the hobbit: v-ix

the hobbit by jrr tolkien, chapters 5-9

I’m a few days behind the Shelved by Genre folks with this one, but I’m all caught up now. Riddles in the dark, Out of the frying pan into the fire, Queer Lodgings, Flies and Spiders, and Barrels out of Bond - some banger chapters in this reading. The Rankin Bass adaptation hangs heavy over Out of the frying pan in particular - I think I can’t help but hear their version of the goblins’ fifteen birds song. Riddles in the dark was another chapter that I was surprised to find that I remembered verbatim big chunks - I guess I’d reread that portion in particular multiple times? Or maybe just read it closer? On the other hand, gun to my head I could not have pulled Beorn from the depths of my memory. I did not remember him at all. But I enjoyed the vaudeville routine Gandalf uses to trick Beorn into welcoming all 15 of them into his home, and it’s a great tickle to the brain to have Gandalf know of this guy without knowing him. It helps make the world seem bigger than just Gandalf (and his travels).

What else? I’m still very much enjoying the narrator’s tone - I read a few pages out loud to Lyra (she’s definitely still too young, but I’d like to come back to it when she’s older), and it feels great to read aloud. Bilbo is coming into his own here, stretching to fit his burglar role. The book is flying by (and I had completely forgotten Beorn) but I’m looking forward to keeping this slower pace and taking my time with each chunk.