Reflecting on The Hobbit

It’s been a while since I sat down and actually read through The Hobbit. It’s a little embarrassing to admit, actually, since I have a reputation among my peers as “The Tolkien Guy.” I used to read the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings every year, but in the past few years I’ve neglected that duty. Actually, I’m beginning to think maybe that’s a good thing. Over time, unexposed to anything but the movies (which are, I realize more and more, not nearly sufficient), I’ve lost whatever preconceived notions I had about Tolkien’s books. Earlier this summer I finally read The Silmarillion, and my reflection on that book can be found here. Then, this past fall I managed to make it through all 500+ pages of Tolkien’s Letters. With these under my ever-more-hobbitlike belt, I have a much different and deeper understanding of Tolkien and his mythology.
So, reading about Bilbo Baggins was a new and different experience, and I am proud to say I love it even more now than when I first did, at age seven or so. There’s just something so archetypal, or beyond archetypal, about Bilbo’s there and back again adventure. It’s a story that speaks to the soul, and there’s no way for me to do it justice in a single blog essay. Nevertheless, here are a few points that I thought came through in this reading that I hadn’t considered before.
~Is the hobbit for kids? I don’t think so anymore. It has a reputation as “Lord of the Rings for kids,” or “a prequel to Lord of the Rings,” but neither of those are strictly true. For one thing, I recall reading in Tolkien’s letters that while the Hobbit is to be enjoyed by kids, he later came to the conclusion that any sort of “writing down” to kids was a mistake. And you can notice if you look carefully that the Hobbit really grows up as the story progresses. Which makes me think…
~It’s Bilbo’s story, and it matures as he does. Even at the end, when all is back to normal, normal doesn’t feel the same. There is something about an adventure that makes normality seem all the more real, all the more worthwhile… which is another Tolkien notion I am wholly on board with. (See “On Fairy Stories,” his excellent essay, for more of this sort of thing.)
~The Hobbit movie, on the other hand, does not grow up in the same way, and the only thing about it that makes normality seem better is the way it makes me want to never watch a movie again. I’m seriously doubting whether movies can ever be the kind of fundamentally good entertainment that books can be, and books like the Hobbit are.
~Show, don’t tell? I don’t think so! The Hobbit has rekindled my interest in narrative – the kind of story that tells instead of showing. I know that’s the opposite of what they tell you in writing classes, but really, I’m getting sick of all the modern “show, don’t tell” novels and their in-your-face storytelling. Not that it’s bad, but it’s just such a visual form of art. Sensual, you might say. It overwhelms the senses, kind of like junk food, and the more you take in the less you can feel, and so you eat more, and… you get the picture. The Hobbit recalls my mind to the past, to stories as stories instead of stories as movies-on-paper. I’ve resolved to try out more narrative-centric storytelling in my own writing, when I get the chance.
~I’ve found that all the best things that come from reading a book, I can’t even write down. It’s the kind of experience that can only be shared by other people reading the same thing, and loving it the same. One down, three more to go! God willing, The Lord of the Rings is next in line for a good solid Sunday evening read.
~GJD

PS. What is your favorite Tolkien book, and why?