Materpiece of Children's Literature | The Hobbit: 70th Anniversary Edition

Sets the Standard for Children's Fantasy Literature | The Hobbit: 70th Anniversary Edition | J.R.R. Tolkien

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	• The Hobbit: 70th Anniversary Edition J.R.R. Tolkien Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2007 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 1879 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The Hobbit (Collector's Edition)

'The Hobbit, Or There and Back Again' is a fascinating fantasy/adventure book by the genius and well respected author J.R.R. Tolkien. The story gives you a gifted insight about what happened way before Frodo Baggins began his journey with the fellowship of nine companions to Mt. Doom in Mordor. Bilbo Baggins' journey to help reclaim hoarded treasure deep inside the Lonely Mountain is very interesting as it leads to events later discussed in 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy. In some ways this makes Bilbo's adventure with Gandalf the wizard and thirteen dwarves a little more interesting than his nephew's own perilous journey. Bilbo's finding of the One Ring of Power is revealed in this book when the hobbit unexpectedly stumbles into the creature Gollum's dark cave. The White Counsil's confrontation with Sauron in Mirkwood at Dol Guldor, though a little brief, is also revealed in this tale. Sauron is known in this book as "The Necromancer": a feared being who's evil and malice spreads all across Mirkwood Forest. My favorite heroic character in this book is Thorin Oakenshield who seeks revenge against the dragon Smaug. A little greedy: but what dwarf isn't, he is known to his race as a noble individual who seeks the lost Arkenstone said to still be inside the Lonely Mountain amognst a large pile of hoarded treasure the ferocious dragon still lays upon. My favorite villain would definately have to be Smaug the Golden. The story describes him to be an almost invincible fire-breathing winged dragon who is feared by all who live close to the mountain he raided from the dwarves many years ago and kept for his own domain. The moral of this story is learning the consequences of what glittering gold and greed does. War and grief is the end result in this story. This reflects upon some of the regions in our own world today. 'The Hobbit, Or There and Back Again' is more than just a childrens fantasy tale. It is in fact a book for all ages and is a very exciting story for anyone who wants to read an adventure story that offers some suspense that will keep you reading for hours at a time. This prelude to the highly successful 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy is a must read for anyone wanting to read about fantasy characters such as: wizards, dwarves, elves, goblins, trolls, dragons, etc. If you like good fantasy/adventure stories then 'The Hobbit, Or There and Back Again' is just for you. It was one of my favorite books as a kid and still is to this day. If you are going to purchase this book then try and buy the Collector's Edition. It has a nice green leather cover and is equiped with some nice paintings/illustrations from author J.R.R. Tolkien himself. The book itself comes in a nice green leather case as well.

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Materpiece of Children's Literature

The Hobbit was first published by J.R. Tolkin in 1937. It tells a tale of high adventure, undertaken by a company of dwarves and a rather unlikely (and somewhat unwilling) Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins, who would rather have been sitting in his easy chair at home watching his tea kettle come to a boil than be off in search of gold and jewels guarded by a very much alive and deadly dragon. Along the way, this band of travelers enjoy some good fellowship around the campfire, as well as run into some trolls, goblins, elves, and giant spiders. The story takes place about 60 years before the story of The One Ring.

While written as a story for his children, the tale ultimately has an objective, and that is to teach children that unbridled lust and greed, coupled with obsession, can have diasterous consequences. Here it is shown in Thorin's lust for gold and precious jewels. His unwillingness to do what is right and just leads to a World War in Middle Earth, with all the major powers and some of the minor ones taking part. Ultimately, it leads not only to his own death, but to the death's of his sister's children and to the deaths of uncounted thousands of other dwarves, elves, goblins, men, and other creatures.

The version I am reviewing is the Kindle edition, made available on April 19th, 2009. It is remarkably free of typographical errors. It is also illustrated, in black and white of course. Though the drawings are not too useful on the Kindle 2, they may be useful when viewed on the Kindle DX, because they are full page illustrations. Here you are on your own, for I cannot say with certainty that it would be so.

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Sets the Standard for Children's Fantasy Literature

The Hobbit, like The Chronicles of Narnia, defines the standard for children's fantasy literature. Bilbo is one of the endearing hobbit-folk who populate Tolkien's imaginative world of Middle Earth. One day he is compelled by the wizard Gandalf to leave his comfortable home and set out with thirteen dwarves on quest whose ramifications he does not fully understand but in which he will play a crucial role as the group faces monstrous orcs, giant spiders, wolves, and worse, until finally Bilbo comes face to face with the dread dragon Smaug. Throughout his adventures, Bilbo's true character emerges and the reader comes to understand that underneath his soft exterior there is a steely center of courage and the will to do what is right.

