The Hobbit

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Summary: A MUST READ FOR ALL LORD OF THE RINGS AFICIANADOS
Review: First let me say that I have read "The Hobbit" six times, the first time being thirty six years ago when I was twenty-one. Each time I have read it I haven't tired of Tolkein's marvelous storytelling abilities and the depth and staying power that this tale has.

Called "The Enchanting Prelude to the Lord of the Rings," one might come away with the erroneous perception that "The Hobbit" is a preface of sorts that can be easily skipped. Frankly I don't know how anyone who has not read this book could fully appreciate any part of "The Lord of the Rings" either in print or on the big screen.

"The Hobbit" is the story of THE Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins. Yes, Frodo's adventures are literarily noteworthy but do not exceed in any sense the heroic adventures of Bilbo. The book also introduces readers to the dwarves who are the precursors of Gimli. In fact the tomb discovered by the Fellowship in Moria is that of Balin, one of the dwarves introduced in "The Hobbit" and one of Bilbo's favorites.

This book also gives us our introduction to Gandalf, the wandering wizard, and to Gollum, the hapless possessor and slave of the great Ring of Power, along with a wonderful cadre of other enchanting characters.

If you haven't read "The Hobbit" but have enjoyed "The Fellowship of the Ring", "The Two Towers" and/or "The Return of the King" either in print or on film it's not too late. "The Hobbit" will fill in many of the blanks that inevitably arise when starting with Tolkein's trilogy.

Once you've read it please join with the rest of us Hobbitophiles in screaming bloody murder until Peter Jackson consents to bring this one to film.

Douglas McAllister

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Summary: The Fantasy Adventure
Review: J.R.R. Tolkien wrote The Hobbit in 1937, but it was revised in 1966 to fit the plot of the later three books in the lord of the rings series. The revised edition was not printed until 1982. This fantasy is a prelude to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It is Bilbo's story of Thorin (son of Thrain son of Thror, king under the mountain)'s quest to recapture his grandfathers long lost treasures. Gandalf, a Wizard, received a map from Thorin's father on his death bead with instructions to give it to Thorin, the rightful heir of the map and helped him find a party to go on his quest. The group included Bilbo the hobbit-burglar, Killi, Fili, Dori, Nori, Ori, Bombur, Bilfur, Bofur, Oin, Gloin, Dwalin, Balin, and Thorin, all dwarves. They faced many challenges on their journey. They had a conflict with the wolves, the elves, old fat spiders that would love to eat dwarves for supper, and most of all Smaug, the dragon of the mountain.
Tolkien chose third person omniscient to write The Hobbit. It is almost exclusively told from Bilbo's point of view. He also chose to have the narrator talk to the audience, which seems unusual for a novel.
"Well, you will see whether he gained anything in the end." Pg 2.
Tolkien has a distinctive writing style:
"Bilbo found sitting on the doorstep lonesome and wearisome-there was not a doorstep, of course, really, but they used to call the little grassy space between the wall and the opening the "doorstep" in fun remembering Bilbo's words long ago at the unexpected party in his hobbit hole, when he said they could sit on the doorstep till they thought of something. And sit they did, or wandered aimlessly about and glummer and glummer they became." pg. 205-206.
It is oblivious that he did a beautiful job incorporating description and the plot into the same paragraphs to create a story that is constantly moving, yet full of imagery.
A less appealing aspect of his writing is the way the author gave oral storyteller foreshadowing such as the last sentence of this quote:
""I am too fat for such fly-walks," he said. "I should turn dizzy and tread on my beard, and then you would be thirteen again. And the knotted ropes are too slender for my weight." Luckily for him that was not true, as you will see." Pg. 207
This seems to take your train of thought out of the book. Foreshadowing should be something that requires the reader to scrutinize the dialog and descriptions for clues that can be combines to deduce how the story will unfold.
I recommend the Hobbit to anyone whether they have loved or despised fantasies in the past. The plot will keep anyone interested in the book until the end, and it takes less than a dozen pages to develop. His unusual writing style has its positives and negatives, but anyone will fall in love with his intertwined descriptions and action in the never slowing fantasy adventure of The Hobbit.

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Summary: The Hobbit
Review: The Hobbit is a story of a calm hobbit named Bilbo Baggins that lives in his hobbit hole and likes peace and quiet. He likes to eat a lot and likes smoking his pipe. One day a wizard showed up and asked Bilbo to go on a quest with him and other companions. Because hobbits are kind by nature he invited Gandalf (the wizard) to tea for the next day after refusing to go on the journey. Bilbo got annoyed because Gandalf wouldn't leave so he closed his hobbit-hole door, at that moment Gandalf put a sign on his door without Bilbo noticing. The next day an unexpected party of dwarfs showed up for tea and Gandalf came after the last dwarf. That's where the Bilbo's quest began with Gandalf and the dwarfs.

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Summary: Review for The Hobbit
Review: The Hobbit, written by J.R.R. Tolkien is the best book I have ever read. The story of Bilbo's journey is exciting, adventurous, and keeps you wanting to read. The Hobbit has many thrilling stories inside the long tale. This book was just fun to read! It is easy to follow and understand, while it still vastly describes the world of Middle Earth, created by Tolkien. It gives a better understanding of Tolkien's world and is a good intro to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The Hobbit can be enjoyed by all ages and should be part of everybody's bookshelves.

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Summary: An amazing novel
Review: ~The Hobbit is a great introduction to Middle Earth. The Hobbit is a much easier novel to read than the Lord of the Rings, and is just as good. The novel is also more lighthearted and aimed at younger readers. Tolkein is a masterful story teller, and I could sense the enjoyment he must have felt from telling his stories. The way he writes, the words he uses, shows the fun he had writing this novel. However, I feel there is somewhat less excitement in this novel than in the Lord of the Rings.~~ Maybe it is because the Lord of the Rings is longer or has graver consequences. Anyway, it is still a enjoyable read, and much quicker to finish than the Lord of the Rings.

What is it about. Bilbo Baggins has an adventure, which is quite unusual for Hobbits. He with a group of dwarves set out to slay the mighty dragon Smaug and recover their treasure. There are many obstacles in reaching the dragon, and then the must find a way to rid their treasure of its guardian. Now that I have~~ read the Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales, one of my favorite parts of reading the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings is noting references by Tolkien to Gondolin or Beren or Turgon.

If you have seen the movies, and are interested in Tolkien's novels, this is a great one to start with. His novels are the best fantasy novels I've read.~

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Summary: You Won't Want to Put it Down
Review: I don't have this version, but I am hear to just comment on the book itself and the writing of Tolkien. I know I won't say what hasn't already been said, but here goes... I HATE READING, but I LOVED THIS BOOK. Tolkien is a genius. I know it's cliche, but it is true. I never thought I would pick up a book and just read the first page out of curiosity and be so utterly hooked, but that is exactly what happened when I picked up this book at our university library. The story is amazing. The characters are so full of life and uniquely charming in their own way. The book makes you wish you could just leave this world and enter the life of a hobbit or dwarf. That's what makes Tolkien such a genius. He is able to make you forget about your reality and put you into his world ~ The world of Middle Earth: the realm of hobbits and wizards. This book is so much fun to read and definitely for people of all ages. I am 24 and loved this book, but I know children and adults older than I will fall in love with the writings of Tolkien after reading only one page. It's amazing. It really is.

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Summary: Alan Lee Illustrated version
Review: Although it's difficult to overstate how significant Tolkien's work is, I won't try here. However, I would like to say that this Alan Lee illustrated edition is magnificient. The illustrations are beautiful and the print is bold and on thick glossy paper. In short, the physical quality of this book is superior to all other editions of The Hobbit I have seen, and I would highly recommend this book for anyone's personal library.

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Summary: A Book You Will Never Forget
Review: I was looking for a book that my younger brother would like for a Christmas gift. That is were I stumbled into "The Hobbit" on amizon.com. I first read this book in eighth grade for a book report. I am now eighteen years old. The first time I read this book was five years ago and I still can remember every bit of it. This book is very exciting and imaginative. There is a new adventure for Bilbo Baggins, one of the main characters, on every page. The one thing that you must have is an imagination. J.R.R. Tolkien gives us a very detailed description of the characters, surroundings, and events the characters encounter.
I remember when I read this book, I felt like I was apart of the adventure.
The description in the book gave me the ability to see how the characters looked like, so as I was reading it I felt like I was able to see the characters speaking to each other. Like the time when Bilbo finds the ring and runs into the Gollum. Tolkien's description of the Gollum and of what Bilbo was felling made me feel like I was Bilbo hiding from the Gollum. If you read the book, you will now what I am trying to say.
Another grate thing about this book is that it is easy to read. The chapters are very interesting, and you will never get bored from it. This book is great for all ages, especially for the people that liked the Lord of the Ring. If you were still wondering how Frodo's family gets the ring, this book would clear all that up for you.
In my opinion, this book is a classic and will always be one. This book shows great descriptions, and keeps you wanting more. The Hobbit is filled with mystery and adventure. You will not be able to put the book down. If you are looking for an exciting book, look no further you found the perfect book. That is why I am planning on purchased The Hobbit (Leatherette Collector's Edition) and The Lord of the Rings (Leatherette Collector's Edition) for my younger brothers as a Christmas gift.

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Summary: The Hobbit
Review: I am a 10 year old boy who read the hobbit. The book begins in the Shire were Billbo, Hobbit, lives. Gandalf, wisered,arives in Bilbo's house he tells Bilbo to join the dwarfs on an adventure to reclaim their gold. I liked this book because the people they meet on the way to get the treasure of Under the Mountain. But the treasure is guarded by a huge dragon. By the time they get to the palace which is torn down, they are getting tracked by goblins. Will they get the treasure? Will threy survive?

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Summary: The Best of the Best
Review: Like many people, I list "The Hobbit" as one of my childhood classics. Now those favorites from my younger days are curious things. As a child, they never seemed to grow old or stale. I read this book and several others until my copies were ready to fall apart. But upon rereading them as an adult, some of them have proven to be disappointing. Which isn't to say that books like The Chronicles of Narnia or "The Phantom Tollbooth" are bad, but they don't carry as much emotional punch as they could and seem a little tedious in retrospect.

Not so with "The Hobbit". Having recently read it for the first time in more than ten years, I can say that this book is every bit as exciting and imaginative from an adult perspective as from a child's. It is amazing. It approaches perfection in so many areas that it daunts the imagination. For instance, consider how much Tolkien is able to accomplish in just the first chapters. He introduces all the important characters and gives them distinctive personalities, builds sympathy for the hero, provides all the necessary backstory, injects a little humor, and prepares you for the epic adventure ahead.

And what an adventure it is! I marveled at Tolkien's amazing skill in so many areas. His action sequences are fast, short, and easy to visualize. His songs and poetry add a wonderfully quaint touch to the story. His simple descriptive writing paints perfect portraits of landscapes in just a few sentences. There is literally nothing done wrong in this story. The current crop of fantasy authors would do well to pause from their latest eight-hundred page extravaganza and remind themselves that Tolkien never repeated himself or included anything unnecessary. His goal was to write small and speedy, to always be providing something new for the reader.

A note about the illustrations: some of the editions that they're hawking now include copies of the pen and ink drawings that Tolkien did for the first edition. Like many people, I was raised with the 1966 paperback that didn't include the illustrations. It's an unfortunate fact that Tolkien's skill as an artist didn't come close to matching his skill as a writer. Some of the drawings are decent, but others are almost laughably bad. I would recommend trying to find a copy without the illustrations.