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Jun 26, 2011

George rated it:

I've reread this fairy tale three or four times now. It was one of the first full length books I remember reading as a kid and thus it will always occupy a sacred spot in my literary pantheon. I was struck this time around not just by the brilliance of the story and the compelling protagonist -- an unlikely hero in every way and rather like Hitchock's "ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances" -- but also by how incredibly well-written it is.

Take for example this descri More...

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Oct 16, 2011

Nikki rated it:

The Annotated Hobbit is a really great edition of the book for fans of Tolkien, or anyone studying Tolkien's work. It's full of useful annotations, including the references to Tolkien's sources and inspiration, and the history of corrections to the book (particularly the ones bringing it in line with the Lord of the Rings geography and canon). It also contains a lot of illustrations from different editions of the book, including Tolkien's own -- most in black and white, but with an insert in ful More...

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Dec 27, 2011

Alyson rated it:

The Hobbit is my favorite Tolkien book and possibly my favorite book of all time. I originally picked up The Fellowship of the Ring first and got so bogged down with the language that I set it down and never picked it back up. (I was in middle school at the time.) Years later, while doing a sophomore year project on Tolkien, I read the first chapter of The Hobbit and was hooked. The language is still tedious at times. (Tolkien has the tendency to go off on tangents in the middle of sentences More...

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May 22, 2011

Jana rated it:

I believe that Tolkien is one of the greatest story tellers of all time. I really enjoyed reading this book. My husband and I have also been reading "The Lord of the Rings" at the same time I was reading this. This was a fun adventure to follow, and is rewarding to watch Bilbo grow from just following along and causing problems, to being pretty much the leader and problem solver.

I love how Tolkien paints a picture through words of this new world with different creatures More...

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Nov 19, 2011

Sophie rated it:

I really like this annotated edition of The Hobbit. It's filled with lots of fascinating trivia about Tolkien as an author, about Middle-earth, and about the careful use of language Tolkien was known for. It also has many different illustrations from various editions of The Hobbit, including full-color pages with Tolkien's own illustrations on them.

A couple of the annotations were a bit dry, but I just skipped the ones I wasn't interested in. There are plenty of juicy tidbits in there More...

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Apr 29, 2011

Elaine rated it:

So yeah, I'm 36 years old, have read LoTR a couple of times, seen the movies a bunch, played lots of D&D, and somehow never got around to reading The Hobbit. I did see the movie once, at the library when I was a little kid, and I think one more time in the last decade or so.

It's a damn clever story; the locales are quite vivid, and I'm intrigued by the characters who weren't in LoTR. (Beorn in particular.)

I do wish I hadn't gotten the annotated version, though. Fascinating st More...

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Mar 14, 2010

Jeffry rated it:

The annotated Hobbit is a treat for fantasy lovers and lovers of the writing process. While Tolkien was alive and writing the Lord of the Rings the Hobbit went through several revisions to better fit the new storyline he was adding. This book not only shows us where he made changes but also includes artwork that Tolkien left out of the first edition, covers and other treatments from all over the world and annotations for all the various sections detailing hundreds of interesting tid bits.
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Feb 08, 2012

Monica rated it:

It was a children's book and the fairy tale language in the beginning turned me off. I was in the mood to read some serious fiction. Somehow that quickly changed. I really liked the way the characters spoke to each other, always being at your service or forever your servant and oh so gracious. It was comical and quaint. Eventually I was in love and constantly referring to my mental map about the journey and comparing it to the maps illustrated in the back of the book. It was a grand journey and More...

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Mar 09, 2011

Edward rated it:

The Hobbit has been a favourite novel since childhood. Knowing that Tolkien used elements from his history research, and what those elements were adds that extra amount of depth to the history of the story. Also having it include the original version of Gollum and the Ring (which was rewritten after Tolkien realised that he was going to have to change the story for the Lord of the Rings) is great.

The inclusion of various foreign language edition illustrations makes you appreciate how w More...

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Feb 09, 2010

Meghan rated it:

My dad gave this book to Alex for Christmas last year, and we started reading it around then, but got distracted (I think by Pippi Longstocking) shortly thereafter. When Alex asked to pick it up again last month, we dove right in where we left off, and devoured it half a chapter at a time for the next several weeks, stopping only when I could no longer justify keeping a six-year-old up past nine p.m., even if it's to read Tolkien. In the meantime, Alex's teacher assigned a project for which the More...

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Jan 19, 2012

Christin rated it:

You can't help but like The Hobbit, there is a reason it's a classic. However, when compared to its sequel The Lord of the Rings the writing in the book definitely reveals that it was written for a younger group--charming but lacking the substance that imbues the Lord of the Rings. This Annotated version is a great choice for all of us who are re-reading the book and want to know all the detailed background, tidbits, and fun information that went into the publishing of The Hobbit.

