The Annotated Hobbit: The Hobbit, Or, There and Back Again

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The Annotated Hobbit: The Hobbit, Or, There and Back Again (Middle-earth Universe)

4.55 of 5 stars 4.55 · rating details · 1,327 ratings · 173 reviews

For readers throughout the world, The Hobbit serves as an introduction to the enchanting world of Middle-earth, home of elves, wizards, dwarves, goblins, dragons, orcs and a host of other creatures depicted in The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion -- tales that sprang from the mind of the most beloved author of all time, J.R.R. Tolkien.
Newly expanded and completely r...more

Hardcover, 399 pages

Published October 28th 1990 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) (first published 1988)

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Dec 16, 2012 Büchernische rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favoriten

Vor 120 Jahren wurde ein Autor geboren, der mit seinem Lebenswerk den Grundstein des Fantasygenres gelegt hat. Ich spreche von John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, Professor für englische & altenglische Sprache und Literatur in Großbritannien und Autor eines der berühmtesten literarischen Werke aller Zeiten: die Geschichten rund um Mittelerde, die Geschichte des Rings und eines kleinen Hobbits namens Bilbo Beutlin. Vor 75 Jahren erschien sein für Kinder angedachtes Buch über die Abenteuer des Bilbo Be...more

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May 06, 2013 Lady Draculia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: beloved-books

Per prima cosa devo dire che il mio consiglio è di preferire l'edizione de "Lo Hobbit annotato" aggiornato nel testo, ampliato e completamente rivisto nel 2002 dalla società tolkeniana italiana, ricco di appendici e annotazioni straordinarie. Molte altre edizioni sono scritte con la prima (talora discutibile) traduzione italiana, infatti molte parole e nomi nella vecchia versione cambiano: «Smaug» è storpiato in «Smog»; i «Troll» sono noti come «Uomini Neri»; «Sting» è tradotto con «Pungiglione»...more

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Jan 03, 2013 Evangeline Jerris lafleur rated it 4 of 5 stars

This specific edition is very attractive and is a decent size hard cover.It has side notes on every page and artwork people made in reference to the hobbit throughout the book. I definitely recommend it. As for the book itself, i love it! This book is the backstory of bilbo's adventures, and how he obtained the ring. I recommend reading The Hobbit before going into the Lord of the Rings trilogy. readers, you will be in for a real treat. This book has adventure, hobbits, elves, trolls, orks (i mi...more

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Jun 02, 2012 Peter added it

I didn’t remember The Hobbit being so directed towards children. That’s probably because I last experienced it as a child. I listened to it then on audiobook, and I only had vague recollections of it: the battle with Smaug, flashes of dragon scales and great archers.

But what’s remarkable now is having read Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Canterbury Tales, and other texts written in or about Old and Middle English. And reading The Hobbit in their context--and reading the excellent a...more

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May 22, 2012 Bianca rated it 5 of 5 stars

Letztes Jahr hatte ich am Anfang des Jahres schnell "Erebos" als mein "Buch des Jahres" gekürt und bis Ende des Jahres hatte auch kein anderes Buch es mehr vom Thron verstoßen. Dieses Jahr, möchte ich genauso früh ein Buch zum "Buch des Jahres" küren: "Das große Hobbit Buch". Nicht nur, dass das ganze Jahr sowieso im Zeichen des kleinen Hobbit steht, aber "Das große Hobbit Buch" hat alles, was das Tolkien Fan-Herz begehrt.

Es hat, natürlich am aller wichtigsten, die Geschichte vom kleinen Hobbit:...more Letztes Jahr hatte ich am Anfang des Jahres schnell "Erebos" als mein "Buch des Jahres" gekürt und bis Ende des Jahres hatte auch kein anderes Buch es mehr vom Thron verstoßen. Dieses Jahr, möchte ich genauso früh ein Buch zum "Buch des Jahres" küren: "Das große Hobbit Buch". Nicht nur, dass das ganze Jahr sowieso im Zeichen des kleinen Hobbit steht, aber "Das große Hobbit Buch" hat alles, was das Tolkien Fan-Herz begehrt.

