterization in my opinion… can’t believe I’m saying that about tomato bro. (By the way sorry if I spell any of these wrong, I couldn’t make it through the books so I had them read to me via audio.)
The characters just felt… flat. Lifeless. The world was so bright and vibrant… and the characters were mostly black and white cardboard cutouts.
This is my opinion breaks the story. Why should I care about a fictional war if there’s no people in the war?
Or, in The Hobbit, where it feels like 80% of the fighting happens off screen and 15% Bilbo is KO’d so it conveniently goes off screen. Well, there’s that tension gone.
Action/plot in this story struggles too, mostly in The Hobbit for earlier reasons. But even what is going on feels flat because I don’t have attachment to the plot. No stakes.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Characters reign supreme to me. I don’t care if they’re good or evil or grey, I just need them to be people and feel real. But um… they didn’t here and that’s the quickest way to get me to DNF a book.
But, everyone always hyped these books and some have even shamed me for not reading them. I did it though and it was a personal challenge and a slug fest.
I don’t tend to be 100% critical of anything. Even in the worst books you can… learn how not to write a book. If something is bad, it doesn’t mean it’s devoid of good things.
The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit aren’t bad books. But I don’t like them. There’s a lot of good things. I could praise the world-building and attention to detail and WHO THE HELL CREATES AN ENTIER LANGUAGE?! But it isn’t a book for me and I won’t read them again.
I love the movies though. I think there’s a lot more character there and complexity too. Aragorn isn’t always the goodest good boy. Boromir has a more powerful arc, which in turn makes the family and political arc better. The actors brought a lot more depth to them and that helped, but the books… eek. Not for me.
No worries if you love them. I totally understand and I get why they’re beloved. But no art is meant for everyone. I’m well aware. Some people write nothing but plot and have stock characters run through. Some people paint beautiful worlds… and stuff vaguely happens… I guess. Some people write all characters and no plot.
Seriously. Middle Earth has a better character arc than any of the characters actually do and I still couldn’t find a grasp on these stories.
There is a necessary balance of the three elements and I know I’m heavily biased. I believe that by the end of a full story you should know and understand the people more than anything else. That that’s the connection that will linger. But, not everyone is like me and that’s okay.
And I’m apparently not like the countless others who have gum shrines devoted to Tolkien in their closets.
That being said, I got invited to see the extended edition of Two Towers with friends and if it’s showing at a theater I have a gift card for, I’m going… otherwise I’ll have to skip, kinda on a spending freeze. But if it’s at a place I have that gift card for, then I’ll be there. I love the movies.
Oh crap.
I’m going to say it.
I can’t believe I’m going to say it.
The movies were better.
Take care. (Don't murder me, I haven't even had the chance to live yet, have mercy.)
-M
I don’t like them.
Pause while you gather pitchforks and torches and to the small handful of you with launch codes to get prepared.
Before anyone gets killed off in a bloody, awful way while people chant in elfish or while singing some sort of expository song or ranting about Tom Bombadil… let me explain.
I will not deny that that Tolkien is a genius. There are a lot of great things within these books. The world building is a marvel. I adore it. I think it’s awesome. There is so much to learn from this. I could see the world in my head, easy. Perfect. Wonderful. And they’re very well written.
But… uh, that’s when my gushing stops.
See, character matters most to me in a book. And I didn’t connect with most of these characters. In fact, I nearly DNF’d The Hobbit, because outside of Bilbo… I could scarcely tell anyone apart or feel for any of them. And my connection to Bilbo was… wire-thin at best. (I finished this series as a personal challenge, not because I fell in love with it.)
There are some good character moments, but they tend to be largely unearned or unbuilt upon. There’s a couple decent characters.
Many feel flat though (Aragorn doesn’t feel real… I ended up feeling like he was just that stock goodest good boy.) And some were beyond irritating. (Ugh… don’t kill me for my opinions on Gandalf.)
Okay, but quick aside. Can I say I caught narcissist vibes from Gandalf? Like, he brags himself up all the time, always has an explanation when things go wrong, always gets the street cred when things go right, and he’s like “whoa, you need to stop talking, we don’t have time to waste on YOU explaining what happened to you, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli, the concerns of middle earth are worth more than you, don’t you understand that? Now excuse me while I talk for thirty minutes (at least in the audible version) about everything that happened to ME on my side-quest while we stand around doing nothing and baddies keep moving.” (I don’t care that we don’t see what he did in-scene and this is the way to tell it, but his tone says a lot before he delves into it.)
Oh, yeah. I know people are going to hate this. But oooh the characters and lack thereof. Seriously, I know more about these peoples GENEOLOGIES then I know about THEM.
This dude begot this one and no… that’s… that’s not ever going to connect to me. Could it connect to someone else? Sure? But it feels like cardboard to me.
If I don’t have characters to latch onto… I don’t care how compelling the plot or how beautiful the world… there’s no way for me to step into it. To connect. People connect… and without physically being in a place I don’t usually connect to it. So my ability to join in on this journey is stunted.
Who is Fili again? I sort of get Thorin? Right. Dude wants his home back? I guess. But the mood and tone didn’t hold so it didn’t really seem as important.
I love Sam, though a pretty static character (aside from choosing to go on the adventure) he was devoted guy. Gollum was fun. Eyowyn was cool. And Legolas and Gimli had moments that were decent. Farimir was a decent dude. And the Steward of Gondor probably had the best characterization in my opinion… can’t believe I’m saying that about tomato bro. (By the way sorry if I spell any of these wrong, I couldn’t make it through the books so I had them read to me via audio.)
The characters just felt… flat. Lifeless. The world was so bright and vibrant… and the characters were mostly black and white cardboard cutouts.
This is my opinion breaks the story. Why should I care about a fictional war if there’s no people in the war?
Or, in The Hobbit, where it feels like 80% of the fighting happens off screen and 15% Bilbo is KO’d so it conveniently goes off screen. Well, there’s that tension gone.
Action/plot in this story struggles too, mostly in The Hobbit for earlier reasons. But even what is going on feels flat because I don’t have attachment to the plot. No stakes.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Characters reign supreme to me. I don’t care if they’re good or evil or grey, I just need them to be people and feel real. But um… they didn’t here and that’s the quickest way to get me to DNF a book.
But, everyone always hyped these books and some have even shamed me for not reading them. I did it though and it was a personal challenge and a slug fest.
I don’t tend to be 100% critical of anything. Even in the worst books you can… learn how not to write a book. If something is bad, it doesn’t mean it’s devoid of good things.
The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit aren’t bad books. But I don’t like them. There’s a lot of good things. I could praise the world-building and attention to detail and WHO THE HELL CREATES AN ENTIER LANGUAGE?! But it isn’t a book for me and I won’t read them again.
I love the movies though. I think there’s a lot more character there and complexity too. Aragorn isn’t always the goodest good boy. Boromir has a more powerful arc, which in turn makes the family and political arc better. The actors brought a lot more depth to them and that helped, but the books… eek. Not for me.
No worries if you love them. I totally understand and I get why they’re beloved. But no art is meant for everyone. I’m well aware. Some people write nothing but plot and have stock characters run through. Some people paint beautiful worlds… and stuff vaguely happens… I guess. Some people write all characters and no plot.
Seriously. Middle Earth has a better character arc than any of the characters actually do and I still couldn’t find a grasp on these stories.
There is a necessary balance of the three elements and I know I’m heavily biased. I believe that by the end of a full story you should know and understand the people more than anything else. That that’s the connection that will linger. But, not everyone is like me and that’s okay.
And I’m apparently not like the countless others who have gum shrines devoted to Tolkien in their closets.
That being said, I got invited to see the extended edition of Two Towers with friends and if it’s showing at a theater I have a gift card for, I’m going… otherwise I’ll have to skip, kinda on a spending freeze. But if it’s at a place I have that gift card for, then I’ll be there. I love the movies.
Oh crap.
I’m going to say it.
I can’t believe I’m going to say it.
The movies were better.
Take care. (Don't murder me, I haven't even had the chance to live yet, have mercy.)
-M
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