Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Review: The Hobbit

The Hobbit
By J.R.R. Tolkien
Ballantine Books 1973
305 pages
From my shelves 

The Hobbit

The Hobbit is the prequel or prelude to one of the most beloved fantasy series of all time. J.R.R. Tolkien has created a world populated by wizards, dwarves, and terrifying monsters. Our hero in this tale is one Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit who would much prefer staying in his lovely hole and smoking his pipe to any sort of adventure. But his tranquility is interrupted when the wizard Gandalf appears at his door and sends him off on a quest with a group of noisy, hungry dwarves. The unlikely band sets off to defeat the fearsome dragon Smaug and recover lost treasure.

I am one of the rare people who read this book for the first time as an adult. It seems like there is little to add to the conversation. This story has been beloved by generations of readers, both children and adults. It is widely considered to be one of the greatest adventures ever written. So what can I write in the face of all that?

Well...I was surprised by this book. I went in with very little knowledge of the plot or characters. For an adventure story, the pacing is not particularly quick. There is a lot of meandering to this tale, filled with descriptions of scenery or food. It takes a long time for our fearless band to get...well, anywhere. It would be easy to say that Tolkien could have benefited from a stricter editor. But this is the charm of the novel. This author and these characters invite you to get comfortable and really experience a story without worrying about the time it takes to read it. You are invited along on the adventure. It's going to take a while, but all good adventures do.

Bilbo Baggins is indeed an unexpected hero going on an unexpected journey. There is a lot of character growth that happens along the way, but Tolkien also expertly illustrates that the journey does not end with the completion of the mission. How do you return home after a life-changing adventure? Can you return home and resume life just as it was?

I'm glad I finally read The Hobbit. I enjoyed it, maybe more than I thought I would. But I have to say that I'm not itching to read The Lord of the Rings trilogy. So what do you think, fellow book lovers? Should I give the trilogy a chance too or just revel in having experienced Tolkien and his magical world in The Hobbit? 

12 comments:

  1. i'm also one of those rare people, I have yet to even read The Hobbit, nor LOTR's. I do hope to read it at some point, it's one of those series type things that I think we all have to experience once.
    Thanks for the review :-)

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    1. Agreed! I actually have had the box set sitting on my bookshelves for years. I think it was time! :)

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  2. When I read this I was so mad that I had waited so long! You should absolutely read the trilogy :) That's my professional advice, lol.

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    1. I appreciate your professional insight. :)

      I don't know how I made it through childhood without reading at least The Hobbit. I was definitely one of those children who was happiest sitting in a corner with a good book!

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  3. I also have yet to read all of The Hobbit or any of the trilogy. I tried to read The Hobbit as a kid and I just couldn't get into it. I really wanted to, but there were just so many other (easier) books around that I never got back to reading it.

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    1. I feel like adventure/fantasy epics all build on each other. The kids who loved to read The Hobbit were also reading Redwall and other adventure stories.

      I was more of a mystery/historical fiction reader myself as a kid! :)

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  4. I'm the opposite - I've read Lord of the Rings but not this, although I intend to read it soon-ish. I say go for the trilogy but be prepared for a slower pace, especially if you've seen the movies.

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    1. Perhaps I will read through the series with other books alongside. I'm getting frustrated lately with the feeling that I'm reading just one book for a million years!

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  5. I see what you mean. The pacing is kind of slow for an adventure story, but the author compensates with humor and charm. :-)

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    1. I think we have this modern expectation that adventure stories move quickly but that was not always the case. Just look at Ivanhoe and King Arthur!

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  6. I think you should read the trilogy. They are quite different from The Hobbit. I didn't like The Hobbit nearly as much reading it as a child, but I appreciate it as an adult a lot more. Whereas the trilogy are some of my favourite books.

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    1. I had heard that they were different, but that The Hobbit was an easy entry point into Tolkien. Did you read the trilogy as a child too?

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