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    The Hobbit
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    The Hobbit
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    The Hobbit
    Ebook351 pages5 hours

    The Hobbit

    By J. R. R. Tolkien

    4.5/5

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    Listen to the audiobook instead
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateApr 20, 2009
    ISBN9780007322602
    Author

    J. R. R. Tolkien

    J.R.R. Tolkien (1892–1973) was a distinguished academic, though he is best known for writing The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion, plus other stories and essays. His books have been translated into over sixty languages and have sold many millions of copies worldwide.

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    Reviews for The Hobbit

    4.5/5

    23,371 ratings554 reviews

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    • 4/5
      "There is more in you of good than you know [...] Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."
      This was a fun adventure, and I really enjoyed it! While not my favorite children's fantasy, it was a fantastic introduction into Tolkien's world, and I am very excited to explore it more in his adult works.
    • 4/5
      I originally reviewed this book on my blog - The Cosy Dragon. For more recent reviews by me, please hop over there.The Hobbit is a classic book, a sort of prequel to the Lord of the Rings. Bilbo Baggins is the sort of hobbit that doesn't want to have adventures, but they come to him anyway. He is recruited as the thief for stealing dwarfish treasure back from a dragon! Nevermind that Bilbo has never left his comfortable hobbit hole before!The Hobbit is like a children's version of the Lord of the Rings in a way. At the same time, some of the material from it is very useful for understanding that trilogy, while having read the trilogy before also adds information to this one, particularly the references to the elves. I'd recommend reading both together, but if you don't have the stamina for the Lord of the Rings, give The Hobbit a go anyway.It's difficult for me to be objective about this book because it is such a classic. I have to say that the book's style of description didn't really draw me in. I continued reading mainly out of a sense of duty, because I just couldn't get attracted to the characters, which is a very important element for me. As the book progressed however, I really wanted to see how they would achieve things, and so I went on! It's not a bad book by any means, the plot line is interesting and Bilbo is believable and laughable as a character, it's just the style of excessive detail doesn't really do it for me. What stands out to me about this book is Tolkien's awareness of his reader, and the way that the text is addressed to the reader in order to make it more personal.I originally listened to this as a talking book while painting Lord of the Rings style Warhammer figurines. I'm pretty sure it was read by a full cast, and so it was really enjoyable. Nevertheless, on this reading of it I found that I didn't really remember anything from the talking book. I own two different copies of this book, the one above and also one that has a plain cover.I believe that this is being made into a movie that will be released soon. I really enjoyed the movies of the Lord of the Rings, even though I had read the books (an exception to what I usually find), and so I will hopefully get to see this one on the big screen!I would recommend this book for teenagers, adults and children. Although there are some scary sections, overall the book is very family friendly. Who doesn't love hobbits?
    • 5/5
      Another set text. This is like the foreword of LOTR. If you like a magical epic journey about bravery and friendship, this is the one book you are looking for.
    • 5/5
      What can one say? A charming children's book for adults, with hints of darker things to come in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
    • 5/5
      I'm generally not a big fan of sci-fi/fantasy works, but I enjoyed the literature AND the performance of the audio-book version immensely.
    • 1/5
      Not my kinda book....I have to keep writing so that the review will stick in the mind of the computer that makes such decisions. Made a pretty good movie.
    • 3/5
