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Do the crises in our world worry you? The pollution, the violence, the corruption, the apathy? Have you ever wished you could escape? Step through a mirror directly into Middle Earth? Steve Bivans, in his book, Be a Hobbit, Save the Earth, argues that we are already there. He examines the problems facing mankind and our planet today through the lens of Tolkien’s world and the War of the Ring. The similarities are all around you, and the struggle is indeed very real. Middle Earth faced destruction at the hands of Sauron and Saruman; our world is under attack from the metaphorical Two Towers: Ignorance & Fear, and Poverty & Greed. Saruman-ic, Corporate Capitalism threatens to control and poison our agriculture, education systems, governments, and our common property—both real and cultural. Worst of all, our sense of humanity and hospitality is being sapped and despoiled. If left to continue unabated, the modern Saurons and Sarumans will devour the basic resources essential to our survival: the water, soil, and the very air we breathe. Our world has lost its 'Shireness.' Be a Hobbit, Save the Earth is a guide to bringing our ‘Shireness’ back, from the bottom up: one Hobbit, one home, and one Shire at a time. Steve Bivans draws positive lessons from Tolkien's works as a metaphorical map, a guide for reconnecting communities, and rebuilding them into sustainable, modern Shires. While our modern challenges seem complicated, nearly impossible, the solutions are really quite simple. The first step on that journey is a change of mind, a transformation from Modern Humans into Modern Hobbits. Only with this new way of thinking can we begin to clean up our scoured Shires: the damage done to our food supply, to our environment, to our communities, and to our political systems. Will that be easy? No, it will not. After all, realizing that the One Ring must be destroyed, was a simple concept, one that even a rustic Hobbit like Frodo Baggins could understand. Carrying it all the way to Mordor to accomplish the mission was another matter, so was cleaning up the Shire when he and his companions returned home. Such it is for us. The situation for our planet is dire; Mordor is at the door and the Black Riders are burning our Shires. What will YOU do? Will you destroy the Ring? Or will you hang on to your ‘precioussss’? Do you have to move ‘to the country’ and live in a hole in the ground? Absolutely not. Moving isn’t necessary. Instead, we need to bring Nature into our minds, and into those spaces we call home. We must change our story. We need to remember that we are PART of Nature, not Nature’s masters. We need to return to harmony with Nature and with each other, to become what humans were destined to be, builders of gardens and Shires, as Hobbits, not Masters over creatures great and small. You can be a Hobbit, anywhere. Even in a condo in the middle of a city! So buy the book, read it, tell everyone you know about it, then Be a Hobbit, and Save the Earth!
- Sales Rank: #1526778 in Books
- Published on: 2015-02-16
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.00" h x 1.41" w x 6.00" l, 1.80 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 562 pages
About the Author
Steve Bivans is a Viking scholar by training. He holds a master's degree in history, and when not writing a 500 page book on 'being a Hobbit,' is working on a dissertation on Viking Warfare to obtain his Ph.D. in history from the University of Minnesota. He lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota with his girlfriend, her son, two Viking Pirate Kitties, and Bubble, the dog.
Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
Tolkien's love of nature, applied to our 21st century world.
By HistoryGuy
The book starts with a very apt quote from Tolkien which expresses his belief that the real threat to humanity today is not Sauron (the great and destructive evil who would use magical power to enslave everyone), but the real threat is in fact Saruman (the wizard who would burn down the forests and raise up a industrial army of workers who continue to pillage nature in order to produce profit). Part I of the book demonstrates how this destruction of nature has been occurring in our world. Just as the peace-loving hobbits were unable (or unwilling) to see the problems which threatened the green and beautiful land, so to we must look ahead and past current conditions to realize that an ecological disaster looms on the horizon. Part II examines the problems with one of the foundational assumptions of all large, modern human societies—that the Earth belongs to us and we were meant to rule and use it. In Part III, the book turns to ways in which we can realign our thinking to focus less on what we can get from the Earth and look to find less destructive ways of living. Part III comes up with strategies for more holistic living which would allow us to both use resources more wisely and be more connected with the people of our communities—just like the hobbits in the Shire were.
