Review: The Wobbit A Parody by The Harvard Lampoon

SUMMARY FROM NETGALLEY.COM:

The sequel to the parody of the sequel to the prequel to The Lord of the Rings
When Aaron Sorkinshield and his band of Little People embark on a totally feasible quest to reclaim the hoard of Academy Awards stolen from them by the lonely Puff the Magic Dragon, senile wizard Dumbledalf suggests an unlikely and completely unqualified accomplice: Billy Bagboy, an unassuming wobbit dwelling in terrorist-riddled Wobbottabad.
Along the way, the company faces Internet trolls, moblins, one really big spider that must be at least an inch and a half wide, and worse. But as they journey from the wonders of Livinwell to the terrors of Jerkwood and beyond, Billy will find that there is more to him than anyone—Tolkien included—ever dreamed. Propelled to his destiny by a series of courageous adventures and indented paragraphs, Billy will set out on the greatest YOLO of all time . . . one that leads deep into the dark caverns hiding a mysterious man named Goldstein, who’s just trying to have a nice seder.

MY TAKE:
I've read the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but I've only seen the Hobbit movies and not read the book.

In The Wobbit A Parody, Billy the Bagboy joins Dumbledalf, Aaron Sorkenshield and the rest of the Little People in their quest to the Mountain with Zero Friends and retrieev the awards stolen by Puff the Magic Dragon.

Most of the major scenes in the book are scenes I recognize from the movie. So if you've seen the movie but haven't read the book, you would still be able to follow along.

The characters are also mostly the same, although there are a few characters here that are obviously not in the books, namely Doc from Snow White and three sisters who bear a very strong resemblance to the Kardashian sisters.

There are a lot of pop culture references in the book, and there's some mixing and matching of characters from different fandoms. Dumbledalf, for example, is a combination of Dumbledore and Gandalf.

The sense of humor used in the book can feel almost nonsensical at times. Overall, though, it's like reading a novel version of MAD magazine, if you can picture that.

One thing I wanted to note, though, was Dumbledalf telling Billy to be careful of Filipinos. Since he didn't elaborate, I don't quite know whether to be proud or offended. Since this is a parody, I'll just let this one slide.

Thanks to NetGalley and Touchstone for the e-copy.

THE GOOD:

1. There's plenty of pop culture references.
2. You don't necessarily need to have read The Hobbit in order to appreciate this one.
3. The book isn't afraid to poke fun of itself.

THE BAD:

1. The sense of humor and writing style might not appeal to everyone.

READ IT IF:

1. You like parodies.
2. You like books filled with pop culture references.
3. You find sarcastic, nonsense, tongue-in-cheek humor funny. 

RATING:


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