| The Hobbit | |
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Rating: Author: J.R.R. Tolkien Published: 1937 Series: The Lord of the Rings Review by: CL6 missMaul Order from amazon.com |
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Review:
Tolkien is back and hot again since his most famous trilogy has been made into 3 movies. (Though was he ever gone?) A new generation has started reading the books and so new reviews, written by this generation, must appear. Even though everyone knows you either hate or love books by Tolkien. I choose love so you probably already know what I’m going to write. I’m going to write it anyway.
The Hobbit starts with the famous first sentence that made Tolkien famous: "In a hole under the ground lived a hobbit." The name of the hobbit is Bilbo Baggins and he’s about to meet Gandalf who sets him off onto an adventure, Even though hobbits never have adventures. The next day, around tea time, thirteen dwarves arrive and with the last dwarves Gandalf as well. Gandalf told the dwarves that Bilbo is a burglar and that he will be off great use on their quest. And Bilbo finds himself going to the Lonely Mountain to claim a treasure that belongs to the dwarves but is taken by the dragon Smaug. It is not an easy journey especially when you take the fact that Bilbo is not good at being a burglar and almost gets them all killed by trolls right at the beginning off their journey. But his luck changes when they are captured by goblins in the Misty Mountains and he finds a ring. It belongs to a creature named Gollem and Bilbo needs to be very brave and smart to keep the ring and get away from Gollem. But he manages it due to the fact that this ring can make him invisible. And with this ring he can finally fulfill his job as a burglar. After Gandalf leaves the group Bilbo puts the ring to great use and saves his friends more than once. And he has many adventure before they even reach the Mountain. I will not tell more of the story and definitely not the ending. Though if you’ve seen the movie The Fellowship of the Ring you may know it. The Hobbit is a very enjoyable book with much excitement and enough changes to keep you on reading. Many people have complained they couldn’t get through the beginning, and I must admit it is hard. In the first chapter no less than fifteen characters get introduced. While many writers don’t do more than five and slowly explain the characters, here you just get them and the only one with some explanation is Bilbo. Don’t worry though, when you get through the first chapter things will get repeated. As for the fifteen characters, most off them eventually stay kind of flat and don’t need much explanation. The only ones that get worked out are Gandalf, Thorin (the leader of the dwarves) and of course Bilbo. Bilbo is the one you can relate to best. He is afraid at times - you would be too and tries the best he can and of course sometimes that isn’t good enough. He sticks up for his friends and gains their respect. You understand his choices and know his motivation. Thorin is the one who started the quest and wants the treasure the most, because it used to belong to his grandfather. He’s stubborn and has the most willpower. Gandalf stays the most vague, when you only have read The Hobbit he’s quite weird. He’s not really understandable. The rest of the dwarves, as I’ve said before, stay flat characters. Like Bombur, he’s the fattest of the dwarfs, therefore he has a bad condition and isn’t of much help. This is all you need to know from him. Much more information you don’t get from the other dwarves either. The Hobbit is of course an introduction to The Lord of the Rings. But it is much simpler and has less depth. Nice is to read to Hobbit again after you’ve read the Lord of the Rings. Then you are more familiar with Middle Earth, in which it takes place, and you understand much more of what seem to be side notes. And Gandalf is much more understandable and more fun to read about. So I think the Hobbit is a very good book. Just get through the beginning and there will be much to enjoy. Also read it when you’ve started with the Lord of the Rings (and maybe found those too difficult). So at least try The Hobbit, you might (and probably will) enjoy it.
Title: The Hobbit |
2/6/05
