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The Hobbit (1937) by J. R. R. Tolkien ⭐⭐⭐
I read the ebook version The Hobbit, the world’s first look at Middle Earth.
Most people know the story even if they haven’t read the book. I’ll tell you in a nutshell, anyway, if for some reason you don’t.
Bilbo, a little hobbit, is dragged out (reluctantly, might I add) on an adventure journey to help Thorin, leader of the dwarves, to reclaim his ancestral treasures. Only problem? It is really far away, and it is guarded by a fearsome dragon named Smaug. Along with 13 dwarves, they go on this mission and run into many hardships and dangers on the way. The party is 15 in all, including Gandalf.
I had a hard time getting through this book. I think it’s sometimes his writing style here, and probably because my brain was dazzled by how many characters are named in the story. There are many enjoyable parts of this book, though, and lots of humor, too. But I felt myself trudging through it. I didn’t like the battle scenes, (I never do, though) and the songs weren’t my favorite parts of the book, either.
But this isn’t enough to hate the book. It’s a great story, a classic adventure. What’s really amazing is Tolkien’s world building. This book was written before the others, so this was the first time that anyone had heard of a hobbit. He also alludes to the idea that they are real — that they’re just hiding from humans because they are shy. I always liked this in fantasy stories – it brings one more element of pretend into the mix.
I felt like in some parts it was a bit inconsistent in storytelling. It’s categorized as a children’s book, so sometimes it’s super childish. I imagined those parts to be very cartoony and goofy. Other times, not so much, describing violent deaths and battles. And before you start telling me that children’s stories were a lot more brutal back in the day, remember that this was first published in 1937, not 1837.
My problem with categorizing this as a children’s book is that when you picture a children’s book geared toward a child, you think the typical 8 to 10 year old would be reading it. I think this is geared more toward teenagers, and since they didn’t have the category of young adult back then, it was put in the children’s book section and has remained ever since. Yup, I do know that it was originally written to amuse his own children, but it feels like it was written for the older ones more than the younger ones.
I loved the parts with the spiders, Gollum, and Smaug. I thought these were well told, fun, and engrossing parts of the book. The conversation between Gandalf and Bilbo in the beginning is hilarious. This scene sets up Gandalf’s character extremely vividly, though, in my opinion, his appearances are not enough in this book. I loved the ‘good morning’ conversation they’re having. One of my favorite lines from Gandalf: “To think I should have lived to be ‘good morning’ed by Belladonna Took’s son, as if I was selling buttons at the door!”
My biggest criticism of the outline was how many people were in the group. SO many, and none of them had any discerning character traits, except maybe Bombur, who the narrator keeps reminding us is unusually rotund. They come mostly in pairs except for Bombur, and most of the names rhyme. I do understand that it’s written for younger readers, and names like Fili and Kili and Oin and Gloin are just supposed to be comic relief, but it’s a yikes from me on that one. (Although, I can’t really criticize the names on this one. Come to think of it, I totally have written silly stuff like that! Ok, I take it back. 😂)
This is another one that I wish I would have read as a kid. I wonder how I would have pictured the characters if I hadn’t already seen the movies? I couldn’t help picturing Bilbo as Martin Freeman or Gandalf as Ian McKellen. Of course, I pictured Gollum and Smaug the way they’re portrayed in the movies, too.
Even though I had mixed feelings about the book, I definitely still recommend this to people who love fantasy books or are interested at all in the lore of Middle Earth. It’s our introduction to hobbits, and who doesn’t love a hobbit?
Thanks for the review. It’s been quite awhile since I’ve read this, so there are a lot of details I don’t remember, but it did make a distinct impression. I thought Gollum was the most interesting (and creepiest) character. I would not regard it especially as a children’s book, but more of an adult fantasy—though I think many probably do think of more as the former.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels that way!