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Hobbits, The
For generations of entranced readers, and now a new generation of filmgoers, Tolkien is synonymous with his most famous creation - the hobbit. Written for all those who are interested in Tolkien's work, and of course for all those interested in hobbits, this is the first book to focus on the changes made to the hobbits' characters not only by Tolkien but also by other artists - actors, writers, directors, lyricists and choreographers.
The beloved characters of Bilbo, Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin have been much-adapted for radio, television, film and stage. Lynette Porter follows the hobbits through these many other lives, from Tolkien's on-page revisions and John Boorman's unmade screenplays, through to Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and its musical counterpart. She also reviews over 50 years of 'Hobbit Art', including the work of Alan Lee, John Howe and Ted Nasmith. Journeying through fanzines, videogames, Fanfiction and more, Porter demonstrates how the hobbits, their characters and their stories continue to introduce new audiences to Tolkien's work, in new and adapted forms.
The beloved characters of Bilbo, Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin have been much-adapted for radio, television, film and stage. Lynette Porter follows the hobbits through these many other lives, from Tolkien's on-page revisions and John Boorman's unmade screenplays, through to Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and its musical counterpart. She also reviews over 50 years of 'Hobbit Art', including the work of Alan Lee, John Howe and Ted Nasmith. Journeying through fanzines, videogames, Fanfiction and more, Porter demonstrates how the hobbits, their characters and their stories continue to introduce new audiences to Tolkien's work, in new and adapted forms.
240 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 4, 2017
Interesting, but would have been better without such an overwhelming focus on the Peter Jackson movies. Pretty much everything is compared to them, and because of that the book feels overly narrow and occasionally repetitive. Porter does have chapters on other formats such as the 1981 BBC radio adaptation (Bill Nighy! must find!), music (I did not even know there was a musical version, though she makes it sound pretty missable), and art (e.g. the Tolkien calendars, always a reliable Christmas gift at my house), but even in those chapters she has a tendency to circle back to Jackson, Bakshi, and Rankin-Bass. The last chapter, a scant 13 pages, briefly touches on fanfic and hobbits-as-political-analogy; the former is a lot more interesting than the latter, since politicians almost never know what they're talking about anyway.
The emphasis is also mostly on professional adaptations (movies, radio, tv, theatre, etc.) which I think misses the mark a bit. Although Porter mentions more than once how Tolkien's novels, and hobbits in particular, have been and will continue to be adapted over and over by different groups for different reasons, in her discussions she only examines in depth the commercial versions. Those are the easiest to critique, I suppose, but for example in the music chapter, she could have looked at fan videos, or the music of Rush (e.g. Rivendell), or (if she felt really daring) she could have hunted through the many Tolkien-inspired heavy metal songs for mention of hobbits. If there aren't any, surely that would have been worth noting? In the art chapter, she could have looked at deviantart, a gold mine of transformative artistic works, or at etsy -- a quick search of etsy.com for "hobbits" turns up over 3000 pieces of art and more than 1300 items of jewelry. And the fanfic chapter could have been much richer, looking at the huge variety of ways hobbits have been represented in transformative fanworks (The Very Secret Diaries, anyone??)
In short, a decent read with a few new-to-me bits of trivia (Forrest Ackerman wanted to make LOTR into a movie -- the mind boggles), but could have been better.
The emphasis is also mostly on professional adaptations (movies, radio, tv, theatre, etc.) which I think misses the mark a bit. Although Porter mentions more than once how Tolkien's novels, and hobbits in particular, have been and will continue to be adapted over and over by different groups for different reasons, in her discussions she only examines in depth the commercial versions. Those are the easiest to critique, I suppose, but for example in the music chapter, she could have looked at fan videos, or the music of Rush (e.g. Rivendell), or (if she felt really daring) she could have hunted through the many Tolkien-inspired heavy metal songs for mention of hobbits. If there aren't any, surely that would have been worth noting? In the art chapter, she could have looked at deviantart, a gold mine of transformative artistic works, or at etsy -- a quick search of etsy.com for "hobbits" turns up over 3000 pieces of art and more than 1300 items of jewelry. And the fanfic chapter could have been much richer, looking at the huge variety of ways hobbits have been represented in transformative fanworks (The Very Secret Diaries, anyone??)
