The Hobbit by
JRR Tolkien
Originally published in 1937 by George Allen &
Unwin (UK)
My
edition: My
mum’s battered and worn copy, published in 1975 by Unwin Paperbacks (pictured
above), complete with illustrations and maps drawn by Tolkien.
What’s
it about?
When the wizard Gandalf arrives
on the doorstep of Bilbo Baggins’ hobbit hole and asks him to travel to the
Lonely Mountain and raid the treasure hoard of Smaug, a very dangerous dragon,
Bilbo is launched out of his comfortable life in Bag End and into the midst of
treacherous journey that will change his life.
Why
now?
I saw and loved the first movie
when it came out last year and it pushed me to watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy for the first time and I decided I’d like
to read them. Now that I’ve finished uni I actually have the time to read them!
The
verdict:
I’ve always thought that The Hobbit was a book that I should
read, but I’d never actually wanted to read it until I saw the first part of
the adaptation in December. A hankering developed then and got stronger and
stronger as I watched the Lord of the
Rings for the first time (I’m way behind, I know) and then my housemate
read and raved about Bilbo and his epic journey. By the time I finally had the
time to indulge in some non-review/non-uni reading, I dove straight in. I’m
very glad I did, but I also really wish I had read this when I was around ten. It
would have been pure magic.
As it was, I struggled a little
at first. It felt like it took me forever to read and I wasn’t always
completely with the story though this was probably more down to my strange
relationship with high fantasy. It certainly wasn’t Tolkien’s gorgeous style, the
charming Bilbo, strangely alluring Thorin or the epic and exquisitely described
landscapes of Middle Earth; they were perfect. It just didn’t blow me away as I
was reading it, and I really kind of expected it to. I think I was also a
little bit disappointed about Smaug’s demise; it was a little anti-climactic
for me.
My favourite element of the
novel by far was the narrative voice. I loved the all-knowing, retrospective
narrator who sometimes jumped ahead and then pulled you back, hinted at things
and teased. I love that sense of direct contact with the storyteller. It gave
the novel a friendly voice and is probably one of the reasons why children and
young adults have been so thoroughly captured by The Hobbit. The growth and development of the characters felt a lot
more poignant through this form of
narration as well and I love how Thorin grew to respect Bilbo and the way that
Bilbo grew into his own. The way that he became brave, strong and a leader
warmed my heart.
Rather strangely, I also found
all of the songs and rhymes that are peppered throughout the novel rather
heart-warming, even though lots of them were about war and killing. I love a
good rhyme and the image of a group of dirty, bearded dwarves singing as they
march through a forest just brings back Snow
White and the Seven Dwarves memories that make me smile. They’re a great
way to break up the journey and give a real sense of the species that is singing
as there are so many that it can be a little daunting at first!
Speaking of daunting, some of
the spectacular scenes in The Hobbit must
have been so, so difficult to film and do justice to! There are quite a few
that I’m really excited to see on the big screen as I think they’ll be gorgeous
and rather epic: the Elevenking’s caves, travelling down the river in the
barrels and Smaug’s treasure horde. They are going to be spectacular.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Hobbit and I’ve already promised
myself that I’m going to read it aloud to my children to make sure they
experience Middle Earth at the time when they’ll love it the most.
Still
not convinced?
- It was nominated for the
Carnegie Medal when it was released in the 30s and was awarded a prize by the New York Herald Tribune for juvenile
fiction.
- The trailer for The Desolation of Smaug, the second film in The Hobbit trilogy, was
released a few weeks ago and has re-started Tolkien hysteria in the build up to
the movie release on December 13th.
Did
the film adaptation lead you to read The
Hobbit? Were you a fan before the films? Which scenes are you looking
forward to seeing on the big screen?
Sophie
My teacher read this to us when we were about 11 or 12 (so I didn't actually read it). I remember liking it. I've been thinking about 're-reading' it but also don't quite get on with much high fantasy. Think I'll give it a go.
ReplyDeleteRead this in year 5, can't remember anything apart from Biblo sneaking past the dragon - Jordan wants me to read it so much!
ReplyDeleteGreat blast from the past. We were assigned to read "The Hobbit" in sixth grade, but we were only given so many assignments and eventually, we just did away with reading it altogether. Will definitely look to return to it.
ReplyDelete