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Nov 19, 2010

Lavecchiastrega rated it:

Più che al testo di Tolkien, le quattro stellette vanno all'edizione di questo titolo, con le annotazioni di Douglas Anderson.
L'impostazione grafica è molto curata, le note sono poste al lato delle pagine, i richiami alla biografia tolkeniana puntuali.
Insomma un bel volume da possedere nella propria libreria e un bel libro da sfogliare per apprendere di più e meglio sull'universo tolkeniano

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Jul 28, 2010

Delafieldlib rated it:

A prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and due to be released as a movie in 2011. While all the LOTR books are GREAT, this one is my favorite. Featuring Gandalf and Bilbo, it simply doesn't get any better than this. At the Delafield Library call number FIC TOLKIEN located in Adult Fiction, but highly recommended for teens, especially boys. ~Jennifer

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Feb 25, 2011

Petter rated it:

This book contains parts of the older Hobbit, before Tolkien ever wrote The Lord of the Rings. If you’re a Tolkien fan like me, you have surely wanted to know what Riddles in the Dark was like before the ring became the Ring? The Annotated Hobbit will satisfy your curiosity at last.

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Jan 02, 2011

Ana Sofia rated it:

I love this shiiit!!! Well I love The Lord of the Rings (I haven't read the books, I just saw the movies) but a friend told me this was the story about what happened previous to that trilogy, so I though I HAD to read it. Very easy to read... magical world, lots of imagination, scenery, adventure. Good to read at every age!

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Feb 04, 2012

Corey rated it:

The Hobbit is one of my favorite books of all time, so of course I had to read this. It's got a lot of pictures, and some interesting tidbits of additional information, but overall I was ever so slightly disappointed when I was done. Maybe my expectations were too high?

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Aug 02, 2011

Lise is currently reading it

I'm finally picking this up again. We own this wonderful edition and I wanted to read it for myself before the movie comes out. I always like to make the movies in my head first BEFORE Hollywood presents their version. And then I decide which movie is better.

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Feb 09, 2010

Lance rated it:

I read this and the Lord of the Rings when I was thirteen. It was during the summer and we were renovating the outside of the house to accomodate getting a wheelchair in and out, lots of cement work. I'd spend every spare moment reading these books, because up to that point, they were the finest fantasy I'd read. This version is very good because it gives both hypothetical and definite influences behind the work. For instance, it has a picture of the postcard that inspired the character Gandalf. More...

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Jan 26, 2012

Kiana is currently reading it

I like the book, and I'm looking forward to the movie. I really want to see Gollum in the movie - I wonder what he looks like, I only saw a sneak peek of him in the preview. My dad and me are reading this together.

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Feb 10, 2011

Alfredo rated it:

Splendida versione annotata de Lo Hobbit.
All'opera che già conosciamo è associato un corpus di note veramente esaustivo.
Probabilmente l'edizione definitiva dell'opera.

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Sep 20, 2011

Shirlee rated it:

enjoyable adventures of dwarves, a hobbit, goblins, elves, a wizard and other creatures that are resolved in each chapter. There's so much to our unlikely little hero Bilbo Baggins.

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Feb 09, 2010

Mary rated it:

The Hobbit has a much happier tone to it than Lord of the Rings. I enjoyed it, but it was obviously written for children. I think Bilbo was a very clever and brave hobbit. I also think that he used the Ring an awful lot. Sauron must not have been as powerful then. Another thing I wondered about is why didn't Gandalf want to know more about the Ring. I suspect Tolkien had not thought the whole story out yet. In fact, according to the notes in this edition, there were lots of things he revi More...

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Aug 03, 2011

Greg of A2 marked it as to-read

(A book I've had my eye on for awhile and I finally grabbed a copy.)

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Feb 09, 2010

Lee rated it:

I first read The Hobbit at the age of 11 and immediately fell in love with the travels of Bilbo Baggins and the dwarves. Last year I found this annotated edition which includes illustrations, both line and full color from many other editions of the book as well as scholarly details about the changes to different passages of the book and origins of characters, phrases, and words. This version has given me a deeper appreciation for the adventures authors and illustrators face in publishing books, More...

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Aug 11, 2011

Meredith rated it:

Very creative. I love J. R.R. Tolkien's books.

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Jan 11, 2011

Natasha rated it:

I finally read it! I think I would have liked it more when I was 10.

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Feb 09, 2010

Jake rated it:

I'm revisiting this book for the first time since high school. It's the annotated version which I'm finding extrememly interesting. It gives some great insights into where Tolkien may have been inspired to create certain characters in his novels. It cites older fairy tales/fictions which Tolkien wrote about while a professor in England, and recounts parts of his childhood and a walking trip he took in switzerland as an old man. I'm looking forward to finishing this novel and learning more ab More...

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Jan 17, 2012

Dan rated it:

4 stars for the story. The annotations are sometimes interesting.

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Feb 09, 2010

Greg rated it:

Ab & I just re-read this with a geographically far-reaching group of people (hey, John, Cindy and eventually Amy). So far I think I'm the only one finished.

I leave it understanding again the temptation people still feel to believe in this great little made-up world of language and history attached to a great story well told, but still knowing that I would never learn Elvish or memorize Dwarf battle dates or any of that nonsense. But again, I understand the (fleeting) temptation.

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Feb 09, 2010

David rated it:

I picked up the annotated version of The Hobbit. This is a perfect book for anyone who wants to become a little more familiar with Tolkien but doesn't want to spend the time just yet reading his other more complex works. This book is far more accessible than The Lord of the Rings series, and certainly more so than The Silmarillion.

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