Surviving the Dragon

Technically, the first book I read to Funsize was not "The Hobbit", but was in fact a poorly-selected "I know my..." book. However, it's certainly true that "The Hobbit" was the first story I read to my daughter, so that counts. We started about a week after she did, and finished this weekend. It took us rather longer to get through than might be expected, largely because she was scared of the dragon - and who can blame her?

Probably my biggest impression from reading the book to FS is that it reading it aloud is a very different experience to reading it myself. The simple act of vocalising the words means that the whole story proceeds more slowly. But, also, it changes the nature of it all - rather than just describing the thing, it becomes important that the words fit together well, that the sounds go together. This is especially true of the songs, of course, which are easy to skim when reading to yourself but which are much more poetic aloud.

My second impression, as this was my first re-read since the films came out, is that this novel is probably unfilmable. Which is an odd thing to say, but I'm now more than ever convinced that the films called "The Hobbit" aren't films of this book (or story) at all - they're quite another thing. (To the extent that you can't edit down the films to excise the added material and thus arrive at the story in the books.) But I don't think that simply filming the story as presented works either - too many of the dwarves amount to a name and a colour for the hood, with no other character to speak of. I don't see any sensible way to resolve that problem, especially as the stated motive for Bilbo going on the quest is to avoid the company having thirteen members!

Thirdly, regarding the choice of "The Hobbit" for a week-old child: well, why not? At that age, it's not actually as if it makes much difference what is read to her, since it's mostly about hearing our voices anyway. So it might as well be something the reader can enjoy. Plus, it has the great advantage that her geek credentials are now unimpeachable. So there.

Next...

Well, LC is apparently reading "Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls" to FS. Meanwhile, I've made a start on a storybook Bible - we received two copies of this as gifts, and narrowly avoided a third, so it comes highly recommended.

#21: "The Hobbit", by J.R.R. Tolkien (a book from The List)
#22: "O.L.D. Fantasy Heroic Role-playing Game", by Russ Morrissey