Tolkien's works have attained classic status through their excellent story quality, deeply coherent story world, and a perceptive eye toward human nature. Christian thinkers especially appreciate that Tolkien's stories, while not allegorical, are firmly rooted in a Christian view of the world.

The Hobbit forms an important prelude to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, but is written for a younger audience and is a better choice for reading aloud, since its prose is simpler and includes enjoyable repetitive elements in its storytelling style.

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I *finally* got around to reading this classic...

Normally this wouldn't have made my reading list... J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit: or There and Back Again. I was well aware of Tolkien's books, but I wrote them off because "I don't do fantasy." Elfs, dwarfs, hobbits... just not my thing. But I'm also a techno-geek, and as such the Lord of the Rings books and movies are required in order to maintain your geek cred membership card. I 'fessed up on Twitter that I hadn't read any of them, and immediately was pilloried by my peers... Then I was subjected to the debate as to whether Hobbit or LOTR should be read first. My peers even went so far as to send me BOTH of them via mail (thank you, ladies). Since I had both at the same time, I decided to start with Hobbit.

Having explained the backstory as to *why* I read this, the question becomes did I enjoy this. And the answer is yes, I enjoyed it very much. Bilbo Baggins was quite human in his personality, and I could relate to his struggle between wanting to be left alone vs. living up to the expectations that others had of him. Watching him go from a timid hobbit afraid to do much of anything to a leader able to stand up to anything others could throw at him was something you could definitely learn from. And of course, his traveling companions mirrored much of society... totally behind you when you have something they want, but also ready to throw you under the bus moments later if fortunes turn.

My friends didn't tell me until after I was done that this is technically considered a "children's" book. Could have fooled me. :) I enjoyed it, and it was probably the best way to get my mind wrapped around the LOTR concepts and imagery (since it's not a normal genre for me). We'll see how well I fare when I get to the "adult" version of the stories. But at least I conditionally have my geek cred card back...

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An 11-year-old's review

When I first picked up this book at the bookstore, with my parents, I didn't know what to expect. I decided to get The Hobbit because of its immense popularity. Being 7 years old at the time, this was one of my first 300+ page chapter books. The introduction was simple enough: A hobbit named Bilbo Baggins was sitting lazily outside his hobbit hole, with a long pipe, when the wizard, Gandalf, came by. Our first exposure to Gandalf is quite a bit different however. "Gandalf came by. Galdalf! If you heard only a quarter of what I heard about him, and I have only heard very little of what there is to hear, you would be prepared for any sort of remarkable tale." To the reader, Bilbo Baggins seemed the lazy type -- content with his quiet life, baking seedcakes, smoking pipes, and living in his father's enormous hobbit hole. One must question Gandalf's motives for choosing such a person to go on a daunting quest. The "daunting quest" is helping 13 dwarves, including the great Thorin Oakensheid, recapture their gold from the dragon, Smaug. Smaug smashed down on the merry village of Dale, utterly destroying the village itself, eating up all its inhabitants, and (to add insult to injury) taking all of the gold and moving it into the Lonely Mountain. Thorin himself was the grandson of The King Under the Mountain, and so was even more outraged at this attack. After eating most of his food, the dwarves sang a song, which made Bilbo feel many adventurous things. Hobbits do not normally even appreciate this type of music. Bilbo must use all of the qualities he never knew he had (i.e., bravery, wisdom, ingenuity, and unselfishness). Along the way, a major part of the book takes place in Bilbo's legendary meeting with Gollum, a peculiar underground creature who calls himself "My Precious". Here Bilbo picks up a magic ring that gives the wearer the power of invisibility. Now, to fully understand the curiousness of a hobbit going on an adventure, you may want to know details about them. Hobbits are half the height of humans, love to eat, dress in bright colors such as green and yellow, live in holes in the ground, and hate adventures or anything that is unpredictable. The Tooks are an exception to this, and are the unpopular relations of the Bagginses. This is why Bilbo has his "Tookish" side. Another amazing part is Bilbo's memorable confrontation with Smaug. I would recommend this book for all ages. As this was also the intended age, since J.R.R. Tolkien wrote this book for his children (unlike the darker, yet still fabulous Lord of the Rings). And many other children will probably also enjoy this book. Lastly, I have to say that my soft cover edition of The Hobbit has lasted four years, an amazing feat for a soft cover book.

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