Esta es una obra que realmente me encanta. Recuerdo haberla leído en la escuela y fue una de mis favoritas. Aún así ahora que estoy intentando leer más teatro clásico español, quería volver a leerla y ver si me seguía gustando tanto y puedo confirmar que sigue siendo de mis obras favoritas.

Es súper corta, y sin embargo es capaz de de hacerme sentir involucrada en cada momento, lo cual es algo que me suele costar en obras de este estilo.

Los personajes son muy realistas, como alguien que vive en un pueblo pequeño la manera en la que hablan me recuerda a discusiones que escucho todavía hoy. Y todos están súper bien marcados, no te confundes con quien es quien, sino que les conoces a todos perfectamente.

Es simultáneamente muy entretenida, ya que leerla es como estar viendo una telenovela llena de dramas, y crítica de su sociedad. Habla de una sociedad pobre, donde la gente no puede pagar sus facturas, pero también de gente que no trabaja y es más habladuría que acción. Habla de los chismorreos y lo duros que podemos ser con otros, de hombres cobardes que se aprovechan de mujeres, de gente que no es capaz de afrontar sus sentimientos… Me parece admirable todo lo que Buero Vallejo es capaz de contar en tan poco tiempo.

El escenario donde ocurre todo es además muy único. Nunca nos movemos de la escalera. Y es el medio perfecto para hablar del paso del tiempo, de cómo todo, y al mismo tiempo nada, cambia. Vemos la evolución de esta comunidad de vecinos donde han vivido todos y de donde no pueden escapar, es perfecto.

Y por supuesto, el final me encanta: el círculo vicioso que se vive en la escalera. Vemos la cobardía de los padres que prefirieron comodidad a felicidad y vemos el deseo de los hijos de no ser como ellos, de ser más, de escapar de ese rellano. Y aunque el libro invita a pensar que la misma historia va a empezar, quién sabe, puede que los hijos sean capaces de romper con esta costumbre y al fin sean los valientes que afrontan su vida tal y como quieren.

Una gran obra de teatro, súper entretenida, ligera y reflexiva. Siempre se la recomendaré a cualquier persona que quiere a leer algo de teatro español.

So this was my first Tolkien book. For years the world of Middle-earth just didn’t interest me much (I know, it’s crazy). I think it had so much hype from so many friends that I was scared I would not love it as much as they did. But I can say, I really did enjoy The Hobbit.

The Hobbit, like many have pointed out, is a truly endearing story. Bilbo Baggins is such a great main characters. He starts off being scared, with no real desire of adventure and letting himself be led by the others in his group. But we see him evolve, we see him come into his own, find his strength, his bravery, become a leader and do everything from killing giants spiders to making fun of dragons.

Bilbo is the heart of the story and he is what makes it so heart warming. The characters of the book are a lot of fun. Gandalf was not at all what I was expecting, so much sassier than I’d have ever thought lol and the dwarves were also really interesting (though I have to be honest, I definitely hated them at times). But Bilbo is the one character I truly felt a connection to, I wanted to see him succeed, to see him be happy and be brave. And he’s also genuinely good, he’s humble, and selfless and just exactly the kind of character you always want to root for.

The world building was absolutely amazing, as well. Every time Tolkien describes a scene or a new creature and landscape, everything comes so alive in my mind. It’s quite a short book for a fantasy and yet he packs so much in that short time. It’s just so… well, fantastical. He creates such a magical atmosphere.

And the writing can be a bit dense but also beautiful and descriptive. And surprisingly funny too. Partly because of the narrator and at times Gandalf, but also Bilbo, one of the most relatable characters ever, I too want to go home and eat every time I’m outside. I was not expecting to laugh as much as I did. And knowing that it’s a book written as a story for his children makes the experience much better beacuse it helps everything make sense. Like the way the narrator speaks to us directly and the comments he makes, it keeps the readers engaged and I can totally imagine myself reading this to my kids someday.

I will say, I didn’t really like the songs. I don’t mind poetry or things like that in some books but here it just didn’t totally click for me, I found myself wanting to skip them at times, and they just didn’t add much in my opinion, and there were quite a bit of them.

Also, there were times where I did find the book a bit slow, and the final battles were definitely underwhelming and anticlimactic for me. I don’t think it bothered me as much as it would with another type of book. Again, it is a bed time story, so I can see why it’s written this way, but as a reader I was a bit like “huh, that’s it?”.

Despite that, I do understand what Tolkien was trying to teach when he wrote this. Ultimately, the real villain was not the dragon, it was his sickness: greed. And I do think that’s super interesting and a really good thing to focus on (especially for children) and I’m really excited to read Lord of the rings as he obviously keeps exploring that.

Some scenes that I think deserve a shoutout: the riddle scene, SO good, so engaging, probably the first time in the book where I thought “oh yeah I get why people love this”; the spider scene, absolutely disgusting but so well written, I was at the edge of my seat; and the conversation between Bilbo and Smaug, shows how Tolkien is a master at writing dialogue, it’s so gripping even though no action is really happening.

All in all, really sweet, good, charming story. I can see why it has a special place in the hearts of so many, and it makes me really excited to continue my journey into Middle-earth.