Soledad's Journal

The elusive idea for my "Dwobbit" story finally resurfaced today. It isn't a new one, actually, I just keep forgetting it.

My most macabre experience ever in the see-sighting area was the the Sedlec Ossuary in Kutná Hora (Czech Republic). I don't care about the fact that it is the most visited attraction of the country - I find it disrespectful. In fact, I almost got bodily sick after a few moments in there and had to get out as soon as I could.

Now, I was thinking about a version of Goblin Town along those lines. I find the film version thoroughly disgusting and as always offensive against people who suffer from skin diseases and stuff. And I didin't find the Great Goblin scary at all. I could imagine a version of him, though, that has its throne room decorated with the bones in the same manner as the Sedlec Ossuary. Tolkien didn't describe the Goblins as idiots with skin cancer. He said that they were skilled with making things (granted, mostly torture devices, but still). They did have their own twisted culture, including songs. So, I think an ossuary-style throne room would fit the more adult version of them. What do you think?

Meaning achievements of the cultural kind.

1. I actually managed to read the entire Darkangel trilogy; a feat I've been preparing myself for a decade. 30 or so years ago I read the first volume in German translation and liked it a lot. My good friend lhun_dweller gifted upon me the whole trilogy in original paperback but somehow I never got round to actually read it. Perhaps I was afraid that I wouldn't like it so much all these decades later.

Turns out, I liked the first volume just fine. The second and third one... not so much. Make that not at all. But that's often the case with sequels, isn't it? At least I've managed to read something that wasn't research-related for my own writing.

2. After having owned the DVD ever since it came out, I finally gathered my strength to watch the extended edition of The Hobbit - The Battle of the Five Armies. Mind you, I never saw the movie version. The second film already put me out of the mood. Well, the last part was everything I feared it would be - and then some. While some of the visuals were impressive and the artwork of Weta stunning, the only recognizable character (for a devoted Tolkien reader) was Bilbo... in the few moments we actually got to see him. As altariel once put it, Martin Freeman was the saving grace of all three films.

I don't say that they weren't good films as fantasy goes. They just had nigh to nothing to do with the books and the spirit that shines through Tolkien's writing. That's all. The Weta art books and the Making of extras were a lot more interesting than the films themselves... at least for me.

Mum and I went to Vienna yesterday, where I bought the extended version of "The Desolation of Smaug". Since I am more interested in the creative process behind the films than the actual films themselves, I am offering up the theatre versions of the first two for free. PM me if you want them and we can make a deal. ;))

... I'll also try to get myself this book and this book and this book, too.

Yes, I know they are specifically made the way that you have to buy all three of them to get the whole second Hobbit film covered. Especially presenting the dragon in a book of its own is shameless money-mongering. Considering that I absolutely hated the 2nd film, it seems insane to spend so much money on the artwork part of it, but actually the artwork is the really good part of it, and the Cloaks and Daggers part will be very good for my vocabulary.

It's my great regret that I bought the very first volume (Part 1 to the 1st film) in German cause I didn't think of the possibility of ordering it in original. All those wonderful terms and names and expressions re: the Dwarves clothing and tools and weapons, and I'll never have in English. Because buying the book twice would be a bit excessive, even for my Hobbit-related obsession. * le sigh*

Okay, I'll shut up here now. I actually managed to do some decent writing in the last couple of days, so I'll be busy typing everything up during the weekend and next week or so.

I've just seen the second film. I'm planning to write a longer review over at edhellondawards, so only a few impressions for now.

Spoliers behind the cut, just in case.
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All in all, I'm perhaps the only one who liked the first film better. That, at least had a fleeting likeness to the book that I've loved for the better part of my life.

The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey Chronicles II, which I ordered through the Bestsellers English bookshop in Bp, has arrived today. It isn't half as exciting as the first part was, which I bought in Vienna, sadly in German translation, but it still has some very nice Hobbit pictures (good for character visuals), nice stories about the final creation of characters and even small interview snippets with the cast, so I'm quite content.

I'd be happier if I had the first part in English, too, mostly for the vocabulary that could be so very useful for writing and can't be find in ordinary dictionaries, but, well, you can't have everything, right? In any case, I'm looking forward to the extended edition of the film that's due to come out in November and will continue much more Hobbiton (hopefully also the Old Took's birthday party).

I also ordered what seems to be the Americam edition of Sherlock: The Casebook. It has the same author, although a different cover picture, so I hope it's the same book. But even if not, it will be interesting.

Still haven't seen the new Star Trek film. My fellow Trekkies over at Memory Alpha are quite divided about it, but I'll at the very least buy the DVD, I think. I know there are people who're not happy with the identity of the main villain (played by Benedict Cumberbatch), and perhaps it would have been better to choose a different one. But I'd have been ever less happy if "John Harrison" turned out to be some nobody, created for this film alone. So shoot me.

I know this isn't Star Trek anymore, not since the Vulcans got villified in "Enterprise" and finally Vulcan itself destroyed in the previous film, so I don't get upset about canon rape and the nullifying of Roddenberry's message any longer. Besides, I never saw a Star Trek movie that I'd like, so I'm not terribly disappointed.