The Hobbit, Week 3

Welcome to Week 3 of the Online Book Club discussion of The Hobbit.

Did you find it harder to stay engaged during this section than the first section? I felt like there wasn't as much action, and I really struggled to keep reading at points. I definitely hope that the action picks up again in the last section! 

At the beginning of this section, we meet Beorn. He was an interesting character. I thought it was wise of Gandalf to have the dwarves come into Beorn's presence a little at a time. He seemed intrigued by the game and was more likely to help the group. Beorn really helped them out by killing the goblins and the wargs. Do you think we'll see Beorn again by the end of the book? 

Bilbo and the gang have a lot of trouble with ginormous spiders in this section. Bilbo is able to kill one of the spiders, but then all of the dwarves are captured by another set of spiders. This part with the spiders really made me feel like Bilbo was the right addition to the team. He was really brave to trick the spiders and use the ring to help the dwarves escape. I don't know if he would have had as much luck if he hadn't had the ring, but he definitely used it well and to his advantage. 

After the spiders, the group is kidnapped by elves. Again, Bilbo is resourceful and uses the ring to help them get out of danger. I think the group was really happy to have him after he proved himself so many times. 

One of the most exciting parts of this section was the barrel escape scene. Bilbo is definitely getting more clever as the journey progresses. And, he's losing a lot of his fear. It's nice to watch him grow as a character. If you'd like to see the barrel escape scene as it is in the movie, check out the clip below--I will warn you--the scene looks a lot more exciting in the movie than it was in the book. Once you're finished watching the scene, check out this featurette about the making of the scene. I don't think I would like to film in the wet for several weeks. Do you think you would like that? 

At the end of this section, the group finally opens up the door in the mountain and will now be able to go in and find treasure and confront Smaug. Do you think they are ready? Do you think Bilbo will be a lot of help with the ring? 

Did I fail to mention one of your favorite parts of this section? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Before you go, check out this website about Tolkien and his art. Before doing research about The Hobbit, I didn't realize that Tolkien drew many of the scenes in his books. He was a very talented artist, and it's cool to see what he imagined his world to look like. Check out the drawings he did for The Hobbit. I love all of the detail he put in every single picture. 

I hope you're excited to finish the book for next week!