Exploring J.r.r. Tolkien's "the Hobbit"

By Corey Olsen

"An admirable and thought-provoking consideration of the underlying themes of The Hobbit, following the there-and-back-again progress from its famous first line on through to Bilbo's return home at the story's end." -- Douglas A. Anderson, author of The Annotated Hobbit The Hobbit is one of the most widely read and best-loved books of the twentieth century. Now Corey Olsen takes readers deep within the text to uncover its secrets and delights.

Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” is a fun, thoughtful, and insightful companion volume designed to bring a thorough and original new reading of this great work to a general audience. Professor Corey Olsen takes readers on an in-depth journey through The Hobbit chapter by chapter, revealing the stories within the story: the dark desires of dwarves and the sublime laughter of elves, the nature of evil and its hopelessness, the mystery of divine providence and human choice, and, most of all, the transformation within the life of Bilbo Baggins. Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” is a book that will make The Hobbit come alive for readers as never before.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Sep 18, 2012
• ISBN: 9780547739670

Reviews for Exploring J.r.r. Tolkien's "the Hobbit"

[fouroffivewits · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Without a doubt Corey Olsen loves The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. Folk will often take the exploration of a story as finding underlying themes where there isn't any claiming "a cigar is sometimes just a cigar" but Corey Olsen's book takes what already exists in the text and makes it flourish under a scholarly eye. It's like watching a movie you've only seen on a standard television suddenly in a theatre or a large HDTV. Anyone that loves or merely likes the Hobbit will immediately upon finishing this book want to take the journey to the Lonely Mountain once again reading with a new appreciation of Bilbo's journey of balance between his courageous Tookish side and his wise Bagginish side.

[storyjunkie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A really nice chapter by chapter walk through of The Hobbit's major themes, context, artistic flourishes, and composition.

[cauplwl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Intended to be read as a companion to reading The Hobbit, and based on the author's experiences teaching a college-level course on the subject. It's an entertaining read, and serves its intended purpose well.

[sarah_buckley-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really, really liked this book. I have read The Hobbit many times since I first picked it up in the 6th grade and it is always a good time. I liked looking at it from a more in-depth and, maybe, scholarly perspective.

Corey Olsen takes an in-depth look at the themes and ideas that make up The Hobbit. As he goes through the book chapter by chapter, you (or at least I) forge a stronger connection to a story that seems quite simple on the surface. AT it's heart "The Hobbit" is a simple tale of a simple Hobbit leaving his safe home in the Shire and finding out he is braver than he ever suspected.

I first read this story in the seventh grade, on recommendation of a librarian. I loved it from the first moment until the last. By reading it, I discovered in myself a love of adventure that has never waned I quickly received the Lord of the Rings books for Christmas and The Silmarillion not long after. My love of all things Tolkien continues to this day.

I've been a fan of Corey Olsen since I found his podcast series (the Tolkien Professor). HE is endlessly fascinating and I am always interested in his analysis. He has brought a whole level of new understanding of Tolkien to my life and I am forever grateful. He brings his brand of good humor and interesting, in-depth looks into the world of The Hobbit and doesn't disappoint.

I think any fan of Tolkien, or Corey Olsen, should check out this book.

(Also, checkout his podcasts, they are really awesome!)

[br14kydw · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Are you a huge fan of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit? When reading did you wish the book would never end so you could always stay in the magical world of Middle Earth? Well if you are anything like me the answer to these questions would be a resounding yes. Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien’s the Hobbit is a book very true to its name. While reading Olsens novel you get to go even further in depth into the already astounding novel, you get to see the hidden meanings that the majority of readers missed while reading The Hobbit including myself. Olsen even goes through the Elves songs to find hidden secrets. After reading this novel I felt the need to go back and re-read my own copy of the classic and it was like reading a whole new book with my new found knowledge of the story. I found that Olsen's expertly analyzed each chapter. I found the book entertaining but it took me a while to get through it. Although his analysis was intriguing I found it a bit dry at times and had to struggle to finish the page, most likely because this is the first book i have read that has been examining another book. I thought his anilazations were superb but I had no previous knowledge of the genre to base it of of. Though it took me a while when I finished reading the novel I felt that it was better I did because it forced me to slow down and actually analyze the text. I would recommend this book to anyone who is a Hobbit fan and would like to explore it further.

[jen6e6moore · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I would rate it higher if I were not an avid reader of Tolkien academia - for someone new to the whole idea of analyzing the heck out of Tolkien, this would be an excellent introduction. Olsen follows several themes throughout the book, including Bilbo's dual nature as homebody and adventurer, or the role of luck in the story, as well as bringing up other points as they arise. He does read The Hobbit entirely independent of Lord of the Rings, but the more I read the book the more I think that's the best way to go about it.

[lycomayflower · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Olsen analyzes each chapter of The Hobbit and discusses six of the novel's central ideas as seen in that chapter: Bilbo's nature, Bilbo's choices, Burglar Bilbo, the desolation of the dragon, luck, and the writing of The Hobbit. Olsen writes clearly and with a passion for understanding the work that passes over to the the reader (not that it was a hard sell in my case), and he has some good insights into the novel--his discussions of the numerous songs in The Hobbit and his attention to the riddles themselves in the Riddle Game are of particular note. The structure of Exploring makes it easy to follow the development of Bilbo's character and to trace the ways Tolkien's often significant revisions of the story clarify Tolkien's vision of the world he created; however, it also lends Olsen's discussion a sense of repetition, particularly in the final chapters. Olsen provides a solid discussion of The Hobbit as a book (most other criticism on The Hobbit I've read considers only one aspect of the book (such as Biblo's internal journey) or works only to place the book within the scope of all of Tolkien's work), and I should think would be excellent read chapter-by-chapter along with The Hobbit itself.

[yolana_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien's the HobbitCorey OlsenHoughton Mifflin HarcourtCorey Olsen has made me aware of how very much I had underestimated The Hobbit. Bear in mind I have always loved the book but I had thought of it more as a children's fairy tale, that sat a bit apart from Tolkien's middle earth. Of particular interest for me was the attention given to the poems and songs, how they illustrate character development, the prophetic nature of many of them, and how they show the differences between the races of Middle-Earth.Olsen goes through The Hobbit chapter by chapter showing how Bilbo's warring Took and Baggins nature become reconciled and balanced by the end of the book. How he goes from falling haphazardly into adventure to actively shaping the adventure instead. He also gives great insight into Beorn, Bard, the Elvenking and the overcoming of dragon-sickness. One of my favourite chapters has always been the riddle game and Olsen's work on this chapter is wonderful. He examines each riddle in detail and what each one says about Gollum and Bilbo. All in all highly recommended for any fan of The Hobbit.