Es hat, natürlich am aller wichtigsten, die Geschichte vom kleinen Hobbit: Bilbo Beutlins "There and Back Again". Wie ich finde, sollte jeder der vor hat, sich den kleinen Hobbit dieses Jahr im Kino anzusehen, die Geschichte einmal gelesen haben. Der Hobbit ist nicht nur eine Kindergeschichte oder ein Märchen. Der Hobbit ist eine Abenteuergeschichte, in einer Welt, in der man sich stundenlang einfach nur verlieren kann.

"Das große Hobbit Buch" ist aber so viel mehr als nur die Geschichte von Bilbo Beutlin. Es ist die Geschichte von J.R.R. Tolkien und wie er Mittelerde, Bilbo und die Zwerge geschaffen hat. So erfährt man zum Beispiel ganz zu Anfang, das Gandalf einmal einen anderen Namen trug. Und dass Tolkien sich bei seinen Wanderungen durch die Alpen für Mittelerde inspirieren lies. Und noch so viel mehr.

Außerdem sieht man direkt, wie Tolkien sich Mittelerde, die Zwerge und manche Szenen aus dem Hobbit vorgestellt hat, denn seine Zeichnungen und Ausschnitte aus seinen Manuskripten sind im großen Hobbit Buch beigefügt. Einige in der Mitte des Buches sogar in groß und bunt.

Wenn ihr also nach einem Komplettpaket zum kleinen Hobbit sucht, ob ihr Sammler seid oder einfach die Geschichte vor dem Filmstart nochmal lesen wollt, greift zum großen Hobbit Buch. Nur hier könnt ihr den Hobbit einmal durch Tolkiens Augen lesen.

Aber Vorsicht, noch ein Hinweis: in der 1. Auflage fehlen einige Seiten. "Klett-Cotta" schickt die gerne nach, bzw. sind sie glaube ich beigefügt seit dem Verlag das Missgeschick aufgefallen ist. Falls euch das stört, wartet auf die nächste Auflage. Oder seht die erste Auflage als ein besonderes Sammlerstück. ;) (less)

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Mar 04, 2012 Emily Park rated it 5 of 5 stars

http://em-and-emm.blogspot.com/2012/0...

The Annotated Hobbit is a unique copy of The Hobbit because in its margins, writer Douglas Anderson has added in a plethora of notes and images to supplement the main text. Most of the notes are about Tolkien's various inspirations, both in terms of plot and linguistics. There are also various footnotes noting the different changes between various editions over the years, and illustrations are included throughout the book showing different artists' interpr...more http://em-and-emm.blogspot.com/2012/0...

The Annotated Hobbit is a unique copy of The Hobbit because in its margins, writer Douglas Anderson has added in a plethora of notes and images to supplement the main text. Most of the notes are about Tolkien's various inspirations, both in terms of plot and linguistics. There are also various footnotes noting the different changes between various editions over the years, and illustrations are included throughout the book showing different artists' interpretations of the events from different international editions. I'm not going to bother to summarize the plot, because if you don't know the plot of The Hobbit by now, then you probably don't care.

The best thing about this kind of book is that it really is a book for book-lovers. The story itself is, of course, iconic in its own right, and the annotations just add to its massive appeal to geeky bibliophiles the world over. The added illustrations from different international editions really bring an extra dimension to the story, and it was especially interesting to see how different artists depicted the scenes and characters.

I'm not going to review the story itself because... well, it doesn't really need to be reviewed at this point. However, the value of the annotations and notes and added illustrations were the best part of rereading this book this time around, because I really learned a lot about Tolkien's process, and a lot about the things that inspired him. It was really interesting to read the notes about how tiny (or large) details changed between different editions of the book. Of course, there's the big difference of Bilbo finding no magic ring in the first edition of the book, and then there's the minor differences, where Tolkien changed a word or two to make a small difference in the book but a big difference in the flow of the sentence or the philology.

