The Hobbit

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Summary: An Indispensable Prerequisite to The Lord of the Rings
Review: Literarily speaking, chapter one of The Hobbit is the best thing ever written for children in English. What follows is a series of increasingly improbable adventures, which arose naturally out of Tolkien's storytelling practice with his own children.

While by no means proof against enjoyment by girls, it must be admitted that The Hobbit is very much a boy's book, its cozily domestic subtext serving to highlight its absence of female characters, its wilderness settings and grisly violence. Its saving grace is Tolkien's enchanting sense of humor, which continues to be consistently reassuring throughout.

What it requires of its readers is not however boyhood, or even childhood: what it requires is a sense of adventure. Anybody with one of those is ill-advised to neglect reading this justly renowned neo-saga, which was legendary in character to begin with, and has since become legendary in nature as well.

Its most distinctive features are the maps, the verses, and the medieval authenticity. There are two maps, one of which is used in the story repeatedly. The verses are in ballad measures, including dwarf and goblin as well as hobbit songs. The early section of the Old Norse Elder Edda (Dvergatal), from which Tolkien took the names of his dwarves and wizard, remains even now displaced in an appendix at the end of Hollander's standard translation.

Initially published in 1937, The Hobbit's composition was contemporary with Tolkien's pioneering published lecture on Beowulf, which revitalized the scholarship on and initiated a modern criticism of that sternest of British works. Read for publication by Tolkien's future lifelong publisher Rayner Unwin at age 10, The Hobbit sold unexpectedly well in the United States in its slightly inferior first edition (later revised to conform with The Lord of the Rings) and produced an immediate demand for a sequel, which did not however appear until those who had read The Hobbit as children were beginning to have children of their own.

Various protestations to the contrary, The Hobbit remains an indispensable prerequisite to The Lord of the Rings. The Fellowship of the Rings movie might have been better, if its producers had filmed The Hobbit first.

I trust that it will eventually be confirmed, if it isn't known for a fact already, that the Los Angeles meteorologist, who coined our familiar term for urban air pollution, really did mean to name it after the dragon in The Hobbit.

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Summary: The Hobbit is an excellent book-I was on the edge of my seat
Review: I would rate "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien *****. A hobbit named Bilbo Baggins goes on an adventure, facing many dangers. He gets captured by goblins, meets with elves, and goes into a forest where there are deadly rivers and angry wood elves. Once he passes the forest, he must slay a dragon. How will Bilbo survive...if he survives at all? Read "The Hobbit to find out.

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Summary: I felt I was walking through the book along side Bilbo.
Review: I was a little confused at first with all the names in the book, but after the second chapter I had everything undercontrol. I loved the great detail Tolkien put into his writing, it literally made me feel like I was walking along side Bilbo throughout his troubles. Whenever he ran into tough situation, I would stop and think of what I would have done in his place. Tolkien does a very good job of setting the right atmosphere for each scene to make the story even more intense. I was really impressed with how well each new character was described, it really helped me picture what they looked like and how they expressed themselves, no matter how unhuman they were. This is the best book I have read in several years, but from what I've heard best books are just ahead. I am hoping to jump right into the Lord of the Rings trilogy, hopefully they are just as good. I would definatelly recommement this book to anyone interested in going on a good adventure through caves, woods, mountains and giant spiders nests.

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Summary: A tale of Dwarves, Hobbits... and a Dragon
Review: Hobbits are a little people that are fat and peaceful...Until Gandalph the Grey comes to the Shire and makes Bilbo Baggins, a Hobbit, embark on a long journey with a group of dwarves.
The journey will take them through Mirkwood, out to barren lands, dangerous perils, serious ordeals odd situations with strange people and even stranger endings. The dwarves and the Hobbit finally make it to their final destination...a barren wasteland with a Dragon guarding a tremendous treasure that used to belong to a dwarven Kingdom.
Thorin Oakenshield, the leader of the dwarves, is looking for a very valuable stone necklace, but unbeknownst to all, Bilbo has taken the necklace and won't tell anyone about it.
The Dragon was killed by a brave warrior named Bard, and now he wants some of the treasure that the dwarves are swimming in for killing the Dragon.
Thorin calls some of his dwarven brethren to help him in a soon approaching war that will leave you breatheless and yearning to read more.

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Summary: The Hobbit is Written Beautifully!
Review: The hobbit is such a great book and is well liked because of its story, but I liked it mainly because of how well it is written. There were parts toward the end of the book that seemed to drag a little, but for the most part it was put together rather nice. I loved the fact that it was written as if from another culture and it spoke to the reader as if it was from a familiar culture or one right close to it. It talked to you as if you already knew certain things about something that you might never have heard of, and soon after it explains exactly what it was or hinted in such great detail that no two people could be far apart from what has been drawn in their heads. The Hobbit does such a great job in having the reader come up with his own conclusions of how something will turn out and the book will take some strange twist that proves you right and wrong at the same time. Such as, you know they will escape from something and so you play it out in your mind. When it happens, you had the right idea, but the way it was done wasn't even close to how you saw it happening. This book was written with extreme greatness and is built to always keep you on your toes and to keep you looking forward for what is coming next. This book makes my list of books to recommend, mainly because it was so beautifully written.

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Summary: Love It
Review: I got the original version of the Hobbit and it just had a hard time reading it. But then I got this one and I loved it. The pictures are neat and make the book eaiser to get through. I strongly recomend it.

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Summary: Great Book, Great Prequel!
Review: The hobbit, a great book in its own right, also serves as a great prequel for anyone that has seen the recently released Lord of the Rings movie and who wants to experience more of Tolken's eclectic fantasy world. Tolken writing is exceptionally accessible, and the book keeps you in the story until the very end. A "classic" adventure story, the book also is not lacking in deeper meaning, and raises questions about manipulation, conscience and human (ok, hobbit) nature. All around, The Hobbit is a good read!

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Summary: The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien
Review: The Hobbit

I read a great book called The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. It is about a hobbit named Bilbo, twelve dwarves, and a wizard called Gandalf. They need to go to a mountain guarded by a dragon. They make it to the mountain with lots of trouble. But then they remember the dragon.
This book takes place in a place called the Shire, and Middle Earth. It was long ago, and it might be true, might not.
The main character, Bilbo, makes me feel very good, and I want this story to go on forever.
This was one of the best books I have read so far, and I ask you to read it. If you already have read it, then I encourage you to reread it.

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Summary: The Best Fantasy Book I've Ever Read!
Review: The Hobbit is an action and adventure book written by J.R.R. Tolkien. It takes place during the medieval times. The main character, Bilbo, is a halfling called a Hobbit that is smart, fast, he hasn't been on an adventure, andd he loves his Hobbithole in Hobbiton. The major conflict in the story is a dragon called Smaug steales a lot of treasure so Bilbo, 13 dwarfs, and a wizard go along to get the treasure back and slay the dragon. The author makes the characters really strange. This book is like The Fellowship Of The Rings and The Two Towers. I recommend this book to everyone 8 and up.A person that likes action or adventure storys would love The Hobbit. I really like how Tolken decribes the characters and setting very gook, and it is also exciting. If you havn't read this book YOU HAVE TO!!!!

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Summary: Great story, very imaginative
Review: This book has some big words and is difficult for younger readers but the story is great. You can picture the story in your mind's eye. Very descriptive.