Another major theme that weaves in and out throughout the book is storytelling. The importance of storytelling is in keeping with the work of Tolkien (who was by anyone's standards a great storyteller) and the hobbits' love of hearing stories. Bivans suggests that how we tell the stories of Middle Earth and those of our own lives is actually very important. We need to come to grips with the fact that our collective past and present actions are connected to many problems, which can give the story a sort of dark undertone. Yet we should learn from the Hobbits and not tell our stories in such a negative way that we are tempted to throw up our hands and say the world is in an impossible situation.
The main gist of the book is that we have to move away from that mindset and instead embrace the idea that we, like the hobbits (who were neither mystical wizards nor mighty warriors) can still save the world through a series of seemingly small actions. Just as a fellowship was necessary to destroy the ring and defeat Sauron, a community of people working to shake off the grip of excessive consumption can actually make a huge difference.
Note: A thorough knowledge of Tolkien's books will be very helpful in understanding some of the author's allusions. Many of the references are to lore which appears in the Silmarillion or some of Tolkien's short pieces. Much of this material does not appear in the movies, so read the original books! (I promise they are worth it).
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
I'm a Hobbit, he's a Hobbit, wouldn't you like to be a Hobbit too?
By Ted E Redmond
You should read this book.
If you love The Hobbit or the Lord of The Rings, you will enjoy this book. Period.
You don't need to be a fan of Tolkien though in order to really love this book. If you are new to the Eco movement, this book will serve as a great one-stop shop for introduction to pretty much every issue we need to get straightened out. If you are an experienced environmentally minded person, this book is sure to offer up information on a topic new to you. If you hope to see the world become a better place, this book will inspire you.
Mr Bivans writes with a humor, and humility that makes for a fun and bouncy read. His writing is personal, touching, and fun - much like how I think of Bill Bryson books. His passion for a better world is motivating and influential.
I hope the thoughts in this book spread far and wide. We could benefit from finding ourselves surrounded by Hobbits.
Ted Redmond
www.bluedotregister.org
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
It's actually kind of amazing that no one has thought to make the connection ...
By Eric Walls
It's actually kind of amazing that no one has thought to make the connection between the modern struggle to fix our broken society and ecological problems and JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings saga before, but in Steve Bivans' new book Be A Hobbit, Save the Earth: The Guide to Sustainable Shire Living he does exactly that and does it with style as well as substance. Given that The Hobbit and the LOTR is probably more popular now than ever before, this book comes at the right time to reach out to those new legions of fans that Peter Jackson's movies have created. Bivans' knowledge and understanding of the world and characters of Middle Earth is exhaustive and he very ably manages to connect Tolkien's world with our own in such a way that just seems natural and logical. Despite the fact that he is a trained historian, his writing style does feel like an exercise in academia but rather it comes across as easily accessible and is filled with a self deprecating humor that quickly endears him to the reader. Bivans' wit is equal to his wisdom and that is one of the primary things that sets this book apart from every other liberal treatise on sustainable living.
The book is broken up into three main sections, the first of these entitled “Mordor is at the Door”. This section is where the author lays out in detail exactly what he feels are the main problems that we as a society face today. From our continued reliance on oil and other fossil fuels, to the advent and spread of GMO crops and foods, to the ever exponentially increasing issue of overpopulation, to climate change, to the loss of the sense of “community” and “fellowship” in our modern materialistic society, to the firm grip that corporations have on government and society, Bivans takes the reader point by point through these very important issues all while managing to always circle back and tie it in with Tolkien's universe. He is particularly vehement against what he refers to as the “Sarumans” of our world – the top 1% fat cat corporate owners who often start out with good intentions but end up corrupted, like the Saruman in LOTR, by profit and power. While I don't agree with some of the points and politics contained herein, the overarching point is that these are very real problems that need to be addressed in some way in order for the human race to not only succeed, but survive in the not to distant future.
