Books

[filkertom]

Today is the birthday of both H. G. Wells and Stephen King, as well as the anniversary of the first publication of The Hobbit.

Good day.

For fun, pick any or all of these to answer:

• your favorite book or movie either written by or based on the work of Wells (I could pull a cheat and say Time After Time, but I'll go for the NPR adaptation of Orson Welles' version of The War Of The Worlds -- gotta find that cassette and MP3 that sucker....)
• your favorite book or movie either written by or based on the work of King (without question, Eyes of the Dragon -- thanks, Tom U. -- followed immediately by both the novels and miniseries It and The Stand)
• one or two or three of your favorite lines from The Hobbit (too many, but I have always had a wonderful welcome scene in my head at the line, "They came to Rivendell and found its doors flung wide" -- much livelier than it was in Jackson's Lord of the Rings, which was basically a really nice hotel run by elves)

Comments

[ericcoleman]

Being an OTR freak, I could send you an mp3 of War Of The Worlds if you wish ... I have that version somewhere

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I might, if I can't find the cassette. :) But I know I saw it in spring, not too long before I got hurt, and I'm pretty sure it must've been packed by the All Star Moving Crew. Let me look for it first. Love that one -- Jason Robards, Scott Simon as Carl Phillips, SFX by Skywalker Sound....

[archiver-tim.livejournal.com]

I got that NPR show on CD, oh, right ---> here. I take it is out-of-print now, as we are coming up on the 20th Anniversary of that broadcast celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Orson Wells broadcast (the intersection of my loves, radio and science fiction). So, let me know before ConClave, so I can get you a copy there.

Of course, I got Jeff Wayne's musical version of the book, the good movie, and shows about the 1938 broadcast
I also have a Hiton Head produced version, with nearby towns used.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I have adored Jeff Wayne's musical War of the Worlds from the day I first heard it. It's still the best thing ever in the car player for a long trip.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Hee. Got that on MP3 right here....

[full-metal-ox.livejournal.com]

The NPR show "Radiolab" devoted an episode to various radio presentations of the story, and the ensuing panic on *several* occasions; one listener to a 1944 broadcast in Santiago, Chile, apparently died of fright, and in Quito, Ecuador, in 1949, the duped listeners' frenzy wound up turning on the perpetrators: the radio station was burned down, anywhere from 6 to 20 people killed, and at at least one man severely burned and disfigured in the ensuing riots. In each case, the copycats carefully emulated Welles's dramatic devices: they presented the story as a special bulletin interrupting regular programming and used specific real-life geographical references in the "invasion" coverage; the Quito crew went so far as to impersonate the voices of the Mayor of Quito and the Interior Minister.

Further details, along with a stream and MP3, are available here:
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2008/03/07

[drzarron.livejournal.com]

I've a soft spot for the 1936 version of "Things to Come", starring Raymond Massey. I also think its interesting cause Ray Bradbury tells the story of Robert Heinlein collecting him as a young fan and the two of them training up to Hollywood to meet Wells, who was a consulted on the film. I'm just tickled at the idea of Heinlein and Bradbury meeting Wells, who of course met Verne near the turn of the century.. its a pleasant unbroken line, especially when you consider how many authors followed this line, meeting Heinlein then met others..

[sdelmonte]

For Wells, I would say The Invislble Man, though I will admit that I tend to like him more as a historical figure and as a fictional character than as a writer.

For King, I agree about Eyes of the Dragon, followed by The Wolves of the Calla (ahead of the rest of the Dark Tower series) and 'Salem's Lot.

I need to re-read The Hobbit since nothing comes to mind at the moment besides the opening line, and that's too obvious.

[jmthane.livejournal.com]

For The Stand novel - original version or unabridged?

Agree with neadods on Jeff Wayne's WotW, although I will admit when I first saw it in stores (and not even when originally released, mind you - my first spotting of it was as the double CD!), my first thought was "H.G. must be spinning in his grave". I have since learned better.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Heh. My first contact with it was someone's LP at college.

[archiver-tim.livejournal.com]

Heh, My first contact with it was the LP in WIQB's discard pile of promo LPs that came to the station. I was on WNRS at the time.

[pjhandley.livejournal.com]

my favorite rendition of the Hobbit is the old Rankin-Bass cartoon.. love the songs from that, and they do occasionally pop into my head for no particular reason........

[jannyblue.livejournal.com]

I have that one on DVD... I loved it even as a kid. I was really happy to find it.

It's usually in the "bargain bin" at the big-box stores, because there's no fast-food franchise tie-ins...