I probably would not recommend this version to anyone who has never read The Hobbit because the notes in the margins can be a little distracting, and I probably wouldn't recommend it to anyone with only a casual interest in Tolkien's work, but for anyone who loves learning about Tolkien and Middle Earth and all of the things related to it, this is the book for you! (less)

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May 16, 2013 Gabe Demetter added it

If you haven't read it, it should be the next book you pick up. It was the Hobbit changed, fixed, mashed up and edited so I could make the connections that I normally cannot. Yet at the same time, it doesn't kick out anything, much to my good cheer. There are precious few things in the world that are truly beautiful. Books are among them, and among the best books we find the Hobbit. And even more than that, we have this annotated jewel of literature. You might want to call me a nerd (Let's face...more

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Jun 26, 2011 George rated it 5 of 5 stars

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 description of the enraged d...more

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Jan 05, 2013 Sacchan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. [SPOILERS PER IL LIBRO. LEGGETE A VOSTRO RISCHIO E PERICOLO.]
Dunque, cosa posso dire?
E' un libro per bambini. Lo si capisce chiaramente nel modo in cui Tolkien non si sofferma sulle situazioni, sulle dinamiche. Tolkien racconta quello che è successo come se volesse farne un riassunto omettendo però le parti che potrebbero essere realmente più interessanti.
Bilbo è il vero protagonista della storia, ma questo crea un grossissimo problema per il resto della compagnia: non ha spessore. E' Bilbo che...more [SPOILERS PER IL LIBRO. LEGGETE A VOSTRO RISCHIO E PERICOLO.]
Dunque, cosa posso dire?
E' un libro per bambini. Lo si capisce chiaramente nel modo in cui Tolkien non si sofferma sulle situazioni, sulle dinamiche. Tolkien racconta quello che è successo come se volesse farne un riassunto omettendo però le parti che potrebbero essere realmente più interessanti.
Bilbo è il vero protagonista della storia, ma questo crea un grossissimo problema per il resto della compagnia: non ha spessore. E' Bilbo che va da Smaug, è Bilbo che cerca di contrattare la pace. E i nani? I nani che partono alla riconquista della loro casa? I loro sogni? Lasciati in un angolino, alle spalle di Bilbo che è perennemente in prima linea.
Non mi soffermo su Gandalf e il suo ruolo alquanto discutibile nel continuo andare-e-tornare solo perché vi è il problema del Necromante e perché la figura a cui si ispira é così nella tradizione.
Su Thorin, però, mi soffermo, perché non si può prendere un nano, creargli una backstory devastante e trattarlo come Tolkien ha fatto: mi dispiace ma Thorin era un Re, si allea con lo hobbit, lo accetta nella sua compagnia, poi viene accecato dalla brama dell'oro (e per carità, lo era anche prima, ma non lo si notava perché l'oro non era visibile.) e improvvisamente rinsavisce e compare sul campo di battaglia quando serve. Se fossimo nell'antica grecia, Thorin sarebbe un personaggio tragico, un Eracle che impazzisce in una notte e poi rinsavisce, ma siamo in Tolkien e Thorin è davvero messo in ombra. Peccato che fosse la sua spedizione.
E no, non mi importa che il titolo fosse 'Lo Hobbit', perché Bilbo non era da solo e quindi volevo un po' più di attenzione nei cambiamenti psicologici, nelle motivazioni.
Smaug risulta il personaggio più coerente e bello del libro, nonostante sia un drago. Tanto di cappello al dialogo con Bilbo: è la scena più potente di tutto il libro.
Positivo risulta anche Bard, positivo come doveva essere Thorin perché entrambi sono discendenti degli antichi signori che sono stati cacciati da Smaug: ma Bard si solleva ad eroe e poi re, Thorin invece muore prima di poter diventare Re.
Capisco essere nani, essere bramosi di oro -soprattutto di un oro così antico che si sogna da decenni-, ma Thorin era più furbo di così.
Non dirò una parola sulla Battaglia dei Cinque Eserciti perché sarebbe superfluo. Tolkien non la descrive se non per il sentito dire di Bilbo ed è assolutamente comprensibile perché questa E' la storia di Bilbo Baggins.
Ma la si legge e ci si chiede cosa sia successo, quali siano state le dinamiche. Si vorrebbe di più.
E quando un libro finisce e si vorrebbe di più non è un buon libro, purtroppo.
Non è insoddisfazione, è disappunto per la superficialità con cui il tutto è stato trattato.(less)

