(no subject)

[bedlamsbard]

You know when you put a (reread of an old favorite) book down because you know what's coming and you just can't deal with those emotions at that point in time? Well, of course, the downside is when you pick up the book again a few months later and you're -- bang! -- right there at the point of All The Freaking Emotions, All Of Them, Right Now, without even any build-up, so you're stuck clawing at the pages going, "NO THORIN NO THINK ABOUT YOUR LIFE THINK ABOUT YOUR CHOICES NOOOOOOOO," and wondering if you really want to read the next thirty pages of agony.

In other words, I'm trying to finish The Hobbit so I can take it off my books-in-progress list, but the constant agony of the last few chapters may kill me. On the bright side, there's a line about how they send Fili and Kili after the ponies that scattered when Smaug was like, "WTF, dwarves again?" and I burst out laughing for what I hope are obvious reasons (even if that's a movie scene and not a book scene).

I have some thoughts on Bilbo as a character that have been brewing for a while, but I think I might let them brew a little longer. (Although I'm happy to expand in comments if anyone wants them now.)

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Beneath the cut is an amazing cover of "Misty Mountains" that I've been listening to basically on repeat for the past three days.

Comments

[sporky_rat]

I would like to hear your feelings on Bilbo.

[bedlamsbard]

I am sadly not going to be very articulate because that's generally how I roll with meta, and I should probably do another reread and rewatch, but a couple of perhaps scattered thoughts:

I think in some ways that Bilbo is one of the most realistic fictional characters I've ever seen -- I think of him as a fundamentally selfish individual, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, even though we do see him engage in some pretty selfless acts in both the book (saving the dwarves from the spiders, the barrel scene) and in the movie (facing up to Azog to protect Thorin). But he goes on the quest basically for kicks (there's a book/movie difference here: in the book, Gandalf basically shoves him out the front door; in the movie, Bilbo makes that decision. I prefer the movie version because it gives Bilbo more agency), there's the whole thing with the ring, not to mention the Arkenstone situation; in FotR (I think? also I can't remember if this is just the movie or if it's from the book as well), he tells Frodo that it was selfish of him to take Frodo in, I think we can generally agree that literally disappearing in the middle of his party was kind of a dick move done for lulz, etc. And I'm not saying that this makes Bilbo a bad or an unlikable character! I just think it's a really interesting place to take a character; I think that in a lot of ways he really is the quintessential "everyman" of fantasy because he is such a flawed character. He's a great reader insert because he's suddenly thrown into these crazy situations, he makes decisions that aren't necessarily for any greater purpose (there's no giant eyeball of evil in The Hobbit), he keeps secrets, he wants to save his own skin (who doesn't?), he's sometimes incredibly cocky (riddling with Smaug, anyone? mocking the spiders?), he complains a lot about the weather and the food and what a misery living on the road is (because it is), but he's still fundamentally a decent -- well, maybe not human being, but a decent person. He does good things. (I was flipping through the Pages of Pain earlier today and I found the part where, during the Battle of the Five Armies, Bilbo says that he'd rather die protecting the Elvenking than anywhere else. And I thought, wow, right there, everything else aside, that's the best judge of Thranduil's character. Because Bilbo is a fairly good judge of character, and Bilbo likes Thranduil -- but I've seen some Thranduil hate floating around Tumblr recently, so, I might be biased. (I like Thranduil. Sassy redneck hillbilly Elvenking in an antler throne, y'all! Plus he's Legolas's dad, so.))

I was thinking the other day that while The Hobbit is my favorite Tolkien book, I've never actually been sure if I liked Bilbo as a character. And I'm still not sure! But that might just be because that character type isn't the kind I'm wildly attracted to as a reader/viewer/writer. But I think it's interesting -- and I think the movie makes this a little more obvious than the book -- that on what is basically a fool's quest, a quest held together by hope and dreams and last chances, where everyone else on it (bar Gandalf, but Gandalf is not, technically, a member of the company -- he's not the lucky fourteenth) is there to get something that they lost, to recover their birthrights, to go home, Bilbo is basically there for kicks. (I mean, at first. Later on this changes.) But of course, that's also what makes him interesting as a character: he's such an outsider. He's literally a different species than the people he's surrounded himself with. And he's never quite going to be an insider. (Even once he's back in the Shire. He's always going to be an outsider for one reason or another. I think it is really interesting that he's a character we're familiar with both as a young buck and a crotchety old man.)

IDK. Rambling. I don't hate him -- I just can't decide if I like him, I guess. Fictional character feelings, but not fictional character feels. He's not a character where I stare at the screen or the page clawing at my chest and having violent emotions over. (Which I think is interesting because -- obviously -- there are characters in this fandom where I do do that.)

[autumnia]

Have you ever seen the short clip where Richard Armitage sings "Misty Mountains" live and acapella during an interview? I think it's right up your alley. :-)

[bedlamsbard]

Yep. :D But always worth linking to!