I am a twenty one year old who has never seen a Lord of the Rings film and only one Hobbit film (the second one). This year I wanted to read all four books and then afterwards watch all six films. This are my notes throughout. 


What I Already Knew:
- There are 12 dwarves, a hobbit, a dragon, a Bard and a grand wizard in this story (though I wouldn’t be able to name all the dwarves).
- They are heading to a mountain with a ton of treasure underneath it.
- Gollum is in this, the one ring to rule them all is in this and Bilbo lives through all of this.
- Tauriel is not in this. I thought Legolas was (but he isn’t).
- There is a battle of five armies (which result in 3 deaths in the films but I believe only 2 in the book).
- Dwarves don’t keep promises?

My Notes:
- I understand the criticism of it being “long winded storytelling” but it reminds me of a bed time story told by your grandfather, adding his own commentary in-between (it’s similar to C.S. Lewis’ style - I know they knew each other but that’s about it.)
- Using this style, as a reader you feel you’re apart of the adventure. The slug, the action and the friendship.
- Bilbo is a fifty year old man, going on his first adventure and is a BADASS! I’m very impressed. A book on an adult instead of a child going on an adventure and learning along the way.
- However, I am annoyed by the idea that it’s Bilbo’s “DNA” that leads him to do this. Thankfully Sam, Merryweather and Pippin prove that wrong later on.
- From what I can remember of the film, they’ve seemed to stick quite close to it.
- I was expecting mole people for some reason, not Goblins.
- I cannot believe a Hobbit can’t swim.
- I always believed that Gollum called the ring ‘his precious’ but is he actually referring to himself?
- Is Gollum a goblin?
- The Forest Elf King being Legolas Dad in the films is an awesome idea (I don’t know if Jackson thought it up or Tolkien planned it but I like it). Is this conflict going to lead to the beef between Gimli and Legolas later on though?
- Why doesn’t the ring whisper to Bilbo when he wears it? Did that just come from the films?
- I was expecting the Eagles to believe themselves higher than anyone else due to the memes. I also now understand why everyone is annoyed at them for not helping Frodo but helping the dwarves in this.
- The introduction of the Bard is more sudden in the books and I enjoyed it more in the films (where it lead to proper description on Smaug’s weak point and how to kill him).
- I knew there was something off with Thorin but I didn’t expect full greed/madness.
- I swear Tolkien thinks ‘I don’t want to write all this action. I’ll just BUMP HIM ON THE HEAD. Then the action will be over! Done.’
- Is Thorin dead? They had a conversation and then they buried him? Egyptian style? I am confused.
- Personally, I don’t believe you get to know the dwarves properly in the book. They seem more of a collective than individuals and in the film, I could differentiate them more.
- Overall, Bilbo had an adventure and became a better man from it.