Reading the States: Georgia

State: GEORGIA

Fiction:
- Gone with the Wind* by Margaret Mitchell

- The Color Purple* by Alive Walker

- Cold Sassy Tree* by Olive Ann Burns

- The March by E. L. Doctorow

- Goodbye, Sweetberry Park by Josh Green

- Ordinary Time by Annie B. Jones

- Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman,

- The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter* by Carson McCullers

- A Man in Full by Tom Wolfe

- The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman

- Cane by Jean Toomer
- Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhry
- Quite a Year for Plums by Bailey White 

Nonfiction:
- Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil* by John Berendt
- Dahlonega Haunts: Ghostly Adventures in a Georgia Mountain Town by Amy Blackmarr

- Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind by Ellen F. Brown
- A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. edited by James Melvin Washington

- Mama Makes Up Her Mind: And Other Dangers of Southern Living by Bailey White

- Where Peachtree Meets Sweet Auburn: A Saga of Race and Family by Gary Pomerantz
- The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr* by MLKJ

Authors Known for Writing about the State:
- Flannery O'Connor

- Joshilyn Jackson
- Joel Chandler Harris 

Authors Who Lived Here:
- Margaret Mitchell
- Frances Mayes

- Philip Yancey

- Laura Lippman

- Alice Walker

- Sue Monk Kidd

- Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Josh Green

Great Bookstores in the State:
Bound to be Read Books

Horton's Books & Gifts

Retro Cinema & Books

Literary Places to Visit:
Margaret Mitchell's House
Margaret Mitchell's Grave

*Books I've Read

Photo by moi.

The Hobbit

The Hobbit
by J.R.R. Tolkien
★★★★★

The first time I read The Hobbit I was in fourth grade and my family was taking a road trip to the east coast. I remember a few things about that trip, but mainly I was lost in the dark paths of Mirkwood forest and the rocky ledges of the Misty Mountains. I re-read the book when I was in high school and loved it just as much. So I felt a bit of trepidation about re-reading it as an adult. I was worried it would seem childish and the magic would be gone from its pages, but I quickly discovered I had nothing to worry about.

The book was just as wonderful this time around. It’s such a great adventure. Tolkein created an entire world, filled with hobbits, dwarves, elves and trolls, which was completely foreign to anything I knew. When Gandalf and 13 dwarves (Thorin, Dori, Nori, Dwalin, Balin, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Kili, Fili, Bifur, Bofur and Bombur) show up in the Shire, everything changes for Bilbo and for the readers.

One of my favorite aspects of the book is that our hero is a complete anti-hero. Bilbo doesn’t want to go on an adventure. He has no desire to leave his home, but somehow he is swept up along on the journey and he discovers that a tiny corner of him has always longed for a quest.

“‘We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner! I can’t think what anybody sees in them,’ said our Mr. Baggins.”

(The 2012 Hobbit movie and 1977 cartoon version)

Gandalf flits in and out of the story, but he always appears when he’s needed the most. He’s always been one of my favorite characters in literature. He can be cryptic and mysterious, but he’s also a true friend, a wise leader and a warrior. He never gives up and his hope gives hope to others.

The dwarves are so different from the hobbits. Their driving force is a love of money. They aren’t bad, but they have an interesting moral code. Thorin, the group’s leader, puts them all in danger because of his obsession with the precious stone Arkenstone. They aren’t too dissimilar from Smaug, the dragon who stole their wealth, except that the dwarves only want what they see as rightfully theirs.

“There it is: dwarves are not heroes, but calculating folk with a great idea of the value of money; some are tricky and treacherous and pretty bad lots; some are not, but are decent enough people like Thorin and Company, if you don’t expect too much.”

Gollum is, in my opinion, the most interesting character in the book. We know almost nothing about him, but we are at once enthralled and horrified by him. Bilbo has a similar reaction. It’s important to note that he feels pity for Gollum, which foreshadows the events in Lord of the Rings.

“A sudden understanding, a pity mixed with horror welled up in Bilbo’s heart: a glimpse of endless unmarked days without light or hope of betterment, hard stone, cold fish, sneaking and whispering.”

(A drawing of The Hobbit on a postcard my uncle sent my Mom from Sweden in the 1970s)

A few things I'd forgotten about the book:

1) Beorn, the bear man., somehow I completely forgot this character!

2) Bilbo was more than 50 years old when the adventure began.

3) His mom’s name was Belladonna and his Dad’s was Bungo, how fantastic is that!

4) The dwarves love and value music and each one had an instrument that they played.

5) The thrush is really the unsung hero of the novel. Without the help of that bird, the dwarves could have been stranded in the mountain with no hope of defeating Smaug.

While some people find the Lord of the Rings hard to get through and overwhelmed with descriptions and details, The Hobbit is a quick read. It was targeted at a younger audience and so it’s much more accessible. If you’ve ever been curious about Tolkein’s world, this is the place to start.

One side note, I can’t wait for the movie to come out this December! Have any of you seen the cartoon version (image above)? I grew up watching it and as I was reading the book I kept remember songs from it.

p.s. Someone built a Shire in Montana… no seriously!

Photo of postcard by moi.
Images from here and here

Wordless Wednesday: London Eye

The London Eye

More Wordless Wednesday here.

Photo by moi.