The Hobbit, or There and Back Again in All Challenges All The Time

Nov 29, 2009 Carrie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mgr, favorites, 4-and-a-half-to-5-stars, fantasy, classics, re-read, j-r-r-tolkien, need-to-re-read, m-g, hmd

This re-read was just as wonderful this time around.

10 likes · Like · see review

Dec 21, 2008 Michelle Stockard Miller rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: owned, re-reads, read-in-2012, classics-club

Another book that deserves more justice, but no time so just a few thoughts. This was actually a reread for me. I read it when I was a girl. What a difference 30 something years makes. This is such a wonderful adventure, which I remember, but reading it at this age made me really appreciate it more and appreciate the genius of Tolkien's writing. It also brought me back to Middle-Earth. I've been missing it. It has been about 10 years since I read The Lord of the Rings. A reread will be in order ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Feb 06, 2009 Marla rated it it was ok

Shelves: audiobook, young-adult, middle-school, juvenile, fantasy, classics, zz-2009, overrated, barely-finished, movie-better-than-book

Tooooo loooooonng.

2 likes · Like · see review

May 22, 2010 Malin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, cbr5

This is the first time I read The Hobbit myself. Many years ago, while the husband was still my boyfriend, he discovered that while I had read The Lord of the Rings several times, and in more than one language (Norwegian, then English), I had never actually read The Hobbit. I was never a huge fan of the long preface that explained about hobbits in The Lord of the Rings, and frankly am one of the many people who think the first stretch of book, where they walk and walk and nearly get eaten by a t This is the first time I read The Hobbit myself. Many years ago, while the husband was still my boyfriend, he discovered that while I had read The Lord of the Rings several times, and in more than one language (Norwegian, then English), I had never actually read The Hobbit. I was never a huge fan of the long preface that explained about hobbits in The Lord of the Rings, and frankly am one of the many people who think the first stretch of book, where they walk and walk and nearly get eaten by a tree and then walk some more (before Aragorn shows up, frankly) is dreadfully boring, and I didn't really see why I'd want to read a kid's book all about hobbits. More fool me, right?

Having already spent several pleasant weeks reading The Wind in the Willowsto me, the now husband decided to read me The Hobbit. At the time, I was living in Edinburgh and he was still at University in St. Andrews, so we didn't see each other more than every other weekend or so. It meant that the reading took quite some time, but was totally worth it. Read out loud a chapter or two at time every time we saw each other, I totally fell in love with the story of the book (even though it features NO women whatsoever - seriously Tolkien, I still hate you for your lack of female characters).

Do I really need to summarise the plot, what with the movie being in the cinemas and all right now (don't get me started on why they needed to make a nearly 3 hour movie to adapt 94 pages of book, by the way, it'll get ugly). Here you go, one paragraph:

Bilbo Baggins is a staid little hobbit living a life of relative comfort who gets whisked away on an action-packed and frequently dangerous adventure with a band of mostly merry dwarfs, on a quest to reclaim their ancient home and treasure from a big and evil (but totally super cool) dragon. Along the way Bilbo finds a ring that will become really significant later in Middle Earth history, and discovers that he is braver and cleverer than many people thought.

Upon re-reading, I discovered some things I had completely forgotten. Bilbo is cooler than I remembered, and Smaug is pretty awesomely evil. I had no recollection of what a greedy and selfish douche Thorin was though. Seriously, dude, mountain full of gold and you won't share a tiny bit with the people whose village was destroyed and who helped you actually secure your treasure. For shame. Also, most of the dwarfs really are nothing more than a string of names, with no characterisation whatsoever. They're just an interchangeable band of dudes with beards, and pretty useless the lot of them. When they're not being rescued by Gandalf, it's Bilbo who has to save the day. These things took away a bit of my enjoyment. It's still a cool story though, made all the better because not all the walking is described in as much detail as in The Lord of the Rings. ...more

Like · see review

Nov 05, 2023 Shan ~A~ rated it liked it

Shelves: borrowed-libby, fantasy, books-i-own, audio, in-series-or-trilogy, kindle-unlimited, fae, witches, music, dragons-no-shifter

High fantasy novels have never been my thing, and this was no exception, but I can see why people love this story.

You have an average, everyday joe who gets to go on this grand adventure.

Bilbo is completely taken out of his comfort zone, and he embraces it, and overall, the experience changes him for the better.

I have to say that I'm glad I watched the Lord of the Rings films before trying to delve into any of the books, because I most likely wouldn't have continued or wanted to give the worl ...more

Like · see review