[pjhandley.livejournal.com]

I've hit that point in life where most of the movies/music I like are in the bargain bin........sigh.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I'm a huge fan of that cartoon, and also of Nicol Williamson's reading of the book. He does, like, thirty different accents, Scots for the dwarves (with a heavy dose of Sean Connery for Thorin) and a lilting Irish for Bilbo and more of a Tommy Makem for Beorn and his grand and glorious wizard voice (from Excalibur for Gandalf and nasty rock-gnashing sounds for the goblins and three lovely Cockney variants for the trolls.... I didn't want to invoke that, because it wouldn't be fair as I'm sure not many of you have heard it, but Williamson's read of the scene where Thorin drives off Bilbo at the Lonely Mountain is amazing. "If you don't like my burglar, please don't damage him." Golden.

[ravenclaw-eric.livejournal.com]

I always liked that cartoon myself. On the whole, it wasn't a bad adaptation of the book at all...they cut some things out, but that was mainly due to time constraints. I'd have drawn the elves very differently...but that's just me.

[unclelumpy.livejournal.com]

Take a wild guess who gave my favorite performance in that film.

[pjhandley.livejournal.com]

I can't even begin......

[unclelumpy.livejournal.com]

If you're being sarcastic, I apologize, but...

Do you know who my icon is a caricature of?

[pjhandley.livejournal.com]

I wasn't being sarcastic, just tired. And I probably should, but I don't, I'm sorry....

[unclelumpy.livejournal.com]

"Theodore", nee "Brother Theodore".

[pjhandley.livejournal.com]

the voice of Gollum......thank goodness for wikipedia.

[ladystarblade.livejournal.com]

Stephen King is my favorite author and the unabridged The Stand is by far my favorite of his works. Most of his short story collections, Carrie, Firestarter, and Rose Madder are runners-up. In the movie division, it's The Stand, Carrie, and the original The Shining.

Oh, and his nonfiction book On Writing is a surprisingly entertaining read. Say what you want about his subject matters or style, but the man's got some skillz.

And on a Tolkien-related note, we went out to dinner on Friday night to celebrate TLAPD and the roomie's birthday...the entire family dressed up like pirates...and my mom was wearing Sting on her hip. And I don't mean the singer, LOL!

[per_solo]

For Wells, I'll go the direction you mentioned, with "Time After Time". Wells, chasing Jack the Ripper, into "modern day" San Francisco. McDowell doing one of the only turns I recall as a Good guy. Best line, paraphrased..."Then I was a freak...now, I'm an amateur".

King - The Dark Tower. All as a whole. King's epic, his Lord of the Rings...had highs and lows, but moments that just cause one to shudder, and also to yell and be happy. Crysthewolf and I are both making our way through the audiobooks (I'm further along now in The Waste Lands than she), and the audio books add quite a bit to it.

Unfortunately, I've read the hobbit but once, so no lines come to mind...and I've never seen the animated (though, I do own it on DVD).

[unclevlad.livejournal.com]

I pretty much own everything ever written by Stephen King, and I had the pleasure of meeting him once long long ago. For written works, I would have to place "The Stand", "Eyes of the Dragon" and "Thinner" as my top three. Adaptations would be "Christine", "Rose Red" and (even though most people seem to hate it) "The Mist".

For Wells, I really like "Time After Time" and the most recent "The Time Machine" as favorite adaptations, but I don't think I could pick a favorite written work as it depends too much on my mood.

Out of The Hobbit, "He put the ring in his pocket almost without thinking:
certainly it did not seem of any particular use at the moment".

[nimitzbrood.livejournal.com]

For years and years now I have been unable to do anything cautious without uttering "Carefully carefully with the plates." :-)

[batyatoon]

Eyes of the Dragon makes me very, very happy. So do IT and Firestarter and a whole big lot of his short story collections.

And the entire Dark Tower series has a special place close to my heart.

But my Stephen King comfort food is and probably will always be The Talisman and its sequel Black House, both co-written with Peter Straub.

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

Not a book nor a movie, but my clear favorite adaptation of Wells: Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds (most people know it for Justin Hayward's "Forever Autumn"). I'm just sorry I couldn't go see it live, a year or two ago.

I have too much favorite King to name (the books of his I've read most include Carrie, The Shining, and The Green Mile -- which movie certainly is high up there, too). But it's two songs based on his work that I probably enjoy most: "Daddy's Little Girl" by Julia Ecklar (based on Firestarter) and "Duel" by Steve Hackett (based on King's movie of the same name, which in turn is based on a story by Richard Matheson, another great writer).

I'll break out the Rankin-Bass movie later. I think I can stand to watch it once more. :-)

[ravenclaw-eric.livejournal.com]

Ohhh, yess! I adored Jeff Wayne's version!

[bfirrera.livejournal.com]

For King, it would have to be: books written by - The Stand and Carrie

For adaptations of - the same, though Pet Sematary is a very faithful adaptation..., and the radio show adaptation of "The Mist" by ZBS Foundation.

[ravenclaw-eric.livejournal.com]

Favorite book or movie based on The War of the Worlds? My own fave is War of the Worlds: Global Dispatches.

Favorite King-related book? On Writing.

Favorite line from The Hobbit? "Never laugh at live dragons, Bilbo, you fool!"

