The Hobbit

I remember when I was probably about five my older brother tried reading The Hobbit to me but I was to young to understand anything. I remember he spent about an hour trying to explain how hobbits lived in the side of hills and I just couldn't grasp the idea of a round door with a door knob in the middle. This summer my dad bought me a copy at a used book store and this second attempt has been much more successful than the last. I have seen all of the Lord of the Rings movies but never read any of the books. It is interesting to see Tolkien's style of writing and the mood that he develops in his stories; and then contrast that with the how his style is portrayed in film. I really enjoyed the fact that Tolkien was literally created a world for his stories. In the front of the copy I have is a map of the land where the stories take place. Every time a location was mentioned in the book I found myself flipping to the map to see what they were talking about. As a Graphic Design major I've learned to always look for ways to engage the user. This going back and forth between the book and map almost seems like a really early/simple version of an interactive feature. Maybe even a pre pre pre pre courser to video games. I am only about half way through the book so far but I will definitely be finishing it before I go to see the movie version that will be coming out soon. I believe that it will be really interesting to contrast the two. Hopefully it will not be disappointing.