So...Treasure Island vs. The Hobbit??
Jul. 10th, 2012 06:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatI am amusing myself a bit with a negligible debate on Good Reads regarding which book is better: Robert Louis Stevensen's Treasure Island or JRR Tolkien's "The Hobbit". [Okay briefly amusing, gave up on it when the whole thing got woefully academic and people began taking themselves a bit too seriously.]
Personally I find Stevenson ponderous going and would rather read anything else. Literally anything else. The phone book comes to mind. Not to mention highly over-rated. But mileage clearly varies. Also, I am admittedly not a pirate fan. Never got the appeal to be honest. Even in historical romance novels, found them boring. Except for a female pirate - I liked the female pirate, but can't remember the book it was in. Pirate novels are awfully dull, all that time at sea, whining about well being at sea. There is so much more going on in The Hobbit.
Not entirely sure the two are even comparable. One is a classic adventure novel written in the 1800s, the other is a classic fantasy novel written in the 20th Century. Both are classics.
So flist? Which would you pick if pushed? Treasure Island (Long John Silver/Jim Hawkins) or The Hobbit (Bilbo Baggins, Gollum and Gandalf)
Considering I've never really made it through Treasure Island...this really wasn't hard for me.
Here's the thread, in case you are at all interested: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/948777-the-hobbit-or-treasure-island?type=topic#comment_form
Personally I find Stevenson ponderous going and would rather read anything else. Literally anything else. The phone book comes to mind. Not to mention highly over-rated. But mileage clearly varies. Also, I am admittedly not a pirate fan. Never got the appeal to be honest. Even in historical romance novels, found them boring. Except for a female pirate - I liked the female pirate, but can't remember the book it was in. Pirate novels are awfully dull, all that time at sea, whining about well being at sea. There is so much more going on in The Hobbit.
Not entirely sure the two are even comparable. One is a classic adventure novel written in the 1800s, the other is a classic fantasy novel written in the 20th Century. Both are classics.
So flist? Which would you pick if pushed? Treasure Island (Long John Silver/Jim Hawkins) or The Hobbit (Bilbo Baggins, Gollum and Gandalf)
Considering I've never really made it through Treasure Island...this really wasn't hard for me.
Here's the thread, in case you are at all interested: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/948777-the-hobbit-or-treasure-island?type=topic#comment_form
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Date: 2012-07-10 10:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-11 12:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-10 11:04 pm (UTC)Long John Silver might have been a good addition to the Hobbit. "Avast there, Bilbo, me bucko, 'r Smaugs'll fry your gizzard! Smaugs 'n me were shipmates back on the ol' Witch o' Rivendell, ya' see..." He might have even given the black spot to a few of the more uselss dwarves before we had to learn their silly names. ;o)
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Date: 2012-07-11 12:11 am (UTC)And how much you like Pirates...just don't understand the appeal.
Tolkien created a world. Created hobbits. RLS didn't create anything - all based on real people at the time.
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Date: 2012-07-11 01:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-11 01:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-11 02:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-11 01:48 am (UTC)I found it easy to identify with Bilbo.
I read a few of the posts at the goodreads link, and I agree (people take themselves too seriously).
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Date: 2012-07-11 02:00 am (UTC)And Robert Louis Stevensen was depressing. It's frightening that Treasure Island is actually one of his more uplifting stories.
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Date: 2012-07-11 02:21 am (UTC)When JRRT invented Hobbits I felt like he was re-imagining me....
The movie is supposed to come out this year and Stephen Fry will be in it! I cannot wait.
I just checked, it isn't coming out until Dec 14, 2012
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Date: 2012-07-11 03:12 am (UTC)