[laurel-potter.livejournal.com]

"In a hole in the ground lived a hobbit..." (not sure if that's the exact wording, as my book is downstairs)

I don't think I've ever actually read an HG Wells book, although I have a few in the house.

Steven King wrote a short story called, "Mrs. (something's) Short Cut". I loved that, as I love to find short cuts myself.

[r-caton.livejournal.com]

Hammer and Beat!
Yammer and bleat!
Round, round, far underground
you go, my lad!

...while Goblins laugh, and Goblins quaff,
ho, ho! my lad!....

I first came across the Hobbit when doing old "O" level papers at school.... 1971 that would be. The question concerned the opening paragraphs...

"it was a hobbit hole, and that means comfort...."

I recall reading "The Invisible Man" and then being mystified that the hero of the TV series (this was the 1958 series) was called Brady instead of Griffin....

And as for King? Don't read him, although I've heard he's good. Not kean on horror m'self.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Part of the reason I like The Stand and Eyes of the Dragon so much. They aren't horror. It, though....

[liddle-oldman.livejournal.com]

I actually incorporated the goblin's taunting into my user info.

[johnpatrickmcp.livejournal.com]

As Cliche as it is I still have to say the Dark Tower series by king is my favorite work of his. After that I would have to say the short story 1408. I never saw the movie based on it but it was probably one of the creepiest stories I have ever read. Come to think of it I really like alot more of his short stories than I do his novels. Plus the short stories make much better movies.

Now prepare for my war of the worlds rant. I really liked the Steven Spielberg War of the Worlds movie, until the last five minutes. I hate when film makers have the tearful against-all-odds reunion just to give the movie a happy ending. I think without that it would have been amazing.

I may have to forefit all of my nerd cred for this but I have to say it...

Hello, my name is John and I have never read the Hobbit (ducks to avoid stones and garbage). I didn't read much fantasy as a kid and when I got old enough to really apriciate it I skipped Hobbit and jumped right into Lord of the Rings. So I have vowed to read it before the movie comes out but with the amount of bickering going on between the studios that gives me some breathing room.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

No prob. I thought WotW was a really good effort by Cruise, and an average effort by Spielberg (which is still miles better than most people), but it just didn't feel like a blockbuster, which is, y'know, what it was trying to be. And it was oh so convenient that this nobody was there at the forefront of all phases of the attack. And, yes, I know, that was the point, but... it just didn't work for me.

As for The Hobbit, I think you'll like it. Much more straightforward adventure than LotR. It might help if you read it aloud to your kids -- or, as I do on account of I ain't got kids, to your stuffed bear.

(Yes. I read aloud to your stuffed bear.)

[katster.livejournal.com]

In terms of adaptations of King's work, I'm fond of both Stand by Me and Shawshank Redemption

I'll concur with others about the Wayne version of WotW, although I don't think I've heard the Wells version.

And the line I always quote from Hobbit is Gollum's "Whats has its gots in its pocketses?" But I love that bit, how in one chance encounter, we set up the whole of LotR.

-kat

[rook543.livejournal.com]

HG Well: I have been a nut for War of the Worlds for as longas I can remember. My first exposure was the Jeff Wayne album in the 70s. I immediately read the book and it has been a favorite ever since. Oddly, I have never liked any of the movie versions, including the 50s George Pal one or the Speilberg one. Though the Speilberg one was the closest to the spirit of the book so far, it still came up short.

King: The Stand. And the original printing. Not the far too rambling unabridged version, though that was fun in a "directors cut" sort of way.

The Hobbit: "Never laugh at live dragons." (Chapter 11)

[unclelumpy.livejournal.com]

"What have I got in my pocket?"

Randomly

[liddle-oldman.livejournal.com]

Baggins! We hates it! We hates it forever!

[full-metal-ox.livejournal.com]

May I count Buckaroo Banzai as a work based on Wells, albeit in a crackfictional and circuitous way? (The novelization--also by creator Earl Mac Rauch, and which I vastly prefer to the movie--is absolutely necessary to comprehend the movie as more than a chain of zany non sequiturs (there are *reasons* that that watermelon was so prominently featured, and that all the Lectroids were named John.)

There are fans who resist explanation and prefer the non sequiturs, though.

[judifilksign.livejournal.com]

King: Firestarter.
Wells: Invisible Man.
Hobbit: He wished again and again for his nice, bright, hobbit hole. Not for the last time.
and
"You have nice manners for a thief and a liar," said the dragon.

[scotttheobtuse.livejournal.com]

Never was a big Wells fan, but liked the 50's film and the recent Tom Cruise version. Never saw a decent copy of Things to Come, but always wanted to, because it looked interesting. King film?...hmmm...Catseye, hands down....one time when I was visiting Mallworld, (don't remember which one)I was accosted by mall security and asked "what have you got in your pockets?"...never forget the weird look I got when I told him "string...or nothing"