Should You Read The Hobbit Before Seeing The Movie?

You want to write a movie review

If you plan to write a review of a movie that is based on a book, reading the book beforehand is essential! If not you will miss important aspects, for example if the movie is faithful to the original story, if some scenes were excluded, if the film took any shortcuts etc.

You want to enjoy the cinematography at its fullest

Modern movies are often full with special effects and visually very complex, if you have to concentrate too much on following the story, you might miss some of these visual delights.

You like to 'see' the story first in your own head

I don't know about you, but when I read a good book, I can 'see' the story in my head. This happens less easily when I see the movie first. It is as if the directors imagination is stronger than my own one, perhaps because the visual impact is stronger thanks to modern cinematography?

Skipping the book because the movie is bad

Seeing the movie first can, if it is badly made, put you off completely from reading the book - and that could be a real loss! Granted, the danger is slim when it comes to The Hobbit as the director has already proven that he can 'handle' Tolkien's complex works. Peter Jackson directed also the epic 'Lord of the Rings' triology and did a great job with it!

You can't get 'into' the book / language

That happened to me when trying, several times, to read 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'The Silmarillion'. Perhaps it was because I am not a native English speaker, but when I tried to read these books first, many years ago, they simply didn't 'open' for me and the language did nothing for me. Only years later, when I had seen the films, and tried again to read the books I did enjoy them. So if you have tried to read The Hobbit, but couldn't enjoy it, perhaps watching the movie first might help you.

You don't enjoy reading at all

Sounds strange to me, a bookworm, but I do know people that don't like to read at all. Perhaps seeing a movie could make you curious about the book?

You want to get your kids to read more

Similar to the above, but for kids / parents. It worked well with the >Harry Potter books<, so why not also for a more classic piece of children's literature? If you want to introduce your kids to the beautiful world and language of Tolkien, seeing 'The Hobbit' with them might be a good idea!