I'm just fast off the draw - miseri knows Zarf about as well as I do, and there are any number of Waterloo people among the Nitiots who'd know The Parking Lot is Full.
One thing I noticed about the book is that the quest isn't remotely the same. In _The Hobbit_, the dwarves know the Smaug is waiting, and their goals are (1) reclaim their home from him, and (2) get as much treasure as possible out of it. I'm sure if it had turned out they were able to get back the halls of their fathers and the ability to make more wonderous items, at the cost of letting Smaug keep all the treasure he had piled up, they'd have gone for it after much wailing and pulling of beards. (After all, they can now send thieves to recover the most valuable pieces at leisure.)
In _There and Back Again_, they have no idea what's waiting for them, except there's probably a treasure. In the same situation, their first goal would have been to steal as much treasure as possible and get out undetected.
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Date: 2004-09-18 06:14 pm (UTC)C'mon - post more pop culture references so I can seem all in-touch and connected!
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Date: 2004-09-18 06:48 pm (UTC)BTW, I've finished the book. Thanks! It was interesting to compare to the original.
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Date: 2004-09-18 08:49 pm (UTC)One thing I noticed about the book is that the quest isn't remotely the same. In _The Hobbit_, the dwarves know the Smaug is waiting, and their goals are (1) reclaim their home from him, and (2) get as much treasure as possible out of it. I'm sure if it had turned out they were able to get back the halls of their fathers and the ability to make more wonderous items, at the cost of letting Smaug keep all the treasure he had piled up, they'd have gone for it after much wailing and pulling of beards. (After all, they can now send thieves to recover the most valuable pieces at leisure.)
In _There and Back Again_, they have no idea what's waiting for them, except there's probably a treasure. In the same situation, their first goal would have been to steal as much treasure as possible and get out undetected.