      The story (and history) of this book is well-known; it drew heavily on the author's academic research, his wartime experiences and spawned a far more serious trilogy of blockbuster fantasy novels that themselves threw off seemingly a thousand imitators. What can be said about this novel that's not been said before?Well, I would contend that were it not for the circumstance of its origin, it would be fairly unremarkable. The style betrays its origin as a tale told to children in the 1930s, because there are recurrent authorial asides that a father would use. Many of them would not survive a modern editorial blue pencil; they don't just speak directly to the reader, they tell the reader exactly how they are supposed to think and feel at that point.Description is otherwise good and only slightly archaic for the modern reader. Characterisation is a different matter. I first read this book more than fifty years ago and had not picked it up since. But I had seen the Peter Jackson films, and they made it impossible not to see the characters as the depictions from those films. So I came away from the novel thinking the dwarfs excessively petulent, argumentative and unpleasant to each other as well as to Bilbo, something the films improved upon.Other differences I noticed were that the narrative in the films was adjusted to 'retcon' The Lord of the Rings. I see nothing wrong in this; this novel represents a far earlier vision of Tolkien's Middle Earth than the later trilogy accessed, Having made a detailed film version of the later books, Peter Jacksion could not have filmed The Hobbit as is; too many pointers to later events exist in the earlier book. Anyone coming to The Hobbit from the films has to understand this.One thing that I noticed - and this is possibly my science-fiction reader's critical examination of world-building coming in here - is that I kept seeing signs throughout the book (but especially in the Hobbiton segments) that somewhere there was a reasonably high-technology society hiding in full view. Because Tolkien started this tale as a story for his children, he kept putting into the descriptions of everyday life things the children would have been familiar with - kitchen utensils, crockery, kettles and all the other manufactured things that we take for granted in most normal houses. I thought this might just be in the films, but they are there in the novel as well. We have no idea where Bilbo Baggins gets his wealth from, either, but we are not supposed to think that he is stupendously rich - he is depicted as fairly solidly middle class - and he has the things that any middle class household would have, crafted in reasonable quantity and quality. Dwarvish or Elven metalsmithing is talked about often, but that ls reserved for making swords, chain mail and high-value fine craft objects. Elven swords, indeed, are sufficiently rare as to be given names, suggesting that they have been created by individual masters like Japanese katanas; but everyday items seem to exist in quantity and made at a reasonable price (though Bilbo's silver spoons do become an item of contention with his socially aspirational relatives!).If we look at hobbit society, there are a number of trades that can only reasonably exist in a fairly well-established society where there is surplus income; there are butchers who sell bacon and pork pies (instead of mere vendors of meat), there are solicitors and there are auctioneers. And as for the existence in Middle Earth of coffee...There are also a number of scenes in the book which would never have made it to the screen because there was just too many effects needed, even for Peter Jackson's vision; Gandalf's obsession with blowing multi-coloured and highly mobile smoke rings would have required too many effects inserting for no good reason; perhaps more noticeable were the scenes where the Dwarvish Party try to gatecrash the Wood Elves' alfresco feast, only to have it vanish and reappear in a different part of Mirkwood, which may have been too much effort to depict for their role in the narrative, or possibly would have made the pacing too disjointed, being partially interleaved with the spider scenes. This may equally be the reason why the Jackson films - all of them - rather back-pedal on actually showing Gandalf as a powerful magic user; watch the films at all objectively and you begin to wonder just how much magic Gandalf actually uses, whereas in The Hobbit, there are plenty of instances where he demonstrates his abilities; though to be fair, Tolkien does not use Gandalf's powers as a "get out of jail free" card.There is much use in the novel of the folkloric tropes of shape-shifting and communicating directly with animals through speech, either the animals using "human" speech or certain characters understanding animal speech. This is barely mentioned in the films, and possibly only alluded to. Perhaps we are now too literal-minded to accept this as the legitimate use of a folkloric device.The films also re-used visual effects and designs from the later trilogy; in particular, the Wargs were a different creature altogether in the films, whilst the goblins are rendered as orcs to a greater degree. Overall, it ended up with the novel giving the impression of being a sketch for Tolkein's later work. Some of the later characters amongst the Men of Laketown are little more than walk-ons in the novel, but are fleshed out in the films; and the Battle of the Five Armies is described in about five pages in the novel; it occupies about the last quarter of the third film.So after all that, what do I think of The Hobbit? I'm glad that I've re-read it, and I shall look forward to re-reading The Lord of the Rings in due course - but I'm not going to rush to push LoTR any further up the reading pile. And I don't expect to re-read The Hobbit soon. If it were not for its fame, I would not really have had this on the 'to be read' pile at all and I doubt I would have felt I'd missed much.
    • 3/5
      DNF at least 4 times
    • 3/5
      Bilbo Baggins was sitting outside of his house one fine spring day when Gandalf appeared. The adventure begins.
    • 5/5
      A great fantasy story. a very nice mix, with thrills, fights, escapes and humour: not too whimsical - just enough.
    • 4/5
      More of a children's fare than the pregnant Lord of the Rings. Good adventure story, great introduction the master's thesis.
    • 5/5
      FAB!!! One of my favourites...
    • 3/5
      Short simple entertaining fantasy novel. ( a bit over rated but )
    • 4/5
      The saga begins, a hobbit called Bilbo Baggins finds a ring.
    • 4/5
      What can I say that hasn't already been said about "The Hobbit?" This edition, however, is well bound and includes Tolkien's own illustrations.
    • 5/5
      For optimal pleasure, read this book out loud to a group of young children. Excellent in every way!
    • 5/5
      Greatest story ever told.
    • 5/5
      loved this book when i was about fourteen, recommended for all youngsters.
    • 4/5
      Prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, these books are written for a younger audience.
    • 4/5
      A very different tone from Lord of the Rings, though clearly it prepares you for the trilogy. This edition, while beautiful, actually has some typographical errors.
    • 5/5
      Probably one of my all time favourite books.
    • 3/5
      This was a small paperback I read for English class during one of my years of high school. Quite good despite the very disappointing movie that was made of it.
    • 5/5
      Decent illustration, quality binding,
    • 3/5
      Well it was what everyone told me it would be. Not Lord of the Rings, but something else that's just ok. When I think about this book as a separate entity to the Lord of the Rings series, it's still a solid fantasy story. The only problem is, I only picked this up because I missed Lord of the Rings. The Hobbit doesn't necessarily give me the relief I was looking for. I only felt let down that I wasn't reading about the characters I loved.
    • 4/5
      I must have spent my childhood and adolescence skim-reading most of the literature I was introduced to, gaining impressionist pictures of those works but missing much of the subtlety of language, characterisation and narrative. Having taken it on myself to begin re-reading those books with more attentiveness, 'The Hobbit' is one of those I've chanced on.The first insight I got is that Tolkien's prose changes from whimsical to saga-like over the course Bilbo's journey there and back again. Despite the revisions he made to two subsequent editions (I read the most common 1966 third edition), the avuncular approach he takes at the opening, very reminiscent of the tone of the posthumously published 'The Father Christmas Letters', sits ill at ease with descriptions of casualities in battle and the more serious and earnest language at the end; revisions clearly haven't reconciled the two approaches.The next insight was a reminder from studies I'd previously read of how 'The Hobbit' could be viewed retrospectively as a practice run for 'The Lord of the Rings'. The plot and narrative elements are similar, among them being the hobbit on a quest, fellowship, troll glade, Rivendell, mountain tunnels, Gollum, Gandalf's disappearance, wood elves, spiders, beseiged habitations, climactic battle near a desolate mountain, intervention by eagles, and the giving up of a precious object. There are numerous differences, of course, but by the time Tolkien came to the trilogy he was clearly determined to make the secondary world he'd created more coherent and more fleshed out without simply retelling 'The Hobbit'. But he clearly didn't want to jettison the arc of the storyline that had pleased him in the earlier tale, which means that the inherent conflicts in storytelling style of 'The Hobbit' are made even more obvious. The rather perfunctory ending contrasts with the solemn and more satisfying conclusion of 'The Lord of the Rings' describing the Scouring of the Shire and the Ringbearers' final journey.This edition features Tolkien's own rather quaint illustrations. While no-one would claim that there was huge artistry involved (the line drawings in particular are not well finished) their stylisation and frequent symmetry add to the otherworldly character of the tale and help inform us of Tolkien's creative intentions in structuring the narrative.We come now to the songs with which Tolkien peppers the text. There is much to admire in his cunning alliterations, rhymes and use of metre, modelled on Middle and Old English examplars, and I don't want to deny the artistry involved. But, like his drawings, their formality is, for me at least, a barrier to really liking them, and I am perplexed by his suggestions that elves, dwarves and goblins were able to improvise such crafted songs on the spur of the moment. However, these songs would benefit from being set to modal melodies in a folk or medieval style; I am not a fan of the Donald Swann settings but, as Tolkien likes to appeal to the senses, including sympathetically composed melodic counterparts to the verses could add immeasurably to this reader's enjoyment. 'The Hobbit' is certainly not a masterpiece. A pioneering work, yes, that broke the mould for children's literature and created a template for much post-war fantasy writing; and though flawed definitely a thrilling adventure story that flies once it gets off the ground.
    • 5/5
      I love this classic. Bilbo Baggins is taken from his quiet home in the Shire to find out the nature of a shiny object with a strange power. He ends up going on a quest with his friends to follow the guidance of the Wizard Gandolf. Gandolf helps him become a well-repected hero who longs for adventure. There are hobbit s, elves, magic, and don't forget dragons! A must-read, even after the movie.-Breton W Kaiser Taylor
    • 3/5
      My 8th grade son loves all things Tolkien. He’s been after me to read the Lord of the Rings triolgy forever even though I’ve told him multiple times that I don’t care for fantasy. Plus, I’ve seen all of the LOTR movies and I didn’t understand a single thing that happened in any of them.I agreed to read The Hobbit as a compromise, primarily because it’s shorter and would take away less of my reading time. I wanted to read at least a little something by Tolkien because I thought it was really sweet of him to want to share books he loved with me. He was really excited when I told him I’d read The Hobbit.I’m sorry to say that reading it did not make me like fantasy more. I really liked the parts with Gollum but I found the rest confusing and it just didn’t hold my interest very well. I found myself putting it down for long stretches at a time. Regardless, I’m glad I read The Hobbit so that I have a better idea of what Tolkien is all about. I also like being able to talk about books with my son since we’re both big readers.He recently had to read To Kill a Mockingbird for school. I reread it myself so that we could discuss it. That’s much more my speed and luckily, he liked it too.I know I’m in a very small minority of people who don’t love Tolkien. If you like fantasy, you should probably read this book.
    • 5/5
      I had forgotten how chatty Tolkien's narrator was, much more suitable for children or early teens (considering the content).
    • 4/5
      Although at first I was not a fan of the style of writing, I eventually grew to enjoy this book. I enjoyed Bilbo and his adventures and was happy to see him safely home. Yes I am a day early finishing for #lotrchapteraday but I just couldn't help myself at the end. I will hold off for a day to start up the next book though to get back on track. 🌟🌟🌟🌟
    • 4/5
      I'm a little ashamed that it took me this long to read The Hobbit. I actually read the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy in a week during one summer in high school. Admittedly, after being obsessed with the movies. (Mmmm Legolas!) However, I just never got around to this little (ha!) prequel until now.The Hobbit definitely seemed like a much quicker read. I was expecting to pore over this one for a while as I had pretty much spent that week in high school glued to the couch, reading during every waking moment. (Non-waking moments were full of dreams about kicking Gimli off the horse and snuggling Orlando Bloom-elf into Gondor.) I almost felt like it was rushed, even though there was a lot of action involved. Perhaps, this is because we follow Bilbo, the thirteen dwarves, and Gandalf for the whole story instead of having it split into groups of characters doing different tasks.It was definitely fun to adventure back into Middle Earth in a less Sauron-y time. It featured new creatures like trolls, goblins, gross spiders, and wood elves, but still had the beloved Gollum along the way. (My precciiiiooouusss!) There were many moments of peril which kept the book exciting and fast-paced. Even though it was a long journey, the book glazed over the uneventful days to keep the story from dragging.What got me disappointed was that it was set up from the beginning that Bilbo was to kill the dragon, Smaug. Right? I mean, it seemed as though that was heavily alluded to throughout. Even one of the trailers for the movie seemed to foreshadow this. But - without extensive spoilers (although, if you haven't read or seen the movie and are going to get mad about any slight spoiler you're even more behind than me so get with the program!) - he doesn't. Sure he kind of plays a hand in it, but what the heck! Greatest underdog story ever wasted. Maybe Tolkien didn't want to overshadow Frodo, but poor Bilbo seemed to do most of the hard work with none of the reward. (Sure he got some reward, but not hero status!)Then, at the end it just kind of petered out to a boring way home (boring for the reader, relieving for Gandalf and Bilbo).While it wasn't as exciting as the trilogy (and lacked Legolas), it was still a short (ha! again), fun adventure. Besides my griping, I enjoyed it and now really want to not move from my couch for three days as I marathon all the movies.