The Hobbit: The Classic Fantasy Novel and Prelude to The Lord of the Rings

Through The Eyes Of A Child No one is really going to read a review from some random dude about a story beloved for so long by so many. If I said I loved it, I’m just one voice in a chorus of others. If I said I hated it, I would be chided for a lack in taste or understanding. If I said there were parts I liked and others I didn’t – I’d be lost in the middle ground of it all and attacked by both fans and detractors of the story. However, one thing I can offer is the review of at the time of this writing a newly-crested 7-year-old girl in the year of our Lord 2023 as we read the story together and offer up her perspective as someone coming brand new to a work that really kicked off the fantasy genre. While the review may lack detail and wordiness, I can tell you there was no push by her father to like or not like any part of it and the review is an accurate take prompted only by the questions asked by a loving father. (Although this father might interject observation from time to time in parentheses) This was actually a “take two” reading as dad had only read the story and forgot that voices and inflections are what drives children to get invested in the story. We did not make it very far even for a kid who is pretty patient with a learning-as-he-goes-parent and enjoys a world of fairytales and princesses. So this second attempt was assisted by a narrator with a British accent who could sing the songs and change inflections for the characters. Characters – Indeed! The Hobbit definitely has a lack of female characters but this didn’t phase our reader too much – although adding one girl would have been okay with our reader. She enjoyed both Bilbo and Gandalf the most. She loved that Bilbo went on his journey even though he didn’t really want to and in the midst of all his trials in the story – he wanted to do the right thing. (A note here – it’s interesting that “doing the right thing” here is seen instead of “continuing the adventure” or “getting out of the situation”. It seems that the reader got Tolkien’s desire and Bilbo’s role immediately.). With Gandalf, one might think the fact that he was a wizard and did wizardly things at times would be the draw for our reader. In fact, she enjoyed that Gandalf was with the troop of heroes for half of the story and returns just when it seemed like the group needed his help at the end. She enjoyed that Gandalf followed Bilbo back from the great mountain back to the Shire and completed Bilbo’s journey with him. The Journey Action isn’t devoid in the enjoyment of the reader. The battle of Smaug and the ending of the menace was her favorite part. She liked that the bad guy was defeated and peace would reign. Although, the end of the story doesn’t happen here as she thought it was interesting that the selfishness of King Thorin ruined the peace and what could have been a good time. (Just like a good child asking “are we there yet?” this was mirrored with “when are they going to get to Smaug?” but it seems the building in anticipation was worth it in the end). Tolkien is known for building his world and if a tree needs a history, by Joe, that tree will get a full backstory. Our reader agreed that there was too much detail at times and the desire to get on with the adventure was forefront. However, she also agreed that it allowed her to imagine the world of our characters to a better extent. (It’s interesting to think about how many fantasy stories she’s exposed to and how figuring out the world and the rules of the types of magic encounters occurs. This probably gets lost of us big kids who know these stories or story types and forget we need to sometimes start fresh with our assumptions to get more out of the story). The details in the action parts were fun and added to lengthening of that enjoyment. Even with the times of travel and rest, our reader liked the characters talking with each other and interacting. So even the “boring parts” were good for our reader. Themes & Takeaways Our house is not unexposed to British humor although sometimes the subtlety of a joke is lost due to our reader’s age or life experience. Yet, the humor and Brish turns-of-phrases in Tolkien’s story were not lost on her. While many readers, I believe, tend to overlook the songs; our reader found these to be the funniest parts. One reason is that we don’t make up songs for the stuff we do in our day-to-day travels like it seemed our characters did. (This is probably a sad telling of our current state of culture and one that Tolkien probably bristles at). When questioned on what was not enjoyed about the story, our reader thought for several minutes before coming away that there was nothing that she didn’t like. When asked about Golem being a mystery, she was okay with not knowing more about him. She liked that we would see him again in the next books after it was revealed he would show up again. Before that time, she was imagining more of what he looked like and what he was. Even if there was no next book, she was ok with not knowing more about Golem. When asked if she thought the Ring was important, she says that she believes it’s important but can’t even think of why. Our reader’s enjoyment of adventure stories stems from an enjoyment of mysteries and their unfolding and being solved and guessed at. In this adventure story, there was the big adventure but there were also a number of mini-adventures in their travels. Each one was an interesting mystery to see how our heroes would get out of the situation or overcome it. She’s of the belief that Bilbo would continue to go on adventures and do so with other people. (It’s clear that she sees the change in Bilbo from the beginning of the book to the end. And a child’s mind would see the fun had in this adventure and want to continue it. Only the adult mind, roots us at home). Only The Start Of The Journey Clearly, the story was enjoyed by our reader. When asked if she would read it again she stated that she would re-read it a million times even when she knew what would happen. Her father was informed that we would have to continue onto the next book. But as for this book, our reader gave a Final Grade – A+ Final Grade A+

*The Hobbit* is one of the most beloved books of all time. Though actually originally written as a children's story, it almost immediately transcended such a classification, and through the years many adults have read the delightful story of a small, but tough Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins. Most folks know the basic premise of the story. If not from reading it, then certainly they know part of it from the prologue to *The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring* movie, and likely went out to learn the rest of the tale. A wizard, Gandalf the Grey, goes and visits the son of an old Hobbit friend, and after spending time with him, surreptitiously marks Bilbo's door with a sign that is an advertisement of services for a professional burglar. The dwarves that Gandalf was helping look for a burglar promptly knock on poor Bilbo's door, and up he finds himself enlisted in an adventure to slay a dragon and find lost gold. Initially the dwarves belittle Bilbo, and this just makes him all the more determined to prove them wrong about him, which attitude he does, to put it mildly, regret more than once on their quest. Eventually he finds the Ring and the adventures are many, but that is too much of a spoiler for this review. Suffice it to say, it is one grand adventure after another. It is said that the Hobbit was published on the recommendation of the publisher's son, who heartily endorsed the tale. It also was published on the strong recommendation of Tolkien's friends, including C. S. Lewis. Tolkien was a man of a very exacting nature. The debt owed to Tolkien's close circle of family, friends, and a few close academic peers is incalculable. For their insistence that Tolkien merely "publish it already" ensured the book kept the whimsical tone it may otherwise have lost. *The Hobbit* is often criticized, to be sure, for not having the extremely "serious" tone and "complex" plot lines of its sequel, *The Lord of the Rings*. While this criticism is perfectly fair, it also greatly misses the point. Yes, Tolkien included fantasy elements in the story derived from the epic fictional history of Britain that he was writing. But that was all that these were, small derivatives. There was not a concerted effort when he wrote the *children's* story, to include all of these. Indeed, while Tolkien had to go back and rewrite the section "Riddles in the Dark" to make the story of the Ring and Gollum coincide with the overall story of *The Lord of the Rings*, that is as far that he was able to go. He realized that to make the tone and story of *The Hobbit* match that of it's sequel would effectively make it no longer the fun story that everyone loved. So the question is, what is *The Hobbit*? What kind of story is it? It is lighter, but with a sense of foreboding. It is the story of a fat, happy, contented age coming to a close in a devastating war that will change the face of the earth. It is the origin of a story that is an attempt to explain how a variety of myths can be true. To this, many may object that *The Silmarillion* is the beginning of the story, but this is untrue. *The Silmarillion* is the beginning of *all* stories, and only concerns the events of the later periods of Middle-Earth very faintly, and near the end of that epic narrative. It is the Creation myth, one that connects with the Christian faith of the author surprisingly well. In fact, the light-hearted tone of *The Hobbit* is the pefect bridge for the reader. It is the most "modern" in perspective, and introduces the reader to the peoples, geography, and events that they will find are connected from the First and Second Ages in *The Silmarillion* and the Third Age in *The Lord of the Rings*. J. R. R. Tolkien didn't like allegory, as he himself attested, but he did try to do "applicability", which is really just a way of saying that he didn't directly do "x = x" in the story, but allowed his Christian worldview to mesh with ancient epics in an effort to reconcile the two differing myths, or as he later convinced Lewis, to separate the "one, True Myth" to which the other myths copy and pay homage. Perhaps the most important link, however, to *The Lord of the Rings*, however, (besides the Ring itself, of course) is the importance of characters and the emphasis on certain truths and values. Among these are loyalty, the Providence of God, and the simultaneous righteousness and brutality of warfare. Before entering the military after the outbreak of World War I, Tolkien and his closest friends, who made up the core of a club that was likely the inspiration for the later Inklings and other clubs Tolkien loved to found at the various colleges at which he taught, had this notion of the glory of war, and how they would find renown for their deeds. This is shown in the perspective of Bilbo and the other heroes at the end of the story. While they were happy to have won the battle against evil, they also felt the horrors of war quite keenly. For the careful and patient reader, this book contains so many nuggets of truth for a "children's" book. It is most definitely *not* only a simple story. It is WELL worth your time. Highly Recommended.

One of the best reads Recommend

Les cartes sont magnifiques! Le livre est de très bonne qualité, le petit livret est intéressant, les cartes magnifiques, bref il n'y a rien a redire sur cette édition deluxe. Plus qu'à le lire!

Depends on one’s taste.

It's so beautiful, definitely worth the money!

Jag gillade att boken kom i tid och det var en engelska bok