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Title: The Hobbit
Series: The Lord of the Rings Prequel
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 235
Format: Digital Edition
| Synopsis: |
Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit. Who ends up with a wizard and 13 dwarves for dinner. And somehow gets finagled into going on an adventure to recover the dwarves lost treasure, that is guarded by the dragon Smaug.
Along the way Bilbo meets elves, runs away from goblins, plays a riddle game in the dark with Gollum for his life, finds a ring of invisibility, flies on eagles’ wings, fights giant spiders and is almost eaten by 3 trolls.
Eventually he and the dwarves reach the Lonely Mountain and Laketown. They rouse the dragon and Bard of Laketown kills Smaug and then elves, humans and dwarves prepare to fight over the treasure. Until a huge goblin army shows up and everybody fights them. The good guys win, the treasure is shared and Bilbo returns home a better, wiser and more eccentric hobbit than ever.
| My Thoughts: |
What a book. I’ve read this enough times that nothing is a surprise. And yet… I am still in awe at how Tolkien weaves such a children’s tale so as to keep me intrigued, for the umpteenth time.
What do I say? A simple tale of adventure that is the prequel to one of the worlds most renowned fantasy series? A tale of bravery, generosity and kindness overcoming perils, greed and hatred? A stout heart being greater than a dragon? I just don’t know what to say beyond the fact that I enjoyed the heck out of this just like I have all the previous times and I don’t have any issues with it.
Well, except maybe all the singing. I wouldn’t have minded if there hadn’t been any singing. In regards to the singing though, the only thing I can say positively about the horrific movie trilogy is that the song by the dwarves in Bilbo’s house is absolutely haunting and enchanting. Who knows how long this link will exist, but here’s a youtube link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8ymgFyzbDo
If only the Silmarillion had been this interesting. Well, at least I’ve got the rest of the Trilogy to look forward too!
★★★★★
You’re so right about the song in the movie. I went into that film hoping for zero singing and that song made me check myself and realise how awesome it could be when done right.
The Hobbit itself is still a great children’s book and a fun read for adults.
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Thank goodness they didn’t have the singing be pop songs sung by Miley Cyrus while the dwarfs lip synced 😀
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I love that song. For some reason it didn’t make much of an impression when I first heard it in the movie, but Pandora started playing it for me (a different version, but similar) and it finally caught my attention. Sometimes I randomly ask Alexa to play it when the mood strikes.
I could definitely do without songs/poetry/stuff-of-vague-and-dubious-meaning in books.
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That was the first thing that struck me when watching the first movie and made me think the whole trilogy was going to be great. What a setup that was!
I am NOT a musical person, so all that stuff in books can just go away as far as I’m concerned. Most musically inclined people that I know are into music as a hobby as well, so it’s not like they’re going to start reading books with songs in them 🙂
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Some things you don’t out-grow. ‘The Hobbit’ is one.
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Thank goodness for that!
That being said, I used to think 5 years between re-reads was enough time. Now, I’m thinking a decade is a good number 😉
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A real classic
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It definitely is, even if the movie stank.
Speaking of the movie. I saw a review where the reviewer wrote something like “Didn’t like this book but at least it had a cool movie”. I wanted to scream in frustration…
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I LOVED the Hobbit and only read it for the first time a couple of years ago. I was less thrilled with Fellowship although it was still good. It just dragged too much for me. I’m told the second book in the trilogy is better and need to get to reading it soonish.
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The Hobbit is extremely different in almost every aspect from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. In tone, in pacing, in characters, etc, LotR is epic while the Hobbit is just a little tale.
I think one has to be a fan of Epic Fantasy, or a Tolkien nut, to really like LotR. And the movies were way better than the Hobbit movies 😦
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Anytime the movies are mentioned, I have a fit.
I am happy that they left out Tom Bombadill and that awful dreck,
however,
I cannot forgive them for having a troop of elves come marching up to Helms Deep. That would never happen! I don’t get it.
Where is the Elf army that does march up to save the day in ‘Return of the King’? For some reason, they sat that one out.
Other than that, the movies are lovely, but as far as I know, I am the only one that gets bent out of shape over Peter Jackson pissing all over the elf army.
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I think a lot of people were annoyed with a LOT of things that Jackson did with the Hobbit trilogy. The first being it being a trilogy
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Those goofy Hobbit movies are not worth getting upset over.
