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The Hobbit, or There and Back Again

J.R.R. Tolkien

Start date: July 1, 2023

Finish date: July 31, 2023

Why we're reading this: July 2023 Revisit the Shelf

January 2016 New School Group Read
[close] July 2023 Revisit the Shelf

January 2016 New School Group Read

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Oct 11, 2009 Gaijinmama rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, fiction, re-read, classics, fantasy

Full disclosure: I am a life-long Tolkien geek. Mock me, and I'll cuss you out in Elvish. And then I'll breathe a bit of fire at you.
This is the prequel to The Lord of the Rings. I actually read LOTR first when I was 9 years old (back when dinosaurs walked the earth...) and it was rough going, so I highly recommend reading The Hobbit first. It explains a lot of things that are important to the trilogy. Also, unlike LOTR, this is a children's book. It's not just for children, by any means, but it ...more

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Apr 11, 2008 Jenny rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

January 2024

I absolutely love J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, and I also highly recommend the audio version narrated by Andy Serkis (who voices Gollum in the Peter Jackson movies).

The Hobbit is a book that I introduced to my kids when they were young. And one we enjoyed repeatedly as they grew up. It has shaped our love of fantasy and our family culture. It’s a story of adventure and self-discovery. As we have lived our own adventures, it’s a story that our family has returned to over and over, the ...more

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Jul 11, 2025 Maggie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: boxall-1001, classics, guardian-1000, fiction, fantasy, childrens, adventure, british

"In the hole in the ground there lived a hobbit."

Bilbo Baggins is brought on an adventure by Gandalf and thirteen dwarves to recover the dwarves' kingdom and treasure under the Lonely Mountain from the dragon Smaug. Along the way, they meet dangers in the form of trolls, goblins, wargs (wolves), spiders and the creature Gollum, friendly folk in the form of Elrond's elves, eagles, and Beorn, a man who can take on bear form, as well as the good but dangerous wood-elves and men of Lake-town. Bilbo "In the hole in the ground there lived a hobbit."

Bilbo Baggins is brought on an adventure by Gandalf and thirteen dwarves to recover the dwarves' kingdom and treasure under the Lonely Mountain from the dragon Smaug. Along the way, they meet dangers in the form of trolls, goblins, wargs (wolves), spiders and the creature Gollum, friendly folk in the form of Elrond's elves, eagles, and Beorn, a man who can take on bear form, as well as the good but dangerous wood-elves and men of Lake-town. Bilbo picks up a magic ring which turns him invisible, and wielding its power, he rescues the dwarves from several dangers, and turns from a burden into arguably the most useful member of the company.

Having only read the Lord of the Rings before, I was surprised to find that The Hobbit is, in tone and language, a children's book, and was indeed written for Tolkien's children. It is lighthearted, whimsical and humorous, and the narrator often speaks to the reader intimately. Many chapters contain fairytale-like songs. Yet it also has complex elements that appeal to adults. There is clearly demarcated good and evil, but the dwarves also get imprisoned by the wood-elves, who are good, and the dwarves themselves are no heroes, with their leader Thorin being greedy and hot-tempered. It also explores the theme of greed, and Bilbo is a hero not simply for his courage and quick-wittedness, but also for his lack of desire for riches, which sets him apart from the dwarves and men. In Bilbo, Tolkien describes the character of a rural Englishman, not inclined to adventures but setting himself to work when he finds himself in one, loyal and steadfast, and ever looking forward to going home.

It is difficult to properly review this, as it has influenced generations of children and fantasy literature since it was published in 1937. Tolkien was indeed talented, and even drew the illustrations in the book. I enjoyed the very British humour in it, for instance in this quote by Gandalf:
“Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?” ...more

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