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AnyBeaver #risposami. quoto anche gli spazi bianchi
Jan 05, 2013 08:59am

Kyappu Sono molto d'accordo con la sostanza di tutte le tue osservazioni, ma credo che la chiave di lettura stia proprio nella frase con cui hai esordito: è...more
Jan 09, 2013 04:42am

Nov 02, 2012 Pamela rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: book-club-sword-laser

The Hobbit is the Sword & Laser book club pick for December. Because the film is set to premiere in December, I was having hard time getting a copy of the book. Fortunately, the annotated version was readily available. I had not planned to read the December pick this early, but sometimes that has to happen when you are at the mercy of the library.

Anyway...

This is the 2.5 time that I read the book. I started the book in fourth grade, but stopped because I got frustrated that the hobbit and dw...more

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Oct 16, 2011 Nikki rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: for-class, fantasy

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 01, 2012 Matt Smith rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: childrens-or-young-adult, fantasy, british, modern

Until now, I'd only read The Hobbit once, and that almost 20 years ago. I had just moved to a new state and had no friends. I stumbled upon the book. It was enjoyable, but it did not change my life, put me on the road to fantasy, or affect me in any major way. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't the kind of rabid love you hear a lot of people talk about.

I wondered if I might get that experience rereading it. I had forgotten much of the story. I have new tastes, and returning to some old books made me wo...more

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Apr 16, 2012 Katie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult

Anyone who would be looking up the Annotated Hobbit, has probably read the un-annotated Hobbit. So I'll keep the story review extremely short and just go for the annotations and extra bits that come with this edition.
Story Review -
It's awesome. Not the best Tolkien has to offer but it's lovely and a great introduction to the world that is fully expounded upon in the rest of his work, most especially of course the Lord of the Rings.
That part done with let's move on to the annotations and extra's...more Anyone who would be looking up the Annotated Hobbit, has probably read the un-annotated Hobbit. So I'll keep the story review extremely short and just go for the annotations and extra bits that come with this edition.
Story Review -
It's awesome. Not the best Tolkien has to offer but it's lovely and a great introduction to the world that is fully expounded upon in the rest of his work, most especially of course the Lord of the Rings.
That part done with let's move on to the annotations and extra's.
I'm not sure what I expected out of this edition, I love LOTR like the vast majority of fantasy fans, fiercely and with great passion so I picked this up as soon as I saw it on a dealers room table at a convention. I packed it away in my collection sure that the day would come that I would want to reread the Hobbit.
There is a LOT of information crammed onto the pages along with the original story. If you read the annotations as they appear in the text there are some points where you will be going ahead 8-10 pages to find them. These annotations range from interesting (which is thankfully most of them), such as how he came up with Bilbo's last name to rambling and unnecessary. For instance, at several points it goes into detail about Tolkiens' relationship and ever changing feelings towards George Macdonald (author of Princess and the Goblin) and his work.
The annotations start to bog down a bit with the seemingly endless notes about the changes that have been made to the book. If you are at all familiar with Tolkien you know he was a linguist and therefore obsessed with using language to communicate precisely what he meant to those reading his books. He would make tiny edits and changes to subsequent editions after the initial publishing and in this book you will find what I can only assume to be all of them reprinted in exhausting detail. Even if the change was insignificant you get to read about it along with an explanation for the change if applicable. A few of them are quite interesting but most are grammatical or spelling related. You could tell that the editor of the annotations was doing his best to be respectful of the changes made and that was the impetus for throwing them all in there but I did find myself glancing at those kind and moving on if there wasn't much info.
The illustrations on the other hand are awesome. The book contains the cover art from several international editions which are anything from funny to terrifying. There are copious amounts of Tolkiens' own illustrations as well, usually simple pen and ink drawings that will be familiar to long time readers.

Now for the extra's.
The appendices are a mixed bag, most of it is made up a giant bibliography and further reading section but in there you will find the gem that makes this book worth purchasing. We are treated to Gandalf regaling the hobbit's at the end of LOTR with how he initiated all the whole story and why Bilbo was chosen. It was fascinating stuff and although it's quite short I loved every second of it.