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The film’s adaptation of that song is the only good thing about the trilogy. The book still remains one of my favourites and it hurts to think how awesome a standalone film that was FAITHFUL to the book would have been.
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Yeah, a single movie would have been icing on the LotR cake…
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I admit that I always skipped the songs as a kid. But this last reread was aloud to my newborn daughter so I sang her the songs instead. A year later I think she is finally starting to recover.
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Ahh, that would explain the glazed look in the eyes in several of those pictures 🙂
I read all the songs this time but I doubt I’ll ever do it again…
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The Hobbit is always one of the best thing out there.i meant the book not the movies which even if the first one was alright the two next were really problematic (one of the major one being Tauriel….)
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Oh man, Tauriel. Now that storyline had zero business being in the Hobbit!
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One of my all time favorites. As far as the movies are concerned I have a special place for the animated one. I remember being sick at 10 years old and my Aunt bought over a VHS tape of Old Yeller that she recorded off of the TV after it finished The Hobbit started. She had just recorded it on a whim. I was mesmerized. Then I found out it was a book and started to read anything I could find by Tolkien.
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Ahh yes, the old Bass and Rankin movies. Man, the elves in those were super ugly! I’ve never understood the thinking behind it.
I know it stuck in my head because the names of a bunch of those involved were japanese and I’d never even heard names like them before. Isn’t it odd how the weirdest little things stick in your head?
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I really liked The Hobbit but strangely can’t stand The Lord of The Rings books.
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Honestly, I’m not surprised. They are completely different in tone and style. I just find it amazing that both came from the pen of the same man 🙂
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It’s one of THE great stories of the human culture, almost as interesting as Silmarillon 😉
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blasphemer!
Sadly, I’ve already invoked Pizza the Hut against Ola, so I’m kind of stuck with what to blast you with. Got any ideas?
I mean, how much more meaningful can it be than to pick your own made up parody deity to die by?
😉
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Shouldn’t that be Melkor, under the circumstances ;)?
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Good call, I like it. Very thematic.
By the Powers of the Universe (and Melkor!) I banish thee!
….for at least 30 seconds…
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This is where I confess I’ve never read the Lord Of The Rings trilogy–it was repeatedly snatched out of my hands when I was young–but I’ve read The Hobbit at least a dozen times and the Rankin-Bass animated version was a part of my childhood. And while the “Far Over the Misty Mountains Cold” in the live action version is better the animated film nailed the goblin songs.
Anyway it’s amazing how brilliant Tolkien was in letting Bilbo be our window to Middle Earth. There’s a common trope in fantasy of an outsider falling into a mysterious world, but Bilbo is a part of Middle Earth. And yet his supposed dislike of adventure–which he quickly overcomes–makes him the ideal guide.
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Well, there is no time like the present to fix that little oversight 😉
As for the songs, yeah, only the misty mountains one stuck out to me from the recent movie.
I LIKED Bilbo in this book. He was just perfect as you say. And yet he never fell into just the roll of observer. He was integral to the story. Perfect for children’s imagination 😀
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Nice, I recently reread this one too! I read it out loud to my kid for bedtime story, took us about a couple months to finish because I would only read a few pages a day (she fell asleep very quickly). And yeah, I usually just skipped over the songs 😛
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I guess having a kid fall asleep quickly is much better than having them stay awake all night 🙂
A couple of months though, that must have felt rather disjointed…
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It wasn’t too bad, not when it was every night. But yeah if there was like a long weekend or something, where I wouldn’t pick the book up again for several days, it took some time to get my head back into it.
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I have to admit to preferring the Lord of the Rings books to The Hobbit! Though I do love Riddles in the Dark-best bit in the film too…
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They are so different that it never surprises me when people like one over the other.
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Even though The Hobbit is flagged as a children’s book, I never felt out of my comfort zone by reading it – and my first read happened when I was well into adulthood! When people call certain books “a classic”, or “timeless” they must certainly think of this one first… 🙂
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I concur, this is just as good for adults as it is for children. It is too bad more authors of today don’t try to emulate that.
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Tolkien’s winning strategy, IMHO, was that he never dumbed down his stories when writing for children, and that’s why adults can enjoy The Hobbit just as well as younger readers.
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Yaaay for Hobbit!! Love this book, and it gets better with every re-read, with its fairy-tale/oral history cadence and evenly mixed subtle humor and tragedy. Hated the movies, but the dwarves’ song is well sung indeed, and “I see fire” sounds great every time I hear it ;). Aaand I really enjoyed my visit to Hobbiton! 😀
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I enjoyed the first movie until I realized Jackson was turning it into a trilogy. Then I knew we were all in trouble 😀
It does get better doesn’t it? Kind of amazing. I bet that tour was a boatload of fun…
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5/5 indeed. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Lord of the Rings, but the Hobbit is just so much simpler and easier to enjoy for what it is, in my opinion.
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I know exactly what you mean. I don’t think I’ve given LotR any 5stars and I don’t know if I ever will. Doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy it but it isn’t the Hobbit 🙂
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I haven’t watched the films because I don’t want them to spoil my future readings of The Hobbit, but have just listened to the Far Over the Misty Mountains Cold link you provided and was very pleasantly surprised.
But yes, ahhh yes, The Hobbit is just a near perfect book. ❤
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I own the extended editions of the Hobbit and figure I’ll probably watch them once more in my lifetime and that will be it.
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The Hobbit is awesome. And that’s all that really needs to be said.
Though… at one point I thought it would be neat to listen to the audiobook version of The Hobbit. I thought this all the way up until the first song, which the narrator *sang*. I switched back to the printed version quickly after that. (Nothing wrong with the narrator. But I didn’t like the song they had him sing. Or the fact that it was hard to skip it.)
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Unless they used the Bass and Rankin songs, I just don’t see it happening. I wouldn’t want singing in my audio book either…
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I don’t remember either the Rankin Bass songs or the ones used on the audiobook, so I can’t tell you. But still, it was unexpected and as such I didn’t care for it.
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Ahh (as you well know) I love this book!! It never ceases to amaze me and I will always thoroughly enjoy every praiseworthy review- so thanks for this- put a smile on my face 😀 The singing is definitely the only good (and best) part of the movies (the less said about them the better)
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I wonder if Jackson will ever live down the Hobbit? He certainly rose high enough on the tails of the Lord of the Rings…
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[…] The Hobbit – 5 Stars and the good times are rolling! […]
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I look forward to finally going through this classic before 2020.
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I hope you like it!
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If only some author could put out something half as good as The Hobbit. I’ve read it about 5 times and the same with The Lord of the Rings. It’s probably time to read it again.
On another subject, have you ever read any of William Morris’ novels? I was thinking they would be something you might like, if you haven’t. I’ve only read The Well at the World’s End but some of his others sound interesting as well.
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The only other author that I can still enjoy their childrens books as an adult is Roald Dahl. But even his books are still quite childish. Whereas the Hobbit simply is.
I have not even heard of William Morris. I shall go check him out….
….hmmm, he seems a bit hard to track down for ebooks…
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” he seems a bit hard to track down for ebooks ….”
Yes, but I think you’d like his novels … ***nudge, nudge ….***
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I’ll have to see if Project Gutenberg has any of this stuff. They’re pretty good with the old stuff…
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When i first read this, it sparked my interest into one day writing an epic that would also showcase some of my poetry. Sadly that dream never came true
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Not everyones’ dreams can come true. Look at me, I have never robbed a bank in my life and Mrs B, even after 10 years of marriage, says she’ll never help me. My dream of a bank robbing duo, down the tubes 😦
😉
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If i only lived closer to you… banks would shiver🤣
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We’ have to come up with a snazzy Bank Robbing Duo name though. Something that grabs the headlines. That is where a lot of bank robbers went wrong. They didn’t plan out a social media line of attack to attract the popular opinion 🙂
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Something like daydreamers or imaginations gone wrong or even better The Bookstooges… lol instead of robbing banks we rob overpriced bookstores and comic stores…
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Hahahaha! I like it…
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It is interesting how The Hobbit has a light-hearted, yet poignant charm but the Lord of the Rings has such a rich epic fantasy setting that is so beautiful.
For the record, I also like the Simarillian because it allowed me to figure out just who everyone was.
It’s unusual in that Tolkien shows such depth of insight into human character, something I find profoundly lacking in the average fantasy novel.
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It is hard to fathom how the same man could write both books, so excellently. But I guess I’m just thankful I can read them.
I think Tolkien took his theology seriously enough that it simply flowed out into what he wrote even in fiction. And why he wrote was probably a good bit different than someone like Sanderson or Briggs.
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