I started re-reading The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy after seeing the second Hobbit movie a few weeks ago. Now, I acknowledge that the opinions of my friends are fiercely divided over the movie. A lot of Tolkien devotees were truly upset at what he has done with the movies; some enjoyed it as a cinematic experience; some thought it was just okay; and some (one) thought it was "an improvement" on the book. I will not name said individual, primarily to save him from being tarred and feathered, as he is undoubtedly the only person on God's green earth who thinks that way, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I suppose. I personally enjoyed the movie, as far as movies go, but I still maintain that Peter Jackson could have made one or two perfectly enjoyable movies by just sticking to the source material (even if he had to pull from the Unfinished Tales) and not inventing an orc-chase and a love triangle with a she-elf played by Evangeline Lilly. (Then again, I never complain about seeing Evangeline Lilly onscreen.) I did think the movie was a bit too long, but it was worth sitting through just to see the scene with Bilbo and Smaug...just like the last one was worth sitting through to see Gollum.
Second only to the dragon, my favorite part of the movie was this song, which played as the credits rolled:
I really loved the Lord of the Rings trilogy movies, but I could barely remember the books by the time I saw them. After seeing the most recent Hobbit movie, I realized that it had been almost twenty years since I had read the book, so I decided to go back to Tolkien's masterpieces and reacquaint myself with them. The Hobbit is a relatively short book, and it is light and easy (since it was originally devised as a children's tale), so I devoured it in about four hours two Sundays ago. The Lord of the Rings is much denser, and so takes longer to read, but I have greatly enjoyed it. I have finished The Fellowship of the Ring over the last three or four days, and I am about a third of the way through The Two Towers. I had intended to wait until we finished our contracts and read them during our long vacation, but soon enough I ran out of patience. (I seem to be in short supply of it these days, anyway.) Moving through the epic trilogy, I was impressed with how faithful Peter Jackson was to the books in the first three movies, both in content and in tone. The Hobbit movies are much different - much more drawn out, and darker, than the book by far. Whether that is better, worse, or immaterial is, I suppose, for the beholder to decide.
What surprised me even more - and unexpectedly - is how nostalgic the experience of reading the books has been. I first picked up The Hobbit when I was nine years old and an avid bookworm. I tended to move through books very quickly and was looking for more of a challenge, so I started it at my father's suggestion. It was relatively slow-going for my nine-year-old self, but I was in awe of Bilbo's courage and resourcefulness, Gandalf's wisdom, Thorin's dogged determination, and the rich imagery of Tolkien's Middle-Earth. Seeing my delight, Papa eagerly recommended the subsequent trilogy. Being even richer than its simple prequel, I moved through it slowly, relishing the detailed descriptions of the Shire and Lothlurien and Rohan and Minas Tirith, and falling in love with the characters as they fought and found love for each other. I would sometimes mark my place and leave the books unfinished for weeks at a time, opening them again to escape a difficult school life or when I missed my father. Books like that stay with you, but I never realized how much until I set out on the journey once more.
Mentally re-tracing my childhood steps down the road to the Lonely Mountain, and then to Mordor, has taken me through landscapes of nostalgia I was not quite prepared for. The books themselves are woven with it, both in the imagery and the characters and the things they yearn for. Suddenly I was nine years old again, discovering a new depth of literature, hungrily devouring the books I knew my father loved. It brought me back to the days of my parents' divorce as I struggled to understand them both as separate entities, undoubtedly while they rediscovered themselves.
Over the years I have found that I relate more easily to my mother. Perhaps because I spent more time with her growing up, or because I am more like her in my emotional volatility, I have found it more natural to look at the world through her eyes. Still, there are parts of me that come from my father: my introverted nature, my love of books, my obsession with making sure all decisions are carefully considered and well-planned, and my deep desire to be professionally and intellectually respected. Emotionally, I am much like my mother, but intellectually I think I am more my father's reflection.
Coming to Korea, and being a stranger here, has really allowed me to relate to both of my parents - my father when he lived in Brasil with the Peace Corps, and my mother when she moved back to the states with him. I am so grateful for the chance to get to know them better as people through shared experience, to see them smile in acknowledgment as I share my stories on Skype and to gain new perspectives on the old stories they have told me. I am almost sure that my father's road was more difficult, and surely a lonelier one, as a Vietnam vet living in the poor Brazilian countryside, surrounded by people who could not speak his language, did not grasp his culture, and could never hope to wrap their minds around where he came from or what he'd been through.
Perhaps my experience here has been much more like mother's, simply because I am a woman and also because I came with someone I love. But the gardens of the Shire, the Misty Mountains, the valleys of Rivendell and the woods of Lothlurien are my father's country. Walking the paths of Middle-Earth I hear only his voice, and I remember my delight as a little girl walking with him on that common ground, mutual wonder for a story well-told.
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