If you love LOTR and Tolkien in general do yourself a favor and buy this. I thoroughly enjoyed it, even with some of the annotations being a bit much.
(less)

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Feb 25, 2012 Camden rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: third-culture-kid-authors, academics-gone-wild, for-class-in-college

I did not expect to like this book at all and think I may have even read or been read it as a child but have absolutely no memory of it except people in trees and mountains and gold. And I have read the LOTR trilogy but have no memory of that either. So I was quite worried when my professor assigned it, because I thought it would be a quite a slog getting through it.

I feel quite silly for dreading it because I liked it so much that I was sad to put it down when I'd finished that day's assigned r...more I did not expect to like this book at all and think I may have even read or been read it as a child but have absolutely no memory of it except people in trees and mountains and gold. And I have read the LOTR trilogy but have no memory of that either. So I was quite worried when my professor assigned it, because I thought it would be a quite a slog getting through it.

I feel quite silly for dreading it because I liked it so much that I was sad to put it down when I'd finished that day's assigned reading, even though that day's reading was being done at two in the morning the day before it was due. We read the book in thirds and by the end of the second third I was jumping up and down in excitement for the characters. I was very sad to finish it.

As for the edition itself, I found it very oddly formatted and got a bit bogged down by the all the footnotes. Actually, I stopped reading the footnotes about eleven footnotes in because the formatting was so odd and the ninth footnote might be five pages after the page it was meant to footnote and I couldn't be bothered with finding it. I did enjoy having all the illustrations though, not only because it helped me get away from the hobbit pictures as I knew them from the movies and previews. Helped me create my own images! And it is always wonderful to see how other people envision characters and worlds. The biography in the beginning was helpful for me because I didn't know much about Tolkien or the books besides what is pertinent to the class. The biography also prepared me for the language and names in the text (and why the language and names) and also the onslaught of Tolkien's brain. I didn't read the appendices and didn't even look at the bibliography because I was too verklempt at the end to deal with academia, but I imagine they are extensive and probably good based on the amount of pages they took up. Around paper-writing time I am sure that I will be very grateful for such a long and small-fonted bibliography but in the meantime I am thinking of buying a smaller copy of the book.

Mostly though, this was the kind of book that invited idle daydreams of getting the entire thing tattooed on my body, because if I can't physically climb through the pages and into his world, then that is the next best and closest thing.(less)

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May 22, 2011 Jana rated it 5 of 5 stars

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 and people. His descript...more

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Dec 12, 2012 MissAnnThrope rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, bbc-top-100, books-i-looooove, classics, fantasy, library-book, magic, mythology, reading-again, wish-list, wizards, kid-lit

28 December 2012

A literary masterpiece transcends time, appeals to all ages, and gives you chills each and every time you read it. The Hobbit does all of this and so much more.

The Annotated Hobbit is a must-read for Tolkien fans. Douglas A. Anderson does exceptional work providing the reader an in-depth look into the creation of The Hobbit. It was great fun learning the influences Tolkien used to develop his own story, and getting a peek into his sense of humor.

The Hobbit is a wonderful adventur...more

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Nov 19, 2011 Sophie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Tolkien buffs, language nerds, trivia hounds

Shelves: fantasy, fiction, read-in-2011

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 to fascina...more

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Jan 09, 2013 Marta rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: my-bookshelf, speculative-fiction

Sezon na „Hobbita” można uznać za otwarty. Wraz z zawitaniem na ekrany kin adaptacji słynnego utworu J.R.R. Tolkiena, księgarskie półki obrodziły w pozycje związane z przygodami Bilba Bagginsa. Oprócz albumów czy przewodników po filmie możemy przebierać wśród wznowień powieści w różnych wydaniach i przekładach. Łatwo zgubić się wśród tych wszystkich kuszących woluminów i przegapić prawdziwy ssskarb — „Hobbita z objaśnieniami”.

Zasadniczą część dość opasłego tomu, który wita czytelnika przepiękną...more Sezon na „Hobbita” można uznać za otwarty. Wraz z zawitaniem na ekrany kin adaptacji słynnego utworu J.R.R. Tolkiena, księgarskie półki obrodziły w pozycje związane z przygodami Bilba Bagginsa. Oprócz albumów czy przewodników po filmie możemy przebierać wśród wznowień powieści w różnych wydaniach i przekładach. Łatwo zgubić się wśród tych wszystkich kuszących woluminów i przegapić prawdziwy ssskarb — „Hobbita z objaśnieniami”.

Zasadniczą część dość opasłego tomu, który wita czytelnika przepiękną okładką z grafiką autorstwa samego J.R.R. Tolkiena, stanowi dobrze znana każdemu miłośnikowi fantastyki opowieść o wyprawie hobbita Bilba Bagginsa, trzynastu krzepkich krasnoludów i czarodzieja Gandalfa, mającej na celu odzyskanie skarbu zrabowanego niegdyś przez złego smoka Smauga i odbicie krasnoludzkiej ojczyzny ze szponów tej ziejącej ogniem bestii. Bohaterowie wpadają w kolejne tarapaty, a na swej drodze napotykają galerię różnorakich fantastycznych istot, choćby trolle, gobliny, elfy czy wielkie pająki. Jak na klasyczną baśń przystało, młody czytelnik nie będzie miał problemów z odróżnieniem dobra od zła, a naturalnym odruchem stanie się kibicowanie przechodzącemu wewnętrzną przemianę sympatycznemu hobbitowi.

Podczas lektury czytelnicy będą mieć okazję przyjrzeć się zaczątkom świata Śródziemia i obcować z pierwszymi przebłyskami wizjonerstwa Tolkiena — choć „Hobbita” tworzył jako baśń dla własnych dzieci, już wtedy istniały pierwsze zarysy późniejszego, niezwykle bogatego uniwersum, które rozkwitło na kartach „Władcy Pierścieni”. Nie wszystkie plany autora były jednak w pełni skrystalizowane już w 1937 roku — stąd w późniejszych wydaniach „Hobbita” znalazły się poprawki i doprecyzowania, miejscami zmieniono chronologię wydarzeń, geografię Śródziemia czy genealogię krasnoludzkich rodów.

O tych wszystkich zmianach dowiemy się z obszernych przypisów Douglasa A. Andersona. Badacz prozy Tolkiena śledzi genezę powstania „Hobbita”, przygląda się kolejnym rękopisom i anglojęzycznym wydaniom — odnotowując zarówno te poprawki, które wprowadził sam autor, jak i błędy, których nie zauważył, stojące w sprzeczności z późniejszymi dziełami. Tekst powieści opatruje także ciekawostkami dotyczącymi zarówno literackich inspiracji Tolkiena (wymienia wśród nich wiele utworów, od tekstów najstarszych, pisanych w staro- czy średnioangielskim, przez nordyckie legendy i baśnie, czytywane przez pisarza w młodości, po dokonania prozaików mu współczesnych), jak i inspiracji pozaliterackich (choćby wyprawa do Szwajcarii, która pomogła mu opisywać górskie wędrówki bohaterów).

„Hobbit z objaśnieniami” to jednak nie tylko tekst utworu i przypisy do niego. To także blisko sto stron dodatków — znajdziemy wśród nich krótką biografię J.R.R. Tolkiena, „Wyprawę do Ereboru” (czyli opowieść Gandalfa o organizowaniu wędrówki do Samotnej Góry, która pierwotnie miała znaleźć się wśród licznych dodatków do „Władcy Pierścieni”, ale ostatecznie została stamtąd wykreślona z powodu objętości), tekst „O runach”, a także obszerną bibliografię, wyszczególniającą wszystkie publikacje autorstwa Tolkiena, tłumaczenia tychże na inne języki oraz ważniejsze opracowania dotyczące twórczości i życia brytyjskiego pisarza.

