Goodreads Mobile | see what your friends are reading

May 06, 2011

Matt rated it:

Some books are almost impossible to review. If a book is bad, how easily can we dwell on its flaws! But if the book is good, how do you give any recommendation that is equal the book? Unless you are an author of equal worth to the one whose work you review, what powers of prose and observation are you likely to have to fitly adorn the work?

'The Hobbit' is at one level simply a charming adventure story, perhaps one of the most charming and most adventurous ever told. There, see More...

9 comments like (71 people liked it)

Aug 24, 2011

Ceridwen rated it:

I've undertaken to read this to the boy; our first real book with chapters. Richard and I alternate reading at bedtime, so the experience is kind of fractured, but so far I'm loving it. I got to be trolls tonight. I do brilliant trolls.

-----

When I was six, my dad, who was more the reader-at-nighter of my parents, endeavored to read The Hobbit to me. He got to the part about the giant spiders in Mirkwood, and I promptly lost my damn mind, and begged him to stop reading. H More...

133 comments like (47 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Scott rated it:

There are some days when I actually think that the humble Hobbit is superior to it's bohemoth brother, The Lord of the Rings. It's a much tighter story, and Bilbo is a much more appeal character than is Frodo. I also just love this poem, from The Hobbit

Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away ere break of day
To seek the pale enchanted gold.

The dwarves of yore made mighty spells,
While hammers fell like ringing More...

10 comments like (58 people liked it)

May 31, 2010

Eh?Eh! rated it:

I wish I could count this among my childhood nostalgia books.

I remember trying to read this book in grade-school and stopping because there was too much boring scenery and background. I must've been too young because it isn't boring at all, and there isn't all that much scenery as I'd thought and hardly any background. But as I kept reading, this flipped into a feeling that I'm reading this far too old, not young. The voice of the narrator is odd, generally the vague omniscient ov More...

40 comments like (52 people liked it)

Sep 28, 2011

Kwesi 章英狮 rated it:

Bilbo Baggins is a normal hobbit, only wanted is a peaceful life and a home loving type. But one day when Gandalf tricked Bilbo to host a party for Thorin and the gang, he was ridiculed and forced to join the team to explore the land within the imagination of Tolkien. Bilbo, the band and the reader met new faces from orcs, eagles, and other mystical creature that fought within stories by stories. Imaginative Tolkien once again made his famous children's book of all time.

If I'm a li More...

33 comments like (27 people liked it)

Jan 30, 2012

Suna rated it:

In anticipation of the movie - and I anticipate, eagerly! - I thought I'd pull my socks up and try to do what I've copped out of doing before: Reviewing Tolkien's work.

This is the easiest book to review though, as it is also the most accessible of his writings.
There is none of the poetically archaic lyricism that emerges in LOTR.
It's the thing most people I know get into contact with first:
Through having had it read to them by their parents when they were but bair More...

3 comments like (7 people liked it)

Jan 02, 2012

Dulac3 rated it:

I have a long and very personal history with _The Hobbit_. My first experience of it was, I think, at the age of 7 or 8 when my older brother (13 years my senior) read the story to me and I was immediately captivated. After that came readings from the LotR and I was a Tolkien fan forevermore. My re-reading of _The Hobbit_ immediately prior to my most recent one was a bit of a disappointment. Somehow the same old magic didn’t all seem to be there and I was perhaps most discomfited by the gaps in More...

4 comments like (12 people liked it)

Sep 14, 2007

Adam rated it:

My parents had a BBC version of this on vinyl when I was about 3-4 years old, and they taped it for me onto four or five analog tapes that I listened to every morning. I'd spend hours and hours at the beginning of each day listening to the British actor read these words, taking them to heart and memorizing them until they became rote. By the time I was five, you could start me at any point in the book and I could continue on, word for word spilling out of my young mouth. I remember gathering More...

0 comments like (23 people liked it)

Dec 21, 2007

Bryon rated it:

This book took me on a great adventure, one that took me through a great range of emotions, and I have to say, it must be the cutest adventure I've ever been on. How can you not adore Bilbo and his hobbit friends with thier furry feet and quaint past-times?
Of course, by the same Tolkien (pun intended), how can you not be afraid for Bilbo as he faces trolls, gobblins, men, and numerous other dangers? I for one don't know how you couldn't, not with J.R.R.'s gi More...

0 comments like (10 people liked it)

Aug 22, 2011

Louize rated it:

During my childhood, Zimatar, a radio drama was very popular. Before classes start every morning, children would tell and retell the story to one another. Expounding how wonderful yesterday's episode was. Those were the days...

This edition of The Hobbit brought me back to my youth. It was alive, fun and very entertaining. Narrated simultaneously by both Bilbo and The Tale Bearer. When I say simultaneously, what I mean is that they sometimes talk both at the same time, which was More...

