The Hobbit

JRR Tolkien

The Hobbit is a classic book, a sort of prequel to the Lord of the Rings. Bilbo Baggins is the sort of hobbit that doesn’t want to have adventures, but they come to him anyway. He is recruited as the thief for stealing dwarfish treasure back from a dragon! Nevermind that Bilbo has never left his comfortable hobbit hole before!

The Hobbit is like a children’s version of the Lord of the Rings in a way. At the same time, some of the material from it is very useful for understanding that trilogy, while having read the trilogy before also adds information to this one, particularly the references to the elves. I’d recommend reading both together, but if you don’t have the stamina for the Lord of the Rings, give The Hobbit a go anyway.

It’s difficult for me to be objective about this book because it is such a classic. I have to say that the book’s style of description didn’t really draw me in. I continued reading mainly out of a sense of duty, because I just couldn’t get attracted to the characters, which is a very important element for me. As the book progressed however, I really wanted to see how they would achieve things, and so I went on!

It’s not a bad book by any means, the plot line is interesting and Bilbo is believable and laughable as a character, it’s just the style of excessive detail doesn’t really do it for me. What stands out to me about this book is Tolkien’s awareness of his reader, and the way that the text is addressed to the reader in order to make it more personal.

I originally listened to this as a talking book while painting Lord of the Rings style Warhammer figurines. I’m pretty sure it was read by a full cast, and so it was really enjoyable. Nevertheless, on this reading of it I found that I didn’t really remember anything from the talking book. I own two different copies of this book, the one above and also one that has a plain cover.

I believe that this is being made into a movie that will be released soon. I really enjoyed the movies of the Lord of the Rings, even though I had read the books (an exception to what I usually find), and so I will hopefully get to see this one on the big screen!

I would recommend this book for teenagers, adults and children. Although there are some scary sections, overall the book is very family friendly. Who doesn’t love hobbits?