W publikacji znalazło się także miejsce na kilka słów od tłumacza — wydawnictwo Bukowy Las zdecydowało się bowiem na skorzystanie z chronologicznie trzeciego polskiego przekładu autorstwa Andrzeja Polkowskiego. Zaryzykuję stwierdzenie, że w przypadku „Hobbita” to najlepsze z dotychczasowych tłumaczeń — wierne oryginałowi, a zarazem wspaniale oddające klimat baśniowej opowieści, co szczególnie widać w utworach wierszowanych; atrakcyjne dla współczesnego czytelnika, a jednocześnie pozostające w zgodzie z lingwistycznymi tradycjami, których zignorowania nie wybaczyłby żaden miłośnik twórczości Tolkiena — obecne są więc klasyczne formy „krasnoludowie” czy „elfowie” oraz utarte nazwy własne. Za przekład przypisów odpowiadała z kolei Agnieszka Sylwanowicz, znana choćby z polskiej wersji „Dzieci Hurina” czy „Niedokończonych opowieści”, która także poradziła sobie znakomicie. Za jedyne uchybienia obecne na kartach książki winę ponosi korekta — w „Hobbicie” znajdziemy kilka literówek czy błędnych końcówek fleksyjnych.

Ostatnim elementem składającym się na tę niesamowitą całość jest oprawa graficzna. W książce ujrzymy przedruki ilustracji z wydań z całego świata — możemy więc porównać, jak poszczególne sceny czy bohaterów wyobrażał sobie rysownik niemiecki, francuski, węgierski czy japoński. Za stronę wizualną wydania fińskiego i szwedzkiego odpowiadał zaś nie kto inny, jak Tove Jansson — charakterystyczna kreska autorki „Muminków” jest łatwo rozpoznawalna w przedstawieniach hobbita, krasnoludów czy goblinów. Nie zabrakło rzecz jasna szkiców i akwarel J.R.R. Tolkiena, w tym ich wersji w kolorze, które znajdziemy w kredowej wkładce wszytej w środek książki, oraz kilku spośród słynnych prac Alana Lee, późniejszego autora scenografii do ekranizacji „Władcy Pierścieni”.

Każdemu, kto pragnie odświeżyć sobie lekturę powieści przed obejrzeniem jej filmowej adaptacji, z licznych dostępnych na naszym rynku wydań polecam „Hobbita z objaśnieniami” oficyny Bukowy Las — łączy ono w sobie świetny przekład Andrzeja Polkowskiego, niezwykle interesujące komentarze Douglasa A. Andersona, mnogość ilustracji oraz dbałość o wszelkie szczegóły edytorskiego kunsztu. To istna bibliofilska perełka, której nie może zabraknąć na półce żadnego miłośnika Śródziemia.

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Zarówno tę recenzję, jak i wiele innych tekstów znajdziecie na moim blogu: http://oceansoul.waw.pl/ Serdecznie zapraszam!(less)

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Jan 04, 2013 Lynn O'Connacht rated it 5 of 5 stars

The Hobbit remains one of my favourite reads. I opted for rereading it after watching Jackson's adaptation rather than before and I'm thoroughly glad I did. Experiencing the two in that order made me more aware of the ways in which The Hobbit doesn't work for me far more than anything else has ever done, but at the same time it also made me more aware of why I love it so much in the first place. I do so love Bilbo as a character and the way he interacts with the dwarves. I love their adventures...more

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Nov 16, 2012 Mike rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: tolkien

Any Tolkien enthusiast will love this book. It is fascinating to learn about some of Tolkien’s influences such as E. A. Wyke-Smith’s The Marvelous Land of Snergs. Also interesting was learning about the geographical influence of Tolkien’s 1911 walking tour of Switzerland. I loved all of the relevant access to Tolkien’s letters and poetry. This quote from Tolkien about Disney made me laugh out loud: “I recognize his talent, but it has always seemed to me hopelessly corrupted. Though in most of th...more

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Dec 14, 2012 Hershel Shipman rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, the-sword-and-laser

Reread this for a least the fifth time. Partly because of the movie, partly because of Sword & Laser. This time through I noticed a lot of the (party unintentional at the time) foreshadowing of Tolkien's other works. While The Lord of the Rings is about a vast part of Tolkien's lore and the fulfillment of such, the Hobbit is more about a small journey. You see the world with blinder's on and the view is much narrower. However this is much better for younger readers as big, epic adventures ar...more

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Oct 23, 2012 Uwe Hauck rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ein absolutes Muß für jeden Tolkien Fan. Viele interessante Anmerkungen, Skizzen aus Tolkiens und anderer Feder und die Geschichte des Hobbits an sich machen dieses Buch zu einem wichtigen Bestandteil jeder J.R.R. Tolkine Bibliothek.