19 comments like (5 people liked it)

Nov 28, 2011

Ikra rated it:

Sebuah kisah petualangan selalu menarik diikuti terutama jika di dalamnya terkandung bumbu sentimentil tentang nilai kepahlawanan yang lahir dari kenaifan seorang tokoh. Formula “From Zero to Hero” kerap kali menjadi mantra yang ampuh dalam kisah fiksi yang barangkali juga menjadi bagian dari daftar mimpi kebanyakan orang di dunia nyata. Dan layaknya sebuah “lompatan takdir” yang mendatangi seseorang, kisah Bilbo dimulai dari ketukan di pintu di rumahnya.

Bilbo Baggins, bangsa hobbit, More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Oct 13, 2010

Robert rated it:

An amazing story that starts with a disturbance in the life of a homely Hobbit. The unpleasantness leads on to an adventure that spans the known world of Middle Earth and sets the stage for the final battle with the Dark Lord, Sauron of Mordor.

Written in a much more simple and easy to read form than "Lord of the Rings," "The Hobbit" has a charm that is often lacking in the great epic that follows it. Many either prefer "The Hobbit" or "The Lord of the Rings More...

4 comments like (12 people liked it)

Dec 12, 2010

K.D. rated it:

John Ronald Reuel (J. R. R.) Tokien (1892-1973) wrote The Hobbit or There and Back Again after serving in World War I (1914-1918). This book's themes of personal growth and forms of heroism were based on his own and other writers' experiences. Particularly those writers who also served in that war. This book was a huge success both critically and financially so Tolkien's publisher requested him to write a sequel. That sequel was the trilogy Lord of the Rings that was mostly written at the time W More...

16 comments like (10 people liked it)

Dec 29, 2011

Tanu rated it:

The Hobbit is the epic journey of Bilbo Baggins, our titular 50 something hobbit. Bilbo though might as well be 10 year old, since he has almost no experience of the outside world and likes to sit in his Hobbit hole, resting in his armchair having breakfast, supper and dinner and numerous meals in between. That is, until Gandalf the great comes barging in with a dozen of dwarfs, urging him to take up the role of the burglar in their quest to The Lonely Mountains. The dwarfs question Gandalf’s de More...

5 comments like (8 people liked it)

Sep 06, 2011

Lady Danielle "The Book Huntress" rated it:

Bilbo Baggins is a Hobbit who doesn't take much after his Took side of the family. Adventure might be in his blood, but it's not really his thing. He'd rather stay in his nice home under the Hill and have tea. But adventure comes knocking in the form of one wizard, Gandalf, and thirteen dwarves. Gandalf has volunteered Mr. Baggins to be the burglar for these dwarves. To steal into their former home and get back their treasure from a nasty dragon by the name of Smaug. Bilbo would rather say no More...

33 comments like (28 people liked it)

Oct 01, 2009

Joel rated it:

There are not many books that I have read twice. The first time I read The Hobbit, I liked it a lot. But I hadn't read The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and still haven't (so i guess I didn't like The Hobbit enough). But it brought a smile to my face when I saw it on our shelf this past summer and I decided that I would read it aloud to my 10 year old daughter. In reading it aloud, a few things happened. First, it took a very long time to read the whole book (8 months, in fact). Some of this More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Apr 20, 2011

Emir rated it:

Hear here a tale of yore
Of Hobbit's unlikely adventure
Through a Wizard's wit and guile
Ventured he out of Hole and Hill

Off to the Misty Mountain wild!
Off to the Rivers long and wide!
Off to the Forest dark and deep!
All for the treasures that dwarves seek.

Oh the paths with dangers fraught
Trolls and wolves that need be fought
Spiders weave their nasty work
And goblins all in darkness lurk

Off to the Misty Mountai More...

11 comments like (12 people liked it)

Feb 04, 2011

Nate rated it:

The charming hairy hero, Bilbo Baggins, maintains a strong rooting interest throughout. His reluctance to participate in the unfolding adventure—immediately endearing to homebodies like myself—provides the exciting, episodic narrative with a core of emotion. (His constant pining for the comforts of home is the book's best joke.) Bilbo's companions—including the mysterious and aloof wizard Gandalf—are only sketched in, but Bilbo is a true personality.

In the funny early chapters, one c More...

2 comments like (5 people liked it)

Aug 18, 2008

Clarice rated it:

This book was a very ancient candidate on my "to read list" and I always planned to read it just before the Lord of the Rings. So far, things have worked out and I have started Lord of the Rings the same afternoon I finished the Hobbit.

I don't think I would enjoy Lord of the Rings as much as I do, had I not read the Hobbit just beforehand. The Hobbit really provides the reader with a lot of background information, which is an advantage when you get started with the trilogy More...