The next section, “The One Ring: a History of Our Middle Earth and Why Things Are The Way They Are”, is the real meat and potatoes of the book. Here is where Bivans really lays out his thesis and uses his training as an historian to his advantage. Heavily influenced by the work of Daniel Quinn, particularly Quinn's radically earth shattering book Ishmael, Bivans argues that our version of the “One Ring to Rule Them All” is the advent of what Quinn dubbed the “Taker” culture – the idea that the Earth was put here for man to rule, use, and abuse at will which came into being right about the same time as the Agricultural Revolution swept across the ancient world. Bivans' impassioned arguments to support his thesis are very convincing and you can certainly tell this is a subject and idea that is near and dear to his heart. Some of it does have a bit of that ultra-leftist, hippy-dippy bent to it, but at the same time he manages to avoid going completely over into liberal la-la land and keeps things on a more practical and even keel. While he decries capitalism for it's own sake and the poisonous effects of the motive of profit run wild, he does got out of his way to make the reader understands that he does not believe that capitalism, the market economy, or profits in and of themselves are “evil” per se, which is the predominant argument that pervades similar works, but rather it is the “greed” and “fear” of the “Taker” mentality that has become so ingrained in our society that poisons the well. Like Frodo, Bivans argues that we must take our own Ring, the “Taker” mentality, and throw it into the proverbial fires of Mount Doom in order to overcome the very real obstacles we face today and create a culture more harmonious with itself and with nature. Again, he manages to tie all of his ideas back into the LOTR mythos in a way that makes it all seem so obvious, as if this was the very message that Tolkien meant to teach us the whole time.
The third section of the book is where Bivans gets into his ideas on things the we as individuals and as a society can do to help to change ourselves and the way we do things to create a more sustainable future for mankind. Much of it is the usual kind of stuff that most of us have heard before – grow your own food, connect with and share with your neighbors and community, reduce your reliance on fossil fuels, find alternatives to corporate “brands” and goods, etc, etc. While at times you do get that “I've heard all this before” feeling, Bivans writing style always keeps things interesting and he does come up with some unique and interesting ideas that you may not have heard or thought about before. The overarching idea of this section is the idea of the “tipping point”. The idea that if each of us started small, at his/her own pace, and made changes in our own lives then eventually, if enough people did that, there will be a point where everything clicks and the rest of society will jump on the bandwagon. Bivans points out that this very “tipping point” phenomenon is the exact same way that most corporations market their own ideas and goods and creates fads and fashions that often eventually become the norm. According to Bivans, we must steal a play from the “evil” corporations own playbook and use it against them to bring them down and create a more sustainable world.
This is a book that will make you think and teach you a few things all while entertaining you at the same time. Fans of Tolkien and the LOTR will surely find much to enjoy here, but even if you are only casually familiar with those works you can still find much here that you can connect with. You may not agree with every single point, but it's hard to argue with the underlying theme that runs throughout the book. The thing that fascinates me the most, and something that Bivans only briefly addresses in the book, is the idea of the necessity of myth to humankind - the whole Jungian/Campbellian idea of the deep seeded archetypes and power of myth to direct and set a clear path for man to live by. Mankind needs heroes, examples to live by and ideals to strive towards. In modern society we have lost sight of that and by fusing the world of Tolkien with the need to make more sustainable changes to our culture and society, Bivans is seeking to fill that hole in our modern thinking with the vibrant mythology that Tolkien created decades ago. The ever increasing popularity of things like LOTR and Star Wars proves that modern man yearns for these types of myths and we just need someone to tie it all together and point us in the right direction using these modern myths as templates. Bivans has laid the groundwork, it's now up to us to pick up the ball and run with it. Will you accept the challenge?
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