The Hobbit or There and Back Again in The Alternative Worlds

Mar 25, 2009 Danielle The Book Huntress rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classic, favorites, quest, 2011-reading, faerie, plan-to-read-soon, owned-copy, dragon, fantasy, reluctant-or-unlikely-hero

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, b 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, but he doesn't get the choice.

So off he goes on an amazing adventure that takes him across Middle Earth and to very dangerous places. Bilbo discovers just how much he is capable of (more than he imagines), and proves his worth again and again to the dwarves. Of course, Gandalf knew he was capable of that all the time.

This was a lovely story. I had never read any Tolkien prior to this, so it was fascinating getting to experience his work firsthand. He clearly has a love of song and poetry, and the epic works of bravery and adventure. It took some getting used to, but I decided I liked how he used lots of songs in this work. I would even read them aloud to myself.

I appreciated the time spent in crafting this world, replete with various types of folk, from Hobbits to Elves, Trolls, Goblins, Dwarves, a bear Shape-changer, Wargs (werewolves), talking ravens, great War Eagles, nasty giant Spiders, and even a grumpy Dragon. I liked that Mr. Tolkien told us a little of each, but primarily integrated this knowledge into the story so we could see for ourselves what they were made of.

This book was a great mix of humor and adventure. Tolkien doesn't seem to take himself too seriously, and his narrative shows a lively sense of humor and a good-spirited view of the world. It's clear that he has some things to say about what was going on in the world of his times, but he doesn't use his story to beat the reader over the head with his beliefs. Instead, one gets the clear impression that Tolkien questions the advance of industrialization and how it might cause the loss of things much more valuable in the world. And to think he uses a mythical world and mythical creatures, and tells a great story along the way, making that the clear focus. Personally, I think a writer can reveal a lot about himself without taking a reader out of the story and into editorial land, and that is clearly the case with Mr. Tolkien in this novel.

Bilbo is definitely an unlikely hero, which is one of my favorite kinds. He shows that being a hero is both a lot of work and sacrifice, yet comes naturally when one does what one feels is right, albeit not easy. I liked that as we got to know what he was capable of, so did he. His strengths felt realistic to who he was, and I liked that although people expected little of a Hobbit, Bilbo shows them just what he's made of. Bilbo gets frightened, and who can blame him? But he shows a cool head, and puts his thinking cap on, and always works through his fear. He's the kind of character that challenges the stereotype of what a hero is made of, and in a very good way. I found myself feeling very affectionate towards the guy and hoping that things worked out for him. I especially liked that although Gandalf is their companion part of the way, and a powerful wizard, he's not a deus ex machina figure in this book. His powers and sage knowledge do help, but his companions, particularly little Bilbo, mainly have to use their own strengths to extricate themselves from some nasty situations.

Although this tends to be a light-hearted book, there are some scary moments, and foes that I certainly wouldn't want to face. Poor Bilbo and his companions continually get out of one bad scrape, only to end up in a worse one. Lives are at risk, and heroes have to make their stands. But good wins out in the end, and that's what I want to see in a Goodread.

I can certainly see why The Hobbit is considered a classic. This is a rich story that can be taken on several levels. It's not only fun to read, but it has some good messages. I also found the writing to be high quality and showcasing that its author had the benefits of a classical education in folklore, myth, and legend. He combined all that to make a very delightful story that I had the pleasure to read for the first time (although not the last, I'm sure). If you have enjoyed the Lord of the Rings movies but haven't read the books, I highly recommend reading Tolkien. And The Hobbit is the best place to start. ...more

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Jul 11, 2008 Terry rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: tolkien, ya-children-s, fantasy, that-northern-thing, inklings

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 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 style that were apparent between this story and its even more famous descendent, _The Lord of the Rings_. On this re-read, however, I found much of my initial love of the tale coming back to me and many of the same episodes stirred memories of my first hearing of the tale.

For those two or three people not in the know, this is the story of a hobbit, Bilbo Baggins by name, and his unexpected adventure with 13 dwarves and, for part of the time at least, the wizard Gandalf. Thorin Oakenshield and his followers have long been exiled from their home, the far-away and fabled dwarf-realm of Erebor at the Lonely Mountain, after its pillaging by the dragon Smaug. We follow Bilbo as he moves from inept bungler to expert burglar and begin to see, along with the dwarves, just why Gandalf chose this particular hobbit to round out the unlucky number of the dwarves’ party as his inner courage and resourcefulness grow. We see Bilbo through many adventures, from an encounter with trolls and a harrowing escape from goblins, to a dark journey through the treacherous spider-haunted deeps of Mirkwood and a creeping view of the great dragon upon his misbegotten mound of gold. There are many great characters to meet in the journey from Bilbo’s hobbit hole to the Lonely Mountain, even if only a few of the dwarves are fleshed out to any great detail. A personal favourite is the irascible Beorn, a vegetarian skin-changer and unwitting host to the party who eventually becomes a staunch ally; and am I wrong in seeing in the enigmatic and laconic Bard the bowman something of a prototype for Aragorn?

