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The Hobbit

By J.R.R. Tolkien

(1149)

| Audio Cassette | 9780007141821

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The Hobbit By J.R.R. Tolkien

In 1952, two young New York women, just out of college, started Caedmon records and, in effect, launched the commercial spoken word recording industry. Now a division of HarperAudio, Caedmon is still "putting great voices to great books" and still go ... (read full critics)

bookpage published on Tue, 14 Sep 2010

Top 50 Sci-Fi of the Last 50 Years Share

The Science Fiction Book Club celebrate their 50th anniversary by selecting " The Most Significant SF & Fantasy Books of the Last 50 Years, 1953-2002" The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr. The Caves of St ... (read full critics)

blogcritics published on Mon, 3 Mar 2003

36 Reviews

5 people find this helpful

The Hobbit - Inventor Of A Genre Still A Testament To Time

Long ago in elementary school one of the first 'chapter' novels I ever read (I was so proud at the time I recall), was one entitled The Hobbit.
I remember just loving the story but always being hungry and wishing I always had snacks around, but nothing much other than that (It's been so long). ... (continue)

Long ago in elementary school one of the first 'chapter' novels I ever read (I was so proud at the time I recall), was one entitled The Hobbit.
I remember just loving the story but always being hungry and wishing I always had snacks around, but nothing much other than that (It's been so long).
Now, due to the fact that everyone around me seems to be hyped about the new Lord Of The Rings film and is reading the series, I decided to GASP! Go with the flow and start them as well (I have never read The Lord Of The Rings). I however, need completion when I read a series, so I decided to reread The Hobbit because well, I remembered nothing about it.
Now I do! Oh boy, it's a good thing I read it around Christmas because at least this time I was able to stuff myself every time a halfling (a more widely used term for Hobbit these days it appears) has a cake, or second breakfast, etc.
Bilbo Baggins is the hobbit in question's name and it's one that I have never forgotten since I first read it, even if I did forget exactly what he did.
When I started off on this adventure for the second time I was wary that perhaps it could be a little to childish nowadays for my liking. I have read the Chronicles of Narnia a second time later in life as well and found them a little to easy to read, but they were enjoyable.
At first I initially wasn't impressed. Bilbo, the wizard Gandalf, and a bunch of dwarves (not dwarfs), set out to steal back gold taken by a dragon named Smaug. A decent amount of pages in and it was just this little group travelling along, complaining, eating, and being watched over by Gandalf. I thought to myself, this is actually a pretty boring premise. Where is the grandeur? Where is the honourable quest (stealing gold doesn't do it for me)? Where is the heroism? That soon changed.
It took a little while, but eventually the group's guardian, Gandalf leaves. It is the up to these inexperienced dwarves along with a very inexperienced hobbit to finish the task. One bad thing after another happens and surprise, surprise! Bilbo's courage grows (reluctantly perhaps, but it does) and he saves the day for the entire group and himself many a time.
Now the story is a good one. Now it has meaning. Readers get to read along, as the spoilt little homebody Bilbo grows as a person, becomes honourable, and heroic. It's a tale everyone should like.
As a prelude to the Lord Of The Rings, I don't really know how this fits in (I haven't read them, but I did see the first film and see some obvious ties of which I won't go into here) but it's still a very good read at any age. While my skeptical brain may not have been as lost in the world of Middle Earth as it once was when I was a child, The Hobbit still entertained me quite a bit.
The Hobbit and the rest of Tolkien's works are stunning when you sit back and think of it. Sure the novels read a little like really well written Dungeons and Dragons books, but these were the first! There was nothing similar to The Hobbit back then. Tolkien invented 'orcs' and many other fantasy specifics that fantasy writers have used time and again.
The Hobbit and Tolkien created a genre, which many have expanded upon and perhaps improved upon, but they still stand the test of time as classic epic fantasy.

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CaptHowdy said on Sep 9, 2007 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

3 people find this helpful

Reread many many years after my first (and second and third etc...) reading and The Hobbit is still a wonderful read. It reads almost as if it was spoken, not written. Not as dense or detailed as the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but sets in motion the events of that trilogy.

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Cuzzin Todd said on Jan 9, 2008 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

3 people find this helpful

This is the class prequel to the LOTR trilogy. I never made it through the trilogy because I just thought The Hobbit was so much better! I read this for the first time in 5th grade. Its a great story - so fantastic and brilliant. It really is another world. One day I'll read the Trilogy... after I r ... (continue)

This is the class prequel to the LOTR trilogy. I never made it through the trilogy because I just thought The Hobbit was so much better! I read this for the first time in 5th grade. Its a great story - so fantastic and brilliant. It really is another world. One day I'll read the Trilogy... after I reread the Hobbit :)

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karattack said on Jan 4, 2008 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

Un libro senza tempo...inevitabile per gli amanti del signore degli anelli e del mondo Tolkeniano...merita i miei elogi

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Mario Mondini said on Feb 13, 2012 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

A beautiful classic and a must read for dreamers...

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jelabino said on Sep 5, 2011 about the Others edition | Add your feedback

1 person find this helpful

Well, this is a real Classic.
My first reading was so back in time that I could now almost fully re-enjoy the whole novel, ending included.
What really I couldn't remember from my first experience, which had been with the italian translated copy, is of the heavily childish prose, especially until ... (continue)

Well, this is a real Classic.
My first reading was so back in time that I could now almost fully re-enjoy the whole novel, ending included.
What really I couldn't remember from my first experience, which had been with the italian translated copy, is of the heavily childish prose, especially until the first half of the narration.
But it's not an issue, of course.
Masterpieces are issue-proof, that's a rule.

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Gingillo said on Aug 26, 2011 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback