The Hobbit

Well that was adorable. It's funny, I didn't get into reading until I was older so when all my friends in elementary/middle school were reading these books (because at the time the movies were coming out) I was too intimidated by the size to pick one up. At the time, I was trying to do everything in my power to get away without reading.

So after all these years I sorta looked at Tolkien as more than a man. Ya know a guy who created our baseline for high fantasy, he had to be the standard of everything great in literature right? Well that's not what this novel turned out to be and it was for the best because I loved it. It makes me regret not reading it as a child because I know I would've thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Narrator was adorable and so welcoming. He was the old guy who shows up at a party and wants everyone to like him so he tells them the most fascinating story he can think of, all the while breaking the fourth wall or breaking from the narrative to offer exposition that enriches the story.

There was never a dull moment. It starts off with Bilbo being invited on the journey, oversleeping, then deciding he was going on an adventure. The characters were always on the move and always facing new challenges, whether it be trolls, elves, spiders, or goblins (which works well for a story because it offers plenty of opportunities to put it down and pick it back up without losing your place).

All in all, I loved this tale. It was a fun adventure that wasn't stressful or intense. It didn't require any deep thought to enjoy (I know one could dissect the layers of this book and pull out deeper meaning but it isn't a requirement for enjoyment).

I now look forward to reading the LOTR series. This is exactly what I needed after finishing the Dark Tower series.

Finally I've read this ultimate fantasy classic. I really liked it, but can't say I loved it. Maybe cos it's lacking epic atmosphere, I've expected it would have. Bilbo's adventures were funny and exciting but not unexpected thanks to the movie adaptation. Although it's a definite must-read to all fantasy fans.

DNF at 200 pages.

This is definitely something I'm going to have to return to in the future, but there's a reason why I can't read it now. We're reading LOTR for my fantasy literature class and I had planned to read this before I began FOTR, but I completely forgot and therefore tried to cram it in before starting the book for class. I ended up trying to listen to this as an audiobook as well as read it, but i'm over halfway through the book and i'm now realizing I have no idea what i'm reading. I've been trying to consume this so quickly that I literally didn't even let the story soak in, and I feel like if i'm going to read this, I want to read this and enjoy it. THEREFORE, I will retry this one day when I don't have a million other reading assignments lol

(however i will say, i like lotr better than this so far. after bilbo left gollum, it got really really boring.)

JUST AMAZING! FUN AND BEAUTIFUL ADVENTURE!
I HAD TO READ THE END AGAIN BECAUSE OF MY LOVE
how they made three films out of this impresses me!

11/10/23: I've read this at least a couple times in my life but read it again now as two of my sons (for the first time, though we've all seen the films many times) read it . . . . one of them "woofing" in New Zealand for the year!

7/22/23: Several years ago I went with my family on a large western circle tour of the US, and along the way read Peter Mathiessen’s The Snow Leopard. This year we finally got to take a trip to my sister’s cabin on Grand Lake (at the western entrance of the Rocky Mountain National Park), just returned last night.

On the Kearny (Nebraska) Archway over I-80 it reads “Adventure awaits!” We anticipated a series of (vacation) adventures (climbing, boating, hiking) involving three teens and an assortment of wild animals--a quest!, so why not listen on the way out from Chicago to the classic fantasy adventure story, published in 1937, reflecting back in an allegorical way by the WWI veteran Tolkien on that war and on the present, and back to the thirties, as the rise of fascism gripped Europe. I’ve read it, seen it, now listen to a wonderful reading by Rob Inglis.

But have you driven across Iowa and Nebraska in the summer? As the narrator of The Hobbit says, “The road goes ever on and on.” (No disrespect for the great states of Nebraska and Iowa here, where I have spent much time! Just kidding around here! I know I-80 ain't all of what makes up these fine states!). And then those mountains rise up as you head west into Colorado. 103 degrees as we begin our ascent into the park and on the breath-taking and perilous Trail Ridge Road, it's 49 degrees at the visitor's center at the top.

The Hobbit is, like our experience (though ours was in part in an air-conditioned car!), a road trip, through the Misty Mountains, featuring a small introverted Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins:

“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.”

Bilbo is enticed by a grand wizard, Gandalf the Great, and a group of dwarves, to help restore land to dwarvish ownership. In classic fantasy fashion, Bilbo and Gandalf and the dwarves are joined by elves and a host of other creatures, facing a host of enemies, including orcs and goblins and a gollum named Smeagol in a struggle over a ring (“My precious”), a ring representing ultimate power i the world. The principal antagonist, Smaug the Destroyer, is a dragon somewhat inspired by Beowulf’s monster Grendel.

“Truly songs and tales fall utterly short of the reality, O Smaug the Chiefest and greatest of Calamities.”

What’s the war strategy for slaying this dragon, according to Gandalf?

“Never laugh at live dragons, Bilbo you fool!”

The hobbits and wizards and elves and dwarves, just like the allies in the great world wars, join together to defeat their enemies. Good must prevail over evil, and sometimes you have to fight to preserve that good (sez the pacifist Dave!). Though on the sometimes dark and terrifying road into ever more challenging terrain, they discover:

“There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something. You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after.”

And what does our diminutive hero Bilbo find? Among other things, himself; he grows and teaches us that even small and retiring folks can be heroes if they set their minds to it. With Norse Mythology inspiring him, the medievalist scholar Tolkien has his narrator sing songs along the way:

“Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away ere break of day
To seek the pale enchanted gold.”

I see themes of greed and selfishness and inspiration for working together to fight for democracy and other social challenges, and support for animism and the environment, so destroyed by wars and greed. A fun and inspiring road read, as we tramped through the Rockies, seeing thrilling vistas, herds of elk and moose but also the devastation caused by recent forest fires that have come about due to climate change and ecological imbalances, so it's a combination of thrilling and heart-breaking to be in Grand Lake right now. Hopeful news? In the desolation of Smaug Bilbo sees the return of delicate flowers thrusting up from the burned ground, as we saw in the Grand Lake area, too.

El libro es bueno, pero esperaba más. Quizás debí haberlo leído antes que El señor de los anillos, pero creo que no es lo más importante. Al principio fue difícil seguir la historia, pero después que Bilbo reclamaba tanto que se quería ir a casa, hice una pausa y leí todo otra vez, hasta que lo entendí, en sentido de personajes y lugares. A medida que el libro avanzó, Bilbo ya no reclamaba tanto para irse a casa y siguió con el grupo.
Por otro lado, los enanos me causaron cierto rechazo a veces, ya que no los veía totalmente comprometidos con la misión. Sentí que no estaban muy interesados en ayudar a Bilbo y solamente lo hacían porque tenían la obligación de ello.
Buen libro, entretenido y quizás un poco difícil de entender, pero una vez comprendiendo todo, se disfruta.

A classic in a free edition

The Hobbit or There and Back Again is a great, enjoyable adventure. I don't think that it is quite as good as Lord of the Rings but it is much more than four stars, so five it is.

This 75th Anniversary edition has a lot going for it. First of all it is free from Amazon as is the Audible narration. The narration is entertaining but with my slight hearing loss, I had trouble understanding some of the characters' voices. Gollum particularly comes to mind. The only criticism I have of this edition is the strange word breaks which are particularly prevalent when reading with large print.

Our daughter is reading this in high school so she asked me to read it with her. Now I have reread it for the first time in over 30 years. This reading, I was struck with not just the adventure and descriptions of places, but also with the character development and the observations about people and life.

Addendum 2/6/24: This book is no longer free on Amazon.

A true classic, if aimed more at children than one would think of the predecessor to The Lord of the Rings
If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.

A well known story, full of delightful humor, starting with the visit of the dwarves and the meeting with the trolls.

Some funny things that I noticed while listening to The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, this time brilliantly narrated by Andy Serkins, were amongst other:
- Bachelor Bilbo being a bit queer, something that was just waiting to come out, had me laughing out way too loud