This is, of course, a children’s story, and as such does not always seem to sit well as a prequel to the later work, the Lord of the Rings (though of course in its original conception the tale was not meant to be a prequel to anything and its ultimate inclusion into the storied history of Middle Earth only grew as the tale did and the significance of certain elements, namely the Ring, became clearer in Tolkien’s mind). Whether it is the silly songs sung by the elves of Rivendell (can anyone picture Fëanor or Thingol singing these things?), the faux-cockney accents and names of the trolls encountered by Bilbo and co., or the various authorial asides, this book can appear hard to reconcile with the later tales. Of course one valid approach to this is simply to say, “who cares?” and move on. This is certainly valid, but after my most recent reading I found that taking into account the conceit of Tolkien’s that all of his tales from Middle Earth (even the posthumously published _The Silmarillion_) exist as documents taken originally from the “Red Book of Westmarch”, a hobbit tome detailing the adventures of the Shire’s most famous sons, and subsequently handled and translated by many hands before coming down to us was a helpful approach. In essence we can see in _The Hobbit_ how Bilbo’s diary of his own adventures was turned into an adventure tale for children, while the higher matters of the LotR were possibly deemed unsuitable for such treatment. Thus we have talking spiders, tra-la-laing High Elves, and silly trolls mixed in with berserk shape-changing warriors, hints of malign necromancy, and a final battle on the doorstep of the Lonely Mountain.

Bilbo is an excellent main character, both unsure of himself and eager to prove his dwarven compatriots wrong in their initial impression of him to be “more a green grocer than a burglar”. Many may criticize Tolkien for his apparent anachronism with the hobbits and the Shire in Middle Earth, with their mantel clocks, singing tea kettles and other modern conveniences in the midst of what appears to be a medieval world of saga and epics. Yet it is this familiarity that allows us to identify with Bilbo as he is thrown into the strange epic world outside the bounds of the Shire. To my mind, despite his estrangement from it, Bilbo sits much more comfortably in this world than do a pack of modern British schoolchildren crossing dimensions or some other conceit that might have been used to allow the reader to identify with the hero. This also gives Bilbo the chance to grow into something more akin to a hero and leader than we ever would have expected of him based on his origins and it is this growth that gives impetus to the story amidst its many colourful episodes. The most famous of these is, of course, the riddle game between Bilbo and Gollum, a suitably creepy game played by Bilbo for nothing less than his life and the keystone moment that links this smaller tale to the greater epic of the LotR as we see just how important that question Bilbo asks is: “What have I got in my pocket?”

Bilbo not only grows in courage and resourcefulness, but shows his inner worth when he resists the call of the dragon horde, unlike the unfortunate Thorin, and even attempts to broker peace between those who ought to be allies when greed and anger threaten to destroy all that the quest attempted to achieve, at the possible cost of his own safety and the friendship of his comrades. This is a great story for children, of any age, and will provide them with not only an exciting adventure, but also some good lessons and a fine model for true heroism. It’s also a great introduction to the world of Middle Earth and you won’t regret your time spent with the charming Mr. Baggins of Bag End.
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Mar 25, 2008 Brad rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, to-my-kids, exceeded-my-expectations, the-best, young-adult, out-loud, faves, classic

Finished reading it to the kids tonight. I'll have to write about it tomorrow.

later ... It's been almost two decades since I last read The Hobbit,and the intervening years have not been kind to our relationship. I've reread The Lord of the Rings in that time, and been both dazzled and repulsed by Peter Jackson's screen interpretation of them. I revised my intellectual response to Tolkien, if not my feelings, because of the racism inherent in the Trilogy, then I revised it again because of the se ...more

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Jun 04, 2008 Nicky rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, classics, dragons, children-s-and-ya, favourites

I just finished my reread of this. I read it over and over again when I was younger -- "hundreds of times" would be hyperbole, but not that much. I used to finish it and then begin it all over again straight away. I'd curl up with a bag of sweets -- usually Werther's Originals, I think -- and suck/crunch my way through the book. And when my parents got wise to me reading in bed late at night, way past bedtime, I hid it in my pillowcase and read it by the light of the streetlights that were past ...more

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May 27, 2008 Kara Babcock rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

I read The Hobbit back in grade six, after reading The Lord of the Rings . My first impression of Tolkien was simply how good he was at writing high fantasy and not making it sound pretentious. It helps that he was one of the fathers of the modern fantasy genre. ...more

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Jan 08, 2009 Bruce rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, sixtiescultclassics

What can you say thats new about this masterpiece? I try to go back and reread it every 2 to 3 years, and I find that I am never disappointed, which may be as good a definition of a masterpiece as you are likely to find. Simple and complex at the same time, a tale of adventure, a classic hero's quest, I find this work superior to the sometimes overwhelming LOTR. A book that I first encountered and loved as a very young teenager, and yet still speaks to me in my fifties is a very special book ind ...more

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