The Hobbit

Speaking of books, a couple nights ago I finished reading The Hobit, by J.R.R. Tolkien.  I read this many years ago, but long enough in the past that much of the plot had grown hazy.  I spotted it on the shelf and my hand reached for it almost involuntarily.  A wonderful little yarn, it was as pleasing this time as the first.

I have a great fondness for fantasy, both as literature and as film.  Writers like Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and more recently J.K. Rowling, create complex alternative realities and people the landscape with fascinating characters who go on great adventures.  The timeless conflict between good and evil provides the basic plot structure, but sometimes it's hard to tell which is which.

The Hobbit, of course, provides the "backstory" for Tolkein's The Lord of the Rings.  I discovered the Ring trilogy midway through my junior year at Denison.  Alas, I started Book One a few days before final exams for the fall term, and finished Book Three just after exams ended.  That explains why my grades that term were somewhat underwhelming!

Peter Jackson is directing the film version of The Hobbit, slated for release on December 14, 2012.  For those who loved the Ring movies, this should be a delicious holiday treat.  I expect I'll see it two or three times in the theater (a 3D version will be out, too), and then again in DVD.

And speaking, too, of movies and treats, the current Consumer Reports has a work-up on movie theater popcorn.  It's a cardiologist's nightmare.  •••