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Dec 07, 2012 Julie Davis rated it 4 of 5 stars

All right, I admit I looked through this quickly, stopping to read whenever the author was NOT giving the original text of the story in the sidebar. Although it is interesting that the original story was retooled to give it more links with The Lord of the Rings, once it became clear that Tolkien was writing something on a larger scale ... as I say, that is interesting but I don't care to read the original.

What this book did, though, was awaken my respect for Tolkien as an artist and illustrator....more

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Jul 22, 2012 Michael.e.philpott rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own

The Hobbit is very simply one of my favorite books. Some think that it is inferior and "written for children." First of all, it was indeed written for children, but since when has that made a book inferior? Literature needs not to plumb the mysteries of the world to be qualitiy. Occasionally a good old fashioned fire-side tale is just what the human spirit needs. Tales of simple virtue and heroism and good and evil without all of the modern trappings of style, political correctness, and a heapin...more

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Jul 06, 2012 Justin Simpson rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read this book after my lovely wife urged me to, it being her favorite book. Until now, I had watched the three Lord of the Ring's movies and through them and my wife had known mostly what the story of the Hobbit would be about and was familiar with a few of the characters. The book is a great read for children and adults alike, written in a way that moves the story along while being very descriptive, entertaining and often humorous. The reader is able to follow Bilbo as he goes through his ma...more

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Jun 13, 2013 Jen Cragen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: mythgard-signum-university, 2013

In this book, J R R Tolkien's The Hobbit is expanded with commentary, notes, poetry, and other interesting articles of Tolkien's by Douglas A. Anderson. This changes the size of the book from a regular paperback to a regular text book size. The additional information is awesome to know and sheds new light on the original text.

I especially liked the poetry that can only be found in this book, the Bimble Town poems. My favorite was "Glip" who is a scavenger foreshadow of Gollum in a way. I think h...more

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Jan 08, 2013 Thomas rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-s, fiction

After paying good money to sit through the unmitigated 3D trainwreck "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," I decided to re-read the original book. This annotated edition is super nerdy and fun. Most of the notes are seemingly pointless quibbles on slight textual variations or hopelessly arcane Tolkien trivia...but then you run across a few notes that are genuinely interesting. (For example, in the original 1937 edition, Gollum is not nearly so evil or frightening!) Also, in one of the appendices,...more

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Apr 29, 2011 Elaine Nelson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, fiction

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 stuff, some of it,...more

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Mar 14, 2010 Jeffry Crews rated it 5 of 5 stars

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.

If I h...more

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Mar 17, 2013 Michela Doc rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: good-old-classics

L'unico consiglio che posso dare in primis è quello di rileggere questo libro, e di farlo soprattutto con questa versione annotata.

È forse un libro con un tono un po' fastidioso, lo stesso Tolkien lo pensò a posteriori, ma ci sono tanti elementi che si distinguono: l'amore dell'autore per la letteratura medievale e soprattutto le favole. E non si è mai grandi per una buona favola.

Tolkien scrive di verità: scrive di terra e di alberi. Ma scrive anche di amicizia.
Non si può fare una recensione ad...more

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About J.R.R. Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE, was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the high fantasy classic works The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings .

Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford from 1925 to 1945, and Merton Professor of English language and literature from 1945 to 1959. He was a close friend of C.S. Lewis.

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Books by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1)

The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2)

The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3)

The Lord of the Rings (The Lord of the Rings, #1-3)

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“Farewell," they cried, "Wherever you fare till your eyries receive you at the journey's end!" That is the polite thing to say among eagles.

"May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks," answered Gandalf, who knew the correct reply.” — 20 people liked it

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