Movie Madness #2: The Hobbit

The Hobbit: Or There And Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Book:

 The Hobbit is a light, fun adventure that I really enjoyed. It's certainly not as dark and complicated as Lord Of The Rings but it's still extremely entertaining. The Hobbit is one of the best fantasy books ever and I can't recommend it enough! I definitely think most people will enjoy The Hobbit and it's easy to see why it's a Classic. 

The Movie:

How do you adapt such a slim novel into 3 movies? I'll tell you how! You add tons of filler scenes that are pretty unnecessary to make these films substantially longer.  There were so many unnecessary scenes in The Hobbit that weren't present in the novel. The Hobbit is an extremely slow-paced movie and I think Peter Jackson basically mutilated the novel. It wasn't a terrible movie but I had way too high expectations. Peter Jackson tried to make The Hobbit a dark film like Lord Of The Rings but the problem is a light, fun novel.

I still will be seeing the sequel but I don't know why I'm going to bother.

Consensus: The Book

Final Opinion:

The Hobbit is a excellent fast paced novel but the movie is ultimately too slow-paced and watered down. I feel like Peter Jackson made the wrong decision turning The Hobbit into 3 films. If you're a Tolkien fan, you'll most likely be disappointed by The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey!

Friday's Music: The Lion's Roar - First Aid Kit

Folk isn't a genre I’d normally opt for, but First Aid Kit have whisked me away with their music and voices and lyrics. I got caught up in their passion, and the wistful melancholia which is especially evident in this song. The song actually first reminded me of Molly Pratt and Ike’s relationship. Her devastation at his death haunted me quite a bit in the beginning of Rebel Heart, and I started to fear for Jack and Saba’s relationship, hoping Moira would spare us any affliction that’d surely come to us if either of them was hurt!

This verse reminds me of how Saba changes when she’s around Jack, how much softer she gets around him, and how forlorn she is when he’s not there.

Sometimes I wish I could find my Rosemary Hill

I'd sit there and look at the deserted lakes and I'd sing

And every once in a while I'd sing a song for you

That would rise above the mountains and the stars and the sea

And if I wanted it to it would lead you back to me

I urge you to check out the rest of their music, it won't disappoint.

~Bushra

Read Along: Hopetown

‘Don’t ever let ‘em hear you cry’

Arguably this is the chapter where it all kicks off for Saba and Emmi. Arriving at Hopetown under the watchful eye of the Pinches, Saba is introduced to a life that she likely scarcely knew existed, let alone planned to live. It’s time for Saba to show what she’s made of in the Cage.

‘Commotion all around us’

Upon arrival in Hopetown, and departure of the Desert Swan, Saba sees the infamous Hopetown. It is described as ‘squatting’ under the Black Mountains, which instantly brings to mind a place of dirt and roughness. The only thing able to restore some kind of faith to our leading lady is the ‘fierce hug’ she receives from her sister, and the return of her loyal crow, Nero. But the ‘red hot’ is still flowing through Saba’s veins, and it’s clear that she isn’t about to lie-down and take whatever the Pinches give her.

‘Take us to the Cage Master’

Miz Pinch can tell Saba is exactly the kind of girl she’s been looking for when she watches as Saba fights off a beggar, ‘a little smile on her face’; she recognises in Saba a fighting spirit that’s going to earn her a lot of money. Once again, we see Miz Pinch holds all the power, even over the Cage Master himself, ‘You better hope that my- that...certain people don’t find out’, ‘I got influence’. It leaves the reader questioning just what this woman’s story is, yet again. At the Cage Master’s they are also met by the Tonton, a formidable, ‘merciless’ group of men who are responsible for Lugh’s abduction.

‘Time shrieks to a halt’

Among them is one quite unlike any other: DeMalo. He’s special. Where the other Tonton where ‘leather body armour’ he’s seen in ‘metal’; he’s ‘beautiful’, even for a man; and above all ‘they’re all afeared of him’. Saba’s own connection to him is one that will likely be developed later in the story, ‘his eyes meet mine...I know you, a voice whispers...him an me locked inside a heartbeat’. It would be a good time for Saba to put her heartstone to good use if she was in possession of it. Miz Pinch introduces Saba as ‘very rare. Very fine’, and she proves herself to be just this, although not in the way Miz Pinch quite meant, as she flaunts her devil-may-care attitude by eating the ‘platters’ of the Cage Master’s food. The reader feels a surge of pride for her as she looks evil in the eye and mocks him.

‘Welcome to the Colosseum’

Her defiance isn’t long-standing however as she is made to watch two men, like gladiators, battle it out in a metal cage surrounded by a ‘crowd going crazy...their eyes wild’. The scene is almost unimaginable to any reader; such ferocity and violence is so medieval that we blindly assumed it was never to return. Alas in Young’s chilling vision of the future, the old ways of humans have returned. ‘They’re worse than animals. That’s what too much chaal does to you.’ Indeed the people watching for entertainment appear worse than the actual fight itself. Perhaps one of the most shocking aspects of this part of the book is the concept of the ‘gauntlet’; a run for a fighter who’s lost three fights where they can be torn apart be the wild crowds.

‘The end fer her. The beginning fer me.’

And then it’s Saba’s turn in the Cage. The ‘red hot’ comes blurring to life and the survival instinct within her awakens and peaks. ‘I learn fast...i sure as hell ain’t gonna be me [that faces the gauntlet]’. She has a refusal to lose because she knows what’s coming. Whilst she shows a pity to the girl she’s up against, who has already lost two fights, she also reveals a determination that we’re not unfamiliar with from her. Nevertheless, the fight affects her and we see a role reversal as Emmi tends to Saba instead of the other way around, which we are more used to. We also witness Saba crying, almost broken by the harsh reality of her new life, when all she wanted was to find her brother. An empathy and fear begins to grow inside the reader.

~Ella

Is it all written in the stars?

Saba lives in a world where fate and destiny and the writing in the stars, is believed in. At least by some. 

The question this week is: do you believe in fate?

Try It Tuesday: Descendants by Carol Ann Duffy!

This week, we're venturing into another form of literature - the poem. Behold Carol Ann Duffy's 'Descendants':

Most of us worked the Lancashire vineyards all year

and a few freak redheads died.

We were well-nuked. Knackered. The gaffers gave us a 

bonus

in Burgdy and Claray. Big fucking deal, we thought,

we'd been robbing them blind

for months. Drink enough of it, you can juggle with

snakes, no sweat.

Some nights, me and Sarah went down to the ocean

with a few flasks

and a groundsheet and we'd have it off three or four 

times in a night

that barely got dark. For hours, you could hear the

dolphins rearing up

as if they were after something. Strange bastards. I like

dolphins.

Anyway. She's soft, Sarah. She can read. Big green

moon and her with a book

of poetry her Gran had. Nuke me. Nice words, right

enough, and I love the girl,

but I'd had plenty. Winter, I goes, Spring, Autumn,

Summer, don't give me

that crap, Sarah, and I flung the book over the white

sand, and into the waves,

beyond the dolphins. Click-click. Sad. I hate the bastard

past, see,

I'd piss on an ancestor as soon as trace one. What

fucking seasons

I says to her, just look at us now. So we looked. At each

other.

At the trembling unsafe sky. And she started, didn't

she, to cry.

Tears over her lovely blotchy purple face. It got to me. 

Poll Results Are In: North America is YOUR Dust Lands!

Our poll this week asked you where you thought the Dust Lands might be found on the world - or universe- map! North America was the top voted location!

It was definitely a popular choice, but there were many other options that were also considered by fans! Keep on reading to find out just why that is...

Movie Madness: Inkheart!

Movie Madness!

Every single Saturday I will discuss a book that was adapted into a motion picture. This week's book-movie is:

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke