Thank you to those who joined our second and final Book Club LIVE CHAT last night for The Hobbit. We're publishing the transcript from the chat below in case you'd like to see some what people had to say about their favorite characters in the book, the differences between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and which scenes we're most excited to see brought to life in the movie.
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TRANSCRIPT[]
• Bchwood glad you could join us, so shall we begin ?
• MaidenofThunder Yes!
• Lily! sure
• Wordwizard Thanks! I just discovered this site yesterday. To the people who have read The Hobbit multiple times, have you followed it w/LoTR?
• MaidenofThunder Yes, I tend to be the type who likes to read a series in its publication order.
• Bchwood I first read The Hobbit when I was younger and loved it so much I read the LOTR series • They are actually quite different • in a lot of ways
• Wordwizard Me too. Although I was hospitalized once with The Fellowship, and the Return of the K., so what was I to do?
• Bchwood zackley! Turn to Tolkien
• Wordwizard The Hobbit was for children; LotR, for adults.
• Bchwood Yes, I think that's the main difference
• MaidenofThunder And yet I like Hobbit the best - I wonder what that says about me, LOL!
• Bchwood the hobbit is lighter and written in a simpler style
• Wordwizard Well, one is much longer...
• Bchwood LOTR is very epic in scope, and darker in tone
• Lily! wait are there books for LOTR also?
• Bchwood Yes, you have lots of fun reading ahead of you!
• Lily! haha
• Wordwizard I like LotR more, but-- Of course there are books—
• Bchwood i'm jealous, reading them for the first time is such an amazing experience
• Wordwizard The first time, they seem much longer--of course, I was a kid then.
• Bchwood Do you guys have a favorite character from The Hobbit or the series in general ?
• Wordwizard Frodo!
• Bchwood What do you like about Frodo ?
• Wordwizard He's the hero! I'm sorry to sound so simplistic...
• MaidenofThunder Haleth from the Silmarillion is my favorite character, but I like Frodo because I feel I can really relate to him.
• Bchwood Yes, and he really earns that title. he's probably more of a conventional Hero than Bilbo is • I have a soft spot for Bilbo though
• Wordwizard Bilbo was spoiled for me when he reached for the ring after it had passed on.
• MaidenofThunder You mean after he gave the ring to Frodo?
• Wordwizard Yes.
• Bchwood Ah • It had corrupted him a bit probably
• Wordwizard He looked like a repulsive grasping thing.
• MaidenofThunder That was the scariest scene in the trilogy for me, Balrogs and all.
• Wordwizard Only a little--He DID pass it on, as Gandalf noted.
• Bchwood Yes, but the younger Bilbo in the hobbit is very innocent and moral he shows that he's not corruptible in the hobbit by Greed or Pride things that many other characters fall victim to
• Wordwizard What about his sneaking off with the S.? That wasn't strictly honest...
• Bchwood agreed, he has an opportunistic side to him as well and makes some choices that aren't totally ethical in the beginning of the book he hides the ring from the dwarves, for instance
• Wordwizard He also lied about the Ring, when he first got it.
• Bchwood Yup!
• Wordwizard First sign of corruption.
• Bchwood but i kind of understood why he did- because he didn't fully trust the Dwarves at that point
• Wordwizard Didn't he trust Gandalf?
• Bchwood Yes, he always trust Gandalf I was also a little surprised when he tricked Gollum and cheated in the Riddles game but again, i think he had an okay reason to kind of the ends justified the means
• MaidenofThunder It's also a really well-written scene.
• Bchwood So well written! Gollum is such an amazing character and it's a very important scene in terms of Bilbo's character development he emerges from the cave having survived a terrible ordeal all by himself no help from Gandalf
• MaidenofThunder And I always thought it was interesting how Tolkien made Gollum a hobbit like Bilbo and Frodo.
• Bchwood so true
• MaidenofThunder Like Gollum is what Bilbo and Frodo COULD become, if they make the wrongs choices.
• Bchwood i think you hit the nail on the head Bilbo made a very important choice in the cave with Gollum and that was not to kill him when he had the chance he overcame a dark, but natural, instinct and survived the test what other choices do you think he made that were "right"?
• MaidenofThunder I'd like to say that I would have let Gollum live, but I don't think I would have.
• Bchwood Ha!
• MaidenofThunder Well, he gives up his share of the dragon's treasure for peace's sake.
• @MaidenofThunder, yeah, i agree, that was a pretty impressive and humble thing for him to do he had the Arkenstone all to himself!
• MaidenofThunder And I like how he was rewarded with treasure anyway (as much as the pony could carry)
• Bchwood me too, it was good karma
• MaidenofThunder Would it be fair to say that Bilbo's a trickster figure - mixture of good and "bad"?
• Bchwood yes, i think it's fair to say that he sometimes displays signs of dubious moral character, but overall, he's good- and becomes more and more so as the story goes along i think he suffers from a bit of vanity and pride in the beginning
• MaidenofThunder Which probably helps the audience relate to him more.
• Bchwood hi Iamjessa1 I agree, it makes him human!
• Wordwizard The ends never justify the means.B. isn't a trickster! Was Gollum ALWAYS going to be a hobbit?
• Bchwood in the case of Bilbo vs Gollum, in the cave, I would argue the ends do justify the means he cheats a little because he doesn't trust Gollum which he's proven right in suspecting
• Wordwizard Maybe writers arrange for the ends to justify the means, but I think that's bad plotting.
• Wordwizard JRRT had to finesse things a bit, even change the events in that chapter, to make the link between the H. and LotR. There were two versions of that chapter, one before LotR, and one after.
• Bchwood do you know what he changed ? interesting
• Wordwizard The riddle scene....Go to Christopher Tolkien's editoring for more details.
• Jennyc345 hi - just visiting to see what everyone is saying. unfortunately i have not read the book
• Bchwood cool, thanks for the tip
• Wordwizard Get started!
• Bchwood What scene or character are you guys most excited to see brought to life in the movie ?
• MaidenofThunder Riddle scene & singing dwarves!
• Wordwizard I haven't seen the movie. I understand it will be in THREE parts!
• Bchwood Yes, it's a trilogy! Yeah, riddle scene is a top one for me too and singing Goblins!
• Wordwizard Will Wagner's Fafnir theme be used for Smaug?
• Bchwood good question i wonder if we'll get a look at Smaug in the first film at all
• MaidenofThunder Probably in flashback
• Bchwood yeah, the intro will probably show him taking over Lonely Mountain i'm excited to see what Smaug looks like
• Wordwizard How can you have a flashback of something that hasn't happened? That's called foreshadowing!
• Bchwood But Smaug takes over Lonely Mountain before the story starts so it could be a flashback
• Wordwizard Why jump ahead of the story?
• Bchwood apparently the first film goes through chapter 6 of the book
• Wordwizard These things are only glancingly gone over at the beginning.
• Bchwood in the book, yes, but i read the intro in the film goes into much more than the book, we'll have to wait and see
• Wordwizard Editorial meddling. Do not meddle in the affairs of a wizard!
• Bchwood That's good advice! Gandalf is not one to trifle with!
• Wordwizard Nor JRRT.
• MaidenofThunder Ian McKellan is the perfect Gandalf.
• Bchwood the ultimate wizard himself Yes, he is i can't image anybody else playing that role Let me ask you guys another question- how do you think Bilbo changes over the course of the book ?
• Wordwizard He took over a DIFFERENT wizard in the Harry Potter movies. He's better travelled!
• Bchwood he sure is and in his travels he makes a lot more friends
• Wordwizard He does the morally questionable things AFTER getting the ring.
• MaidenofThunder I Bilbo becomes more selfless over the course of the novel.
• Bchwood Yes, i think he sees what greed has done to others around him and it's a turn off
• Wordwizard He had friends before, but in his home town.
• MaidenofThunder He also becomes more confident.
• Bchwood yes, he had friends but just hobbit friends and relatives, not wizards and elves and dwarves! agree that he becomes much more confident i also think he becomes more self-aware of his place in the world- which is a small one, not a large one
• Wordwizard An invisible ring will get you more confident that you won't be seen.... He had a rather LARGE place in the world.
• Bchwood yes it will
• MaidenofThunder True
• Bchwood and he's lucky that he finds it he definitely has a streak of good luck which also makes him more confident
• Wordwizard Luck? Again, that's bad plotting of the author.
• Bchwood i think luck is connected to a bigger moral universe here like Fate and destiny and goodness
• Wordwizard Fate is the author's plotting, again, same thing. Destiny is whatever the author says it is.
• Bchwood I like that the author creates a sense of a higher force at work like the universe is helping those that are on the side of good
• Wordwizard I don't see that, except that the higher force is THE AUTHOR!
• Bchwood what about the Eagles?
• Wordwizard They seem a bit forced.
• Bchwood to me they symbolizes creatures coming down from the heavens to give aid when needed you thought it was too much? he used the same motif in LOTR
• Wordwizard They didn't seem connected to the rest of what was going on. Deus ex machina.
• Bchwood i hear you, it treads a fine line with Deus ex machina
• Wordwizard Compare the Taran books.
• Bchwood i'm not familiar with those
• Wordwizard Prydain Chronicles, by Lloyd Alexander
• Bchwood You recommend them ?
• Wordwizard You can start with The Book of Three, or The Foundling, and other tales Very much so. They also have a lot more women in them.
• Bchwood It's funny how there are no women in The Hobbit
• Wordwizard You have a treat ahead, as someone just said...
• Bchwood Oh, cool, thanks for the tip
• MaidenofThunder True, but there are awesome female characters in other Middle-earth works.
• Wordwizard There's Mrs. M, with the mushrooms, Oops, wrong book.
• Bchwood there are women in LOTR, of course, but i think he writes men much better
• Wordwizard Galadriel is not human.
• Bchwood but she is female
• Wordwizard Oinck, oinck!
• Bchwood Ha!
• Bchwood any other topics you guys wanted to cover ?
• Wordwizard The Prydain Chronicles are interesting in that the reading level increases as Taran matures.
• Bchwood yes, interesting; similar to how the characters in The Hobbit become more complex as the story progresses
• Wordwizard Will there be more live chats on these books? I couldn't find the transcript of the 1st chat.
• Bchwood this is the final live chat for this book i will publish the transcript for this live chat tomorrow morning
• Wordwizard but LotR?
• Bchwood perhaps, the next book hasn't been decided on
• Wordwizard Dresden files, Prydain chronicles, good chat topics too.
• Bchwood Yes, we need some ideas for upcoming chats
• Wordwizard Will I be emailed about future chats?
• Bchwood If you would like to be, then yes
• Wordwizard Yes!
• Bchwood Awesome! Glad you're interested and will do more of these with us thanks again for joining this on a Sunday night guys
• MaidenofThunder Thanks for the chat.
• Wordwizard I'm homebound right now, so this was an easy bookclub!
• Bchwood Coolio, take care guys and have a good rest of the night! Enjoy the Movie!
