9 Bizarre Scenes from Beloved Books You Might Have Missed

Have you ever experienced that feeling when you reread a book you first encountered as a teenager, and suddenly stumble upon a strange scene you don’t remember at all? “No, this can’t be right! It must be a mistake in the translation!” you tell yourself. Alas, beloved books are indeed filled with peculiar scenes that you likely overlooked during your first read. Let’s dive into some of these odd moments.

The Enigma of Tom Bombadil

Fans of “The Lord of the Rings” often lament the lack of screen time given to Tom Bombadil. This character is an ageless, omnipotent forest dweller whom the hobbits occasionally encounter. He is the only one in all of Middle-earth immune to the power of the One Ring, which he cannot take to Mordor because, as Gandalf says, he would lose it along the way. So, he simply… exists. Convenient to introduce an all-powerful character into the plot and then give him no development, right?

Unexpected Bear Encounters

In Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale,” the king disowns his newborn daughter and orders one of his lords to abandon the baby in the woods. After a poignant farewell scene with the little princess, the lord is eaten by a bear that appears out of nowhere. The stage direction famously reads: “… exits, pursued by a bear.” What’s the point of this plot twist?

Gulliver as a Human Dildo

In “Gulliver’s Travels,” the protagonist visits many magical lands, including the land of giants. There, he avoids dangerous situations arising from the presence of enormous animals. The giant people also show curiosity towards him and use him as a dildo. At least, Swift hints at this: the giant girls undress Gulliver and watch him walk naked on the dining table.

Charles Dickens and His Love for Spontaneous Combustion

First, Miss Havisham in “Great Expectations” suddenly bursts into flames and dies. Then, in “Bleak House,” a character spontaneously combusts like a matchstick. There’s no explanation for this, and the book lacks any paranormal or magical elements. Later, there’s a scene where some people wonder why he combusted, but overall, the moment has nothing to do with the rest of the story.

A Girl Simply Flies Away While Hanging Laundry

The strangest moment in “One Hundred Years of Solitude” seems to be when Remedios the Beauty simply ascends to heaven on a gentle breeze. She is the most beautiful woman in the world, and thus too good to simply die—a sufficient explanation for this event? “…she handed the sheets to the bright wind and watched as Remedios the Beauty waved goodbye to her among the sparkling, trembling sheets that, along with her, left the earthly air of bugs and dahlias, flew through the sunny air, where it was half past four, and were carried away forever into the high heavens, where even the birds of memory could not reach.”

A Sewer Orgy Among Children

Another adaptation of “It” still ignores an important scene: the children’s orgy. After defeating the monster, the seven friends try to find a way out of the sewer, so they have an orgy. Yes, King has explained several times that this scene is primarily about coming of age, but no one explicitly recommends group sex to their children as a rite of passage into adulthood.

Hugo’s Verbosity

Hugo became especially popular due to excellent adaptations of “Les Misérables” and “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.” Some fans may not even know that screenwriters had to cut literally hundreds of pages of text. For example, in “Les Misérables,” Victor wrote 15,000 words just describing the surroundings of Paris, 11,000 dedicated to describing monasteries, 5,000 to why they are so bad, and 21,000 words to the Battle of Waterloo, which has almost no relation to the plot. He would clearly not have enjoyed using Twitter if he lived in 2017.

Fairy Tale Discussions About Flatulence

Long before Disney’s “Aladdin,” the wonderful tales of “One Thousand and One Arabian Nights” were popular. One of these tales is all about farting. When Abu Hasan meets his bride, he slowly stands up but suddenly lets out a fart. The guests start talking louder, as if they heard nothing, but from shame, he flees to India and hides there for 10 years. When he finally returns home, he hears a stranger’s conversation: “You were born on the night Abu Hasan farted.” In horror, the hero returns to India and tries to meditate until he dies.

A Snake Eats a Man, but No One Pays Attention

In the ancient Roman tale “The Aeneid,” which recounts the Trojan War, the Trojans discover a wooden horse and think, “Oh, a free horse, let’s take it.” A local priest says it might be a trap, but no one listens to him. Athena, who helped the Greeks in the attack, is annoyed that he is ruining the capture plan, so she sends giant snakes from the sea to kill the priest in front of everyone. The Trojans watch his death and then continue to take the horse away. That’s why they lost the city: you shouldn’t ignore such sudden deaths.

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