1 comment like (9 people liked it)

Feb 19, 2009

Chris rated it:

Personally I think that Tolkien is somewhat of a genius. I mean anyone who went through enough trouble to write an entire volume of history for a three book trilogy, the length of which is as long as any of the books in the installment, has got to be operating on a different mental tear. I mean the guy created entire languages for races of ancient people that he had made up the day before. I mean literally, if there ever was a father and founder of modern fantasy as we know it, weather it be More...

3 comments like (6 people liked it)

Aug 06, 2007

John rated it:

Because it was meant for both children and adults, its tone is warmer and more easily accessible than the more famous and dense Lord of the Rings that followed. The tone tempts one to read it aloud, belying Tolkien's intent for parents to share it with their children. Despite the intent, it should inspire more mature writers to take care of how their language sounds. The story is magnificent. There are battles, lovely settings, feats of bravery without a Conan or Arthurian hero, morally-enforcin More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jun 20, 2011

Tracey rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

4 comments like (4 people liked it)

Nov 09, 2008

Chris rated it:

This book started it all for me. I was in the 4th or 5th grade and, until then, it had been all picture books and starter books (i.e. Superfudge, Ramona the Pest, etc.). Then my Mom read me the first chapter of The Hobbit. She said I could read ahead and she would just continue from where I left off. Of course, I took the book and ran head first into Middle Earth. By the time I looked up, Smaug was dead and Bilbo was back in Hobbiton, with a really cool magic ring in his possession.

More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Sep 19, 2009

Melissa rated it:

So much, in both our world and Middle Earth, rests on the shoulders of Bilbo Baggins, the reluctant adventurer of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. But while Bilbo was reluctant to journey into the unknown, Tolkien effortlessly lures his happy reader into an epic adventure with his loveable characters, witty charm, and incredible world. Okay, maybe not effortlessly. Definitely not effortlessly. The man created a new world, language, species, (some argue literary genre)… that’s effort. But very w More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 24, 2008

Nathaniel rated it:

The juvenile warm-up to the splendor of the Lord of the Rings. Wholly engrossing, The Hobbit becomes more than merely a novel, it becomes a portal through which audiences are welcomed to the wonderful world of Arda. Grab a nicely packed pipe, some marvelously baked black bread, a tall stein of stout, lose yourself into a comfortable chair and begin a journey that should remain the cornerstone of children's entry into literature. This book should be read to children, by children, and for those More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Mar 09, 2008

Shark rated it:

I hadn't read this book since 4th grade. Back then I wouldn't normally have been attracted to such a wordy book, but we were required to do a certain number of book reports and I guess my teacher thought my reading level was too high to be basing mine on Hardy Boys novels, so she gave me a list of books that she approved of and for one reason or another I ended up with "The Hobbit."

I loved it back then, but I honestly remember losing track of what was going on. A lot of T More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Oct 01, 2007

Nathan rated it:

The only Tolkien I've ever read. And it guarantees it'll stay that way. That's right, I'm one of the five people on the planet who didn't pretend to have read the Lord of the Rings trilogy after the movies came out. And that's using the term loosely. They weren't really movies, they were more like protracted masturbatory fantasies for stoner geeks and people who would otherwise be making b-horror film remakes. The Hobbit wasn't a part of the trilogy, and I can only assume that it got left it out More...

45 comments like (12 people liked it)

Jan 29, 2012

Qt rated it:

I'm not sure if I added the right edition of this book; what I'm reading is a comic book adaptation of "The Hobbit," but I don't know if this is the right one or not....

Well, I've finished it! I thought it was a nice adaptation of "The Hobbit;" it was a good refresher for me, since I'd forgotten the details, and would also be good for someone interested in hearing the story without having to read the whole book. As a graphic novel, it maybe doesn't work quite as w More...

10 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 02, 2012

Sheila rated it:

I don't have time to make a proper review or literary criticism, so I'll just write My Thoughts About The Hobbit.

First, a confession: I've never read The Hobbit, not even before I walked alone the dark aisle of a popular movie house South of Manila to see The Fellowship Of The Ring, thinking to myself 30 minutes into the movie how it was a bad decision to watch it sans company, especially when the monstrous (transformed) face of Bilbo appeared as he tried to grab the ring on a chain More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 18, 2011

Nicole rated it:

It is done already! How easy, how swift and enjoyable a read it is ever single time I pick up this tale! A story for children and a story for adults alike, it charms the mind with its stories and immediately gives one the sense as of sitting at the knee of your old grandparent, listening to them tell this tale of old that they have passed down over the generations, and which your heart knows only as truth. It is a classic beauty in the world of fantasy, and has the authenticity of surviving for More...

9 comments like (1 person liked it)

reviews