The Hobbit
by J.R.R. Tolkien
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Book Summary Information
Author: J.R.R. TolkienBrand: Graphia
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2002-08-15
ISBN: 0618260307
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Graphia
Book Reviews of The Hobbit
Book Review: Bilbo and the Thirteen Dwarves
Summary: 5 Stars
When I was in fourth or fifth grade, every afternoon we'd have private reading time. One kid in our class had a copy of this book called "The Hobbit", with this smug looking dragon on the front guarding some glowing gold. Between the pages of his book there was a bookmark with a royal red tassell on the end. I was more interested in the bookmark at the time, but I'd never forget that image. For ages I thought a hobbit was a type of dragon!
A couple of years later, my younger brother got into Tolkien and would tell me bits and pieces about "The Hobbit" and "Lord of the Rings" (the riddles, the heroes, Gollum, etc). One of my Dad's friends was into Tolkien and Middle Earth too. I had an encyclopedia of works of fantasy, and they spoke of Tolkien like he'd hung the moon. I was into fantasy, but looking at the covers, thick volumes, and the elven language everywhere, I avoided Tolkien's books. For ages, the only work of his I'd looked at had been "The Father Christmas Letters", which I thought was all right. I saw the "Lord of the Rings" movies, tried to follow them, though I ended up falling asleep halfway through "Return of the King". Though to be fair, I hadn't got much sleep the night before I saw that one.
What was wrong with me? Fantasy lovers seemed to get so much out of Tolkien, but I could never catch on, try as I could. I tried one last time the other day, picking up a copy of "The Hobbit". Tolkien had written this as a children's story, so maybe I might be able to plug into his world a little easier here. I was right, and I did. It's a pretty good book.
The book is all about a hobbit (a quiet, short creature with hairy feet) named Bilbo Baggins. He's very friendly, very helpful and a something of a homebody. He lives in a world full of all sorts of magic and wonder, but he has no interest in adventures. Or does he? Gandalf the wizard seems to think he'd be quite an adventurer, a burglar in fact. Gandalf is so confident about this that he's gone and invited thirteen dwarves to Bilbo's house. Gandalf has told them that Bilbo is going to lead them back to their ancestor's homeland, to get back both their treasure and territory guarded by Smaug the dragon. Despite the promise of a share in the plunder, Bilbo is not at all interested. Still, he gets dragged along, and after facing trolls, goblins, wolves, elves and giant spiders, becomes all the more stronger a hobbit for it.
I think the main reason I'd been so put off by the idea of Tolkien's work is the way that others have interpreted it. Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" films, for example, are all in washed out, filtered or pastel colours and are full of mud, sweat, metal and bleakness. I found this book showed Tolkien's fantasy world to look nothing at all like that. In the book of "The Hobbit" the dwarves wear bright hoods, the autumn leaves are a deep red, enchanted waters are a mysterious black, the gems in Smaug's cave reflect light in every colour of the spectrum. There's a flavour to the work that's just absent in about every interpretation I've seen of the work. It's hard to put a finger on it. C.S. Lewis described such moments as "the joy" and "northerness". It's like behind every object, every tree, there's something deeper. This is a world you can get lost in. The narrative is warm and witty, as if your grandfather was telling it to you, complete with asides and hints at the story to come, which was nice. There is something of a twist at the end, with a message within the twist. It's not what you'd expect, and it may disappoint some, but I found it to be rather interesting.
J.R.R. Tolkien was a Anglo-Saxon language professor of at Oxford university, and it really shows. He's very particular about the words he uses. Check out the way that Gandalf tells Bilbo off for his vague use of "good morning", for instance. There's a lot of plays on words too, and lots of poetry. I haven't read as much ancient and classic literature as I'd have liked to, but I can see elements of what I have read in the Hobbit. Beowulf, one of the oldest stories in the Anglo-Saxon language, (and one I've read) features great halls, feasting and battles with a horrible beast by water, and so does "The Hobbit".
I heard that during the 1960s a lot of the trendier types were into to Tolkien (the Beatles had wanted to make a movie around one of his works, for example). "The Hobbit" has strange creatures, unusual names and a wizard who can puff mulitcoloured smoke rings which he can command, so I do kind of understand why this happened. Kind of funny actually. I also think it's funny that throughout the book Bilbo is caught in a fantastic place, longing to be in his warm and cosy home, while Mr Tolkien was probably in his warm and cosy home writing, longing to be in a fantastic place.
The edition of the book I read came with illustrations and a couple of maps, I'm guessing drawn by Tolkien himself, as there's no other credit for them. They also added to the depth and the "northerness" of the story.
"The Hobbit" I can see now has been rather influential on the world of modern fantasy. Joe Dever's "Lone Wolf: Flight from the Dark" features green scaly Giaks riding Doomwolves, similar to the goblins and the wolves they ride in Tolkien's work. Dever's sequel "Fire on the Water" features a mountain with a cave going through it, rather like Smaug's mountain. J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" has a dark forest full of giant spiders, as does the Hobbit. I could go on listing examples, but I think my review's getting a bit long.
I'll probably get round to reading "The Lord of The Rings", but before I do I'll probably get my hands on one of those Middle Earth inspired prog rock CDs (Jon Anderson's "In Elven Lands: The Fellowship", Glass Hammer's "The Middle Earth Album", etc) get some atmosphere going.
Recommended to lovers of fantasy and adventure.
Summary of The Hobbit
J.R.R. Tolkien's classic prelude to his Lord of the Rings trilogy featuring cover art by the author.
Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely traveling any farther than his pantry or cellar. But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard Gandalf and a company of dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day to whisk him away on an adventure. They have launched a plot to raid the treasure hoard guarded by Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon. Bilbo reluctantly joins their quest, unaware that on his journey to the Lonely Mountain he will encounter both a magic ring and a frightening creature known as Gollum.
Written for J.R.R. Tolkien's own children, The Hobbit has sold many millions of copies worldwide and established itself as a modern classic.
"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort."
The hobbit-hole in question belongs to one Bilbo Baggins, an upstanding member of a "little people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded dwarves." He is, like most of his kind, well off, well fed, and best pleased when sitting by his own fire with a pipe, a glass of good beer, and a meal to look forward to. Certainly this particular hobbit is the last person one would expect to see set off on a hazardous journey; indeed, when Gandalf the Grey stops by one morning, "looking for someone to share in an adventure," Baggins fervently wishes the wizard elsewhere. No such luck, however; soon 13 fortune-seeking dwarves have arrived on the hobbit's doorstep in search of a burglar, and before he can even grab his hat or an umbrella, Bilbo Baggins is swept out his door and into a dangerous adventure.
The dwarves' goal is to return to their ancestral home in the Lonely Mountains and reclaim a stolen fortune from the dragon Smaug. Along the way, they and their reluctant companion meet giant spiders, hostile elves, ravening wolves--and, most perilous of all, a subterranean creature named Gollum from whom Bilbo wins a magical ring in a riddling contest. It is from this life-or-death game in the dark that J.R.R. Tolkien's masterwork, The Lord of the Rings, would eventually spring. Though The Hobbit is lighter in tone than the trilogy that follows, it has, like Bilbo Baggins himself, unexpected iron at its core. Don't be fooled by its fairy-tale demeanor; this is very much a story for adults, though older children will enjoy it, too. By the time Bilbo returns to his comfortable hobbit-hole, he is a different person altogether, well primed for the bigger adventures to come--and so is the reader. --Alix Wilber
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