In short, a decent read with a few new-to-me bits of trivia (Forrest Ackerman wanted to make LOTR into a movie -- the mind boggles), but could have been better.
June 12, 2013
Lynnette Porter’s The Hobbits feels a little too academic in its repetitive discussion of its own organization, and I question both some of the texts selected and how Porter treats them. But there’s some interesting information on some of the more obscure adaptations of Tolkien’s work over the years that diehard Ringers might enjoy. A solid meh.
March 28, 2013
Not what I was hoping for. I was looking for some short stories with adventures of Bilbo and the other Hobbits. This book is a comparison of how the characters in the books and movies have affected our culture and other literature.
September 4, 2018
An interesting synopsis of the portrayal of Hobbits thought the years. A bit too focussed on the Peter Jackson films, but given the time it was written and the amount of information there is about that production, this is understandable. It would have been nice to have more detail or quotes about some of the older productions, however the extensive notes allow for the reader to go and find these later.
September 17, 2019
Wow what a story. So much magic and power it was very hard to keep reading the story and remember what is the story about.But after many tries i finally finished it.
February 5, 2013
In The Hobbits, Lynnette Porter explores how J. R. R. Tolkien's hobbits have been interpreted and represented through a myriad of adaptations. Whether represented through art, film or song, the "many lives" of Frodo and company are critically analysed, often held up to the "original version" (i.e. the character as they appear in Tolkien's work).
This kind of analysis is one I'm kind-of in love with, so I found The Hobbits a fascinating read, and being a Tolkien fan, I often found myself nodding along to Porter's analysis. I was unsurprised when the BBC radio adaptation of LOTR emerged the best adaptation and the best interpretation of Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin, and pleased when the unevenness of Peter Jackson's hobbit dynamics are highlighted.
I did find that the book relied a little too much on the Peter Jackson film adaptations. The font used for chapter titles are all based off the 'Ringbearer' script found in the film logos, while the cover appears to depict the four hobbits, plus (inexplicably) Gandalf and Gimli as they were shown on the Fellowship silhouettes. Furthermore, the discussion of the movies appears in almost every section. Porter does discuss about how the films might be more universal than the books, so it's fair that they are brought in occasionally but I did wonder whether they needed to be talked about as much.
Porter covers a wide-range of "adaptations", from the more straightforward adaptations (film, television, radio, stage, art) to music "inspired by" Tolkien, fanfiction and political analogies. The analyses are uneven there, but for more obvious reasons, since there is a complete (or semi-complete) story to explored versus a snapshot from a scene, or vice versa.
There are a few flaws. I missed an exploration of the hobbits as they appear in Tolkien's works (often the "original version" only appears when being compared to another version), and there are a few mistakes to set my teeth on edge (e.g. at one point, confusing Elendil with Eärendil when discussing the phial of light Galadriel gifts to Frodo), though these are thankfully few.
I found myself wishing there was more material covered. I'd love to see Peter Jackson's Hobbit films analysed, and I'd love to see the other creatures of Middle-Earth – Elves, Men, Dwarves and Wizards – analysed in a similar fashion.
On the whole, The Hobbits is a fascinating book, one I'm very glad to have stumbled over. I've discovered new appreciations of adaptations I am familiar with, and have discovered a couple of adaptations I want to now experience for myself.
This kind of analysis is one I'm kind-of in love with, so I found The Hobbits a fascinating read, and being a Tolkien fan, I often found myself nodding along to Porter's analysis. I was unsurprised when the BBC radio adaptation of LOTR emerged the best adaptation and the best interpretation of Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin, and pleased when the unevenness of Peter Jackson's hobbit dynamics are highlighted.
I did find that the book relied a little too much on the Peter Jackson film adaptations. The font used for chapter titles are all based off the 'Ringbearer' script found in the film logos, while the cover appears to depict the four hobbits, plus (inexplicably) Gandalf and Gimli as they were shown on the Fellowship silhouettes. Furthermore, the discussion of the movies appears in almost every section. Porter does discuss about how the films might be more universal than the books, so it's fair that they are brought in occasionally but I did wonder whether they needed to be talked about as much.
Porter covers a wide-range of "adaptations", from the more straightforward adaptations (film, television, radio, stage, art) to music "inspired by" Tolkien, fanfiction and political analogies. The analyses are uneven there, but for more obvious reasons, since there is a complete (or semi-complete) story to explored versus a snapshot from a scene, or vice versa.
There are a few flaws. I missed an exploration of the hobbits as they appear in Tolkien's works (often the "original version" only appears when being compared to another version), and there are a few mistakes to set my teeth on edge (e.g. at one point, confusing Elendil with Eärendil when discussing the phial of light Galadriel gifts to Frodo), though these are thankfully few.
I found myself wishing there was more material covered. I'd love to see Peter Jackson's Hobbit films analysed, and I'd love to see the other creatures of Middle-Earth – Elves, Men, Dwarves and Wizards – analysed in a similar fashion.
On the whole, The Hobbits is a fascinating book, one I'm very glad to have stumbled over. I've discovered new appreciations of adaptations I am familiar with, and have discovered a couple of adaptations I want to now experience for myself.
May 23, 2014
Very interesting book, of course not the easiest to read, as there is a lot of information to it, but for someone who wants to get to know Tolkiens work besides the PJ adaptions it is highly recommended! I got a totally new view on Middleearth and the Hobbits and I am really looking forward to use the information and the things I learned from the book in using Google and Youtube to see the pictures and art and the different film or music adaptions I read of.
Clearly, for anyone who enjoyed the books as well as the movies or just wants to learn and realize that there is more to Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit than just the PJ movies, it is a must! However, be prepared for a lot of information - I read this book over a month, always stopping for a few days after one or more chapters, because it's a teaching book and not a normal fiction story!
Clearly, for anyone who enjoyed the books as well as the movies or just wants to learn and realize that there is more to Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit than just the PJ movies, it is a must! However, be prepared for a lot of information - I read this book over a month, always stopping for a few days after one or more chapters, because it's a teaching book and not a normal fiction story!
January 15, 2016
An interesting look at Hobbits and various interpretations of them throughout the books, films, radio adaptions and beyond. Some of the information was quite repetitive, and this book could definitely benefit from a revised edition including the new Hobbit movies, as it was published just prior to the first film in the trilogy being released. The section on art, coming quite late in the book, is particularly heavy and academic. I particularly enjoyed the sections about the LOTR musical, which I have fond memories of despite it not being very popular with fans or critics alike. Definitely a book for fans, by a fan, and I would be really interested in reading similar titles based on the other races of Middle Earth!
May 27, 2014
A little too nerdy for me.
I would have enjoyed a similar book ever so much when I was in my twenties and possibly in my thirties (1970s or 1980s) but not anylonger.
Time marches on and I find TLOTR less interesting than Phillip Pullmans books.
I've read books from 18th and 19th century England, Authorian and Celtic tales and any number of better plotted fantasy. Not that Tolkien was not a pioneer and an excellent human being, which he was both.
However, if you are not so hardened as myself, this is your book.
I would have enjoyed a similar book ever so much when I was in my twenties and possibly in my thirties (1970s or 1980s) but not anylonger.
Time marches on and I find TLOTR less interesting than Phillip Pullmans books.
I've read books from 18th and 19th century England, Authorian and Celtic tales and any number of better plotted fantasy. Not that Tolkien was not a pioneer and an excellent human being, which he was both.
However, if you are not so hardened as myself, this is your book.
April 7, 2013
Its always fun to read about hobbits! I liked the information on Hobbit based music and movies.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews