Robin's Blog

The Hobbit


Have you seen it yet? Delightful.

We went a few nights ago and I keep thinking about this winsome tale. The Hobbit might well be my new second favorite film. (Ever and always my first favorite film is Babette’s Feast.)

My husband asked why I loved it so much. I think it’s because of the small connections I felt to the film.

The Book: I read The Hobbit when I was a freshman in college and lingered under its covers because it was probably the only book I read for fun during that year. That alone made the story a delicious treat. I loved Bilbo because he was ordinary but willing. It was the willingness that opened the door to all the adventures in his life. I wanted to be a more willing person and dare to venture outside the ordinary.

The Author: Actually I should say the author’s home. When I was researching Sisterchicks Go Brit, my editor and I went on an unconventional guided tour of Oxford with a former taxi driver who dropped us off in front of an ordinary house in a residential area. He said it was the former home of J.R.R. Tolkien and that Tolkien had written The Hobbit in the room above the garage. It gave me a thrill to look up at the window above the garage and think of Tolkien sitting there so many years ago, dreaming up Middle Earth and Second Breakfasts and Bilbo Baggins.

The Studio: On another Sisterchicks research trip I was in Wellington, New Zealand. We drove by the very unassuming post production studios for Peter Jackson’s Weta Studios. The Lord of the Rings trilogy had been completed at the time and locals said that The Hobbit was up next for production. That was quite a few years ago but that’s when I began to wait for the film to come out.

And I was not disappointed after the long wait.

Slipping into our local, air conditioned theater and watching the finished product on the big screen made me think of Tolkien sitting for long hours in that room above his garage. When he wrote The Hobbit in 1937 he never could have imagined that his story would one day be retold in such a way on film.

Such moments stir my storyteller soul. I dream of what could be.

 

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Posted on December 28th, 2012

7 Comments

  • finaorlena

    Dear Robin, I dream too! My friend Katie and I dream of Christy Miller on film….we’ve been dorm mothers for Deaf girls in Mexico for 2 1/2 years together, and wish we could share Christy’s story with them. Such examples of ordinary life turned awesome! …will keep praying for one day… :D

    • L G

      I agree. A movie would be great, but i prefer to read the characters thoughts in books. Your books have actually lead me to Christ and now I have given my eart over to the Lord. I can’t hank you enogh for your books.

    • http://www.facebook.com/kevin.morrill2 Kevin Morrill

      I dream of Sierra Jenson and/or some of the Glenbrook books on film. I read all 12 in the Sierra series and all 8 of the Glenbrook books, some of them, including Wildflowers, twice. Any of these books are such a great witness for the Lord, and many people will take the time to watch a 1 or two hour movie or TV show than will sit down and read or listen to a book. Fina, have you shared any of the Christy books (in English, or even in Spanish if available in that language) with the deaf girls you work with?

  • amber

    I saw the Hobbit a few days ago, and it was amazing! I especially think they did a wonderful job on the scene where all the dwarves come in his house; it illustrated it well. It can be tough to follow Tolkien’s writing because, well, I guess you could compare it to Shakespeare. It’s often hard to understand anything unless you have it explained to you! But it’s still great.

  • Delores Liesner

    Hello Robin,
    Every year I collect Christmas books to read in December. This year I read 14 books in December and my favorite was oneof yours – Finding Father Christmas. This is one I will keep to read again and again before it gets passed on.

  • http://www.facebook.com/kevin.morrill2 Kevin Morrill

    I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Hobbit with my wife, two sons, and a friend. I’d say it is my top 20 movies, maybe even in the top 10. I would love to visit Tolkien’s home where he wrote the Hobbit and the studios in New Zealand where this movie was made.

  • http://www.facebook.com/kevin.morrill2 Kevin Morrill

    You mention how much you enjoyed visiting Tolkien’s home, where he wrote the Hobbit and other novels. Have you ever thought about sharing your old address in Portland, so we could see where You were when you wrote many of your books?

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