The Hobbit

Comfort read vibes

Jack's first books had to be a classic! What a fantastic story!

This was amazing! So sad that I haven't read this book when I was 12, I would love it even more.
Definetly it is the best for children, but it is still a great book

It's taken me some time to finish reading this book, but that's because I wanted to savor it. It is a re-read. I first read it when I was young, and now this is my third or fourth time. I adore the Lord of the Rings films by Peter Jackson though I haven't read those books. In reading The Hobbit I became more interested in the Tolkien lore and looked up random histories, such us that of Wormtongue. I think I will soon read the Lord of the Rings books, but not right away.

I can't really give a critical review of this book since I love the Tolkien stories so much. They're so grand to me, and I guess personal since my father loved them and passed them on to me and my sister in a way. Perhaps it's because I encountered them as a child. Perhaps it's because they're simply wonderful.

The Hobbit is a very straightforward adventure with lots of obstacles, some quite violent, getting in the heroes' path. But the subtitle is There And Back Again, and even without that, we know the ending will be a more-or-less happy one. What makes this particular story something to return to is the deep qualities and senses of each character and the richness of the physical world around them. If we took away the great breadth of the mythology of Middle-earth, this one little book is imaginative and fun, and profound in describing the significance of simple things like home and comfort. I will always return to it.

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Reading this was like coming home.

I am nicely surprised. And I know I shouldn't have been.
But I expected this book to be a simplistic children's story with not much substance (and I don't even know why I thought so).
It was so so much more! Yes, it is written for children and you can tell. But it can still give you joy and make you smile, whether you are 8 or a 108.
One more beautiful proof that Tolkien was made of magic. I am so thankful for his undying legacy!

So, if you haven't yet read The Hobbit, please do it. It will warm your heart.

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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WHAT'S THE HOBBIT ABOUT?
I suppose it's theoretically possible that in 2022 someone will be reading a book blog and not know the basics of this, right?

So a Hobbit (Bilbo Baggins) is recruited (quite presumptuously) by the wizard Gandalf to join a band of thirteen dwarves on their odyssey to sneak back into their territory which had been taken over by the dragon, Smaug. Their goal is to steal back the treasure (particularly an heirloom of the king's family, the Arkenstone). There's really no reason to think that Bilbo, who hates the idea of adventure and just wants to stay in his comfortable home all day (like 99.9997% of Hobbits) will make a capable burglar. But Gandalf insists on it, overrules the objections of the dwarves, and tricks Bilbo into accepting the role.

Along the way, they have various adventures—in addition to some nasty geographical features, they meet goblins, giants, trolls, freakishly huge talking spiders, a ware-bear, elves, and several others. Some of those are allies, many are not. Eventually, they reach the Lonely Mountain, face off against the dragon, find themselves in the middle of The Battle of Five Armies, and then (as the title implies) Bilbo goes back home.

THE NARRATION
I saw that Serkis recorded this and almost jumped immediately—but I made myself hold off until he did the follow-up trilogy. Well, that happened last fall, so after I wrapped up my Alex Verus re-listen, I moved on to this series. What a delicious listen!

Serkis does a great job bringing individual characters to life—and keeping them individual. A couple of times I wondered if he was doing a McKellen impression with Gandalf, but I talked myself out of it—ditto for the other characters. I thought his Smaug was excellent, too.

The moment that [name redacted out of habit, can't imagine I'm spoiling anything] turns on Bilbo was so well done that I felt something like surprise while I was waiting for it.

But the big question for me going in was how was he going to approach Gollum. Would he be prevented from duplicating the voice/characterization from the films in this format, because it wasn't owned by some film company or something? Or was Serkis just sick and tired of doing it and wanted to try another approach? Nope and nope. His audiobook Gollum sounded just like the movie Gollum and I could've listened to that section of the book on a loop for few times through. I just loved it. It almost didn't matter what he did the rest of the time.

I typically listen to audiobooks at more than 1.0x speed—it varies from book to book, narrator to narrator, genre to genre—what speed I use. Frequently, too, I'll start at something like 1.2 and then work my way up as I get used to a narrator/book. Not with this one—I wanted to soak in the performance. I don't think I made it more than a paragraph or two before I slowed to 1.0 and kept it there the whole time, I just really got into his performance (I'm not sure that I'll do that for LoTR, those are some long reads).

OOF, I REALLY SHOULD'E THOUGHT OF THIS BEFORE STARTING THE BOOK...
If you're reading, it's easy to skip and/or skim through the songs. If you're listening to an audiobook—unless you want to stop everything you're doing to focus on fast-forwarding just enough, you're stuck listening to them all.

Call me a Philistine if you will, but I just can't do the songs. And I consistently forget how many of them there are in this book. I tried, I really tried to pay attention, but I couldn't. I do think Serkis did a decent job carrying a tune with them. I'd love a Behind the Scenes look at how they decided on a tune for him to use.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT THE HOBBIT AUDIOBOOK?
I'm not the Tolkein-fanboy that I (and many acquaintances) would've assumed I am. This is only my third (complete) time through the book—I tried a handful of times in grade school, but couldn't make it through. I got some encouragement from a big fan in college to push through it so I could get to The Lord of the Rings, but didn't get around to it until the year before Jackson's LotR was released. I really enjoyed it then, and my appreciation grows in the re-reads. Serkis' work here moved that up a lot, too.

It's just a fantastic audiobook—any problems stem from the original text, not Serkis's performance—if anything he helped the text (not that it needed much). I can't wait to see what he does with LoTR, those books demand a bit more, and I'm confident he'll live up to expectations, now I just want to hear it for myself.

If you're at all curious about this, you should give it a shot—you'll be glad you did. If you have no curiosity about this—are you sure? Should you reconsider your position? This'd be a great way on family vacations or something to introduce younger readers to the series, I'd think.

Phew! What a ride!

I loved it! A lot of things happened. And I understand why some people would dislike this book. The grumbling and hungering for food does drag on a lot. But for me the ending was made up for it.

Well, I finally read this book! No, it didn't take me long to read it even though I read it a bit slow in purpose. But I wanted to read this book for quite some time. Now I did. With that out of the way, let's talk about this.
I'd say it was a 4.7 or 5, not sure. It wasn't the best book ever, but I didn't dislike anything about it either.
Many may be familiar with the plot in some ways but it's basically a bunch of dwarfs, a wizard Gandalf and a little hobbit who go into an adventure to retrieve the treasure they lost a long time ago, and now the dragon Smaug has it. So I loved Bilbo, he was a very MC, and how he kept wishing he was at home with some tea, it was adorable! Also, he was the hero who didn't want to be. He was chosen by the wizard Gandalf to go on this adventure for some reason, but he doesn't want to. But he really changes through his adventure. He actually becomes the main one of the group who is constantly saving them, having new ideas and plans. He becomes well known for the ring he has. Smaug wasn't really that bad, but still, he should die! Also, this book has a LOT of songs. Like elves and some other creatures sing a lot! Bilbo loves to sing too. There are also rhymes and riddles. The riddle battle between Bilbo and Gollum was very cool, I couldn't figure out the answers myself though.
Something that I found interesting was that this book is so old, it's made in the 30s and it's soo good! This book is like a narration from the author himself, it's unlike other books. Here the narrator seems to have been in the action too, and how he cuts some details because there's not enough time, it's very fun.
I gotta say this was pretty good! I was very happy with it. It's a chill one that didn't make me stressed or anything, it's so calm. I'd say it's good to be read in autumn/fall, it just has the vibes.
Go read it!!!

Esse livro me trouxe novamente a sensação de ser criança. Sinceramente não sei como dar uma nota pra ele, pois ao mesmo tempo que meu problema com ele é ele ser muito infantil, essa é a característica que mais me agrada.

What's left to be written about “[b:The Hobbit, or There and Back Again 5907 The Hobbit, or There and Back Again J.R.R. Tolkien https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1546071216l/5907.SY75.jpg 1540236]”, one of the great masterpieces of classic fantasy, written by the “founding father” of high fantasy, [a:J.R.R. Tolkien 656983 J.R.R. Tolkien https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1622832627p2/656983.jpg]?“The Hobbit” was lauded by Tolkien's friend and fellow author C. S. Lewis, by poet W. H. Auden, celebrated for its influence on the entire fantasy genre.To me, it was the metaphorical door to new worlds... I own both several physical copies as well as several ebook editions. I have read “The Hobbit” in both English and German.The one edition I value the most is a German paperback by “DTV” from November 1974 with the title (mis-)translated as “Der kleine Hobbit” (“The Little Hobbit”).It has a ridiculous cover featuring a squint-eyed Smaug with butterfly wings and a tiny spider in front of him. It's probably the worst cover in “The Hobbit”'s publication history. This very book, though, is the one my mother read about 35 years ago while we were on holidays in the middle of nowhere in the Bavarian Forest. I asked her what she so concentratedly read and she showed me the cover - I was appalled! A children's book, obviously! And she even recommended it to me! To me! Someone who had OBVIOUSLY outgrown childhood at my advanced age of... ten!I harrumphed and condescendingly told her I had more serious things to do - like beheading the advancing army of stinging nettles with my stick-sword or fighting the fly amanita invasion!Only after my mother likened the house of our relatives which we were visiting to Elrond's home (which wasn't too far off the mark!), after her telling me about the dark depths of Mirkwood, only after all of that did I take her up on her offer and read “The Hobbit” for the first time.This is how I opened the doors to (high) fantasy for myself and Tolkien was followed by [a:Terry Brooks 9629 Terry Brooks https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1280785812p2/9629.jpg], [a:Robert Jordan 6252 Robert Jordan https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1538507642p2/6252.jpg], [a:Joel Rosenberg 8593 Joel Rosenberg https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1307113706p2/8593.jpg] and many many others. I taught myself reading with Sherlock Holmes but I really started reading with “The Hobbit”.Since then I've read it many times for myself and always felt at home. When my children were old enough, I read “The Hobbit” to them every night and, to make it more “real”, I gave them laminated map print-outs from [a:Karen Wynn Fonstad 11590 Karen Wynn Fonstad https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1331319642p2/11590.jpg]'s wonderful “[b:The Atlas of Middle-Earth 22332141 The Atlas of Middle-Earth Karen Wynn Fonstad https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403205224l/22332141.SX50.jpg 1502479]” for every step of the journey. For easier collecting, all three got a binder. I read to them every night and when we were finished with “The Hobbit”, we moved on to “[b:The Lord of the Rings 33 The Lord of the Rings J.R.R. Tolkien https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1566425108l/33.SX50.jpg 3462456]”. (Plus printed maps again, of course!)Sometimes, I was throat-sore, sometimes I read way past their bedtime but we had a wonderful time. I kept reading to them for many years. (If you wonder: The magic didn't “stick” fully - none of them are true readers but at least they still own their binders of maps...)Now my children are adults and I'm back to reading for myself. For me, it was time for a return to the magical world Tolkien created. It was time to return to the cherished memories of my late mother and those reading nights.For YOU, though, it is now time to pick up a copy of “The Hobbit” and create your own memories.Five out of five stars - and two asteroids to beat: 2991 Bilbo and 2675 Tolkien Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

Look it's fucking great, okay? You already knew that. Why are you reading a review?

This is my new favorite book, it was pure serotonin from start to finish. I think I put off reading Tolkien for so long because I was afraid it would ruin the movies. But I was so so so wrong!

Just reread this in November 2023, and I've apparently written the following in the days gone by.

I'd read The Hobbit some ten years ago, went to see the film without any clear memory of the thing, and then just had to reread it again. What really struck me was how much fun this story really is. Sure, it has its meandering sections as do most travelogues. But especially the role of the narrator becomes the highpoint of the book for me: he pinpoints certain things, important or peripheral, breaks off the narrative to explain something else entirely, intervening in good humor.

The Hobbit is brilliantly redolent and entertaining literature on its own, not only as a kind of sidekick to The Lord of the Rings. I'm sure I'll revisit it many times in years to come.

Haven't read this book in almost 10 years and it's even better than before. It's hard to imagine Tolkien could create such a fantasy in the 1930's. Bilbo the Hobbit, Dwarves, Gandalf the Wizard, Smaug the Dragon, Elves, Beorn the Skin-Changer, and the creepy spiders are all very well described. The adventure Bilbo went on was very entertaining although I think the movie portrayed the Desolation of Smaug much better than the book.

8/10

Wow, this book took me absolutely forever to read but it was really worth it!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Tolkien is a master at his story telling, and I really enjoyed how it was written as if the story was being actually told to you by him. I loved the characters, and really loved watching Bilbo grow as a character and into his more Tookish side!
Although I would have liked a little more lore in this book. Maybe that was deliberate, and there will be more world lore in the Lotr series. Another thing that I was slightly disappointed in was how fast the ending was. The battle sequence was very vague to me, and felt like a second hand account rather than if it was told through Bilbo's point of view. It honestly took a while for the fact Thorin had died to settle in. I had to reread the paragraph over and over to really let it hit me.
That being said I still think that Tolkien did a wonderful job at making a character's actions come back around in the end.
Really loved this book, and I can't wait to continue!

Obviously The Hobbit is a complete five out of five read.

Tolkien's writing is, to me, very unique in the best way possible. He is descriptive but yet never truly describes anyone fully. The little side notes (written like this) are a fun touch, too.

Then the story itself is just good. I already knew it would be, but it is such a fun story and you really root for Bilbo through all the pages. The characters are all lovely and different from one another.

I liked the “sudden” ending too of the book. It makes me wonder what kind of avontures he had between the end and the beginning of Fellowship of the Ring. I hope he had many good ones.

Lastly, I thoroughly enjoyed the drawings and songs in this book. It truly gave the book an unique feeling.

Anyway,
I was already in love with Middle-Earth, because of the movies that I watched before I read the books (oops) but reading the books made me love this world and its characters even more.
Now that the book is finished I'm feeling that little empty hole inside me

I'm so glad I finally read this book. I knew it was a great story and have seen the animated movie and the other movies but I really enjoyed reading the book and all it's wonderful details. I loved the poems and songs throughout the book. I didn't realize there were some parts that didn't make it into the movies. I never knew what I was missing but I should have know better. Books are always better than movies. I loved the imagery and amazing detail so much that I think I'll look for a nice copy of this book to keep in my own library. I'm sure I will read this one again.

a fantastic story :)

“Si muchos de nosotros dieran más valor a la comida, la alegría y las canciones que al oro atesorado, éste sería un mundo más feliz.”

Absolutamente brillante, hermosa y atemporal. Es la historia sobre la reconquista de la Montaña Solitaria, también conocida como “El viaje de Erebor”, anterior a los eventos ocurridos en “La Guerra del Anillo”. Cuenta las hazañas de Bilbo Bolsón, Gandalf y los trece enanos cuyos nombres todavía intento memorizar

This was so, sooooooooooo good. I just really love this world and the writing style of J.R.R. Tolkien! :3

This classic was overhyped in my mind. I grew up watching the old cartoon and loved it. I've always loved this story but honestly, the book was not as epic as I thought it would be. I still enjoyed it and I'm happy to have finally read it.

This review is also featured on Behind the Pages: The Hobbit

Bilbo Baggins was content to stay in the Shire, living his days out in his hobbit hole. But when Gandalf the wizard visits the Shire and Bilbo invites him to tea, the hobbit's life changes forever. Thirteen dwarves show up on his doorstep with Gandalf, speaking of an adventure to reclaim their family's mountain and gold from the dragon Smaug. The itch to travel and experience life outside the Shire overcomes Bilbo, and he starts his journey to help the dwarves reclaim what was lost.

When you begin reading The Hobbit, don't expect the flashy drawn out fight scenes and plot twists you'll see in modern day fantasy. Written in 1937, the style of writing is vastly different but has aged well over the years. There is a wide cast of characters, but Tolkien makes sure they all stay in the reader's view and keeps the story steadily moving forward. While the characters will have mishaps and battles, the details are oftentimes summarized making the scenes appropriate for a younger crowd while still maintaining enough for the older.

Following along with Bilbo was like walking among friends. The way the narrator talks about the hobbit and his companions is with familiarity and respect for their choices. Often Bilbo has to think outside of the box, and instead of rushing into situations, he tries to talk through them and keep open communication instead of resorting to fighting. I wish this style of confrontation made into more modern day fantasy.

Listening to The Hobbit on audiobook enhanced the experience for me. Rob Inglis did a wonderful job voicing the characters and bringing to life the songs I most likely would have skipped over if I were reading the print version. And his version of Gollum was phenomenal! If you haven't had the chance to read, or listen to, The Hobbit I highly recommend it. This is one of the only classics I have enjoyed.

“Then the prophecies of the old songs have turned out to be true, after a fashion!” said Bilbo.“Of course!” said Gandalf. “And why should not they prove true? Surely you don't disbelieve the prophecies, because you had a hand in bringing them about yourself? You don't really suppose, do you, that all your adventures and escapes were managed by mere luck, just for your sole benefit? You are a very fine person, Mr. Baggins, and I am very fond of you; but you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!” “Thank goodness!” said Bilbo laughing, and handed him the tobacco-jar.

*ho abbassato di una stellina, perché non riesco a mandare giù il fatto che un mago abbia mandato un hobbit di mezz'età in un'avventura per metà della Terra di Mezzo con 12 nani a scassinare non si sa cosa, senza nessun tipo di piano in una montagna occupata da un drago sputa fiamme. Il bello è che a fine avventura, nota perfino che qualcosa sia cambiato in lui. Chissà.

The Hobbit è stata la mia prima vera esperienza con Tolkien in lingua originale e il primo aggettivo che mi viene in mente pensando alla lettura è: incantevole. Il maggior credito questa volta va dato allo stile dell'autore piuttosto che alla storia in sé, non che fosse brutta, ma secondo me soffre di alcuni difetti che personalmente non mi hanno entusiasmato, ma li noto unicamente in quanto lettore del ventunesimo secolo con tutto un background di letture più moderne, probabilmente non andrebbero nemmeno considerati dei difetti contestualizzandolo all'anno dell'uscita.

La capacità di Tolkien di scrivere in questo modo è, nella mia ignoranza letteraria, veramente unica e affascinante, non solo riesce a comporre frasi evocative ma anche poetiche e musicali, senza perdere in comprensione e né in scorrevolezza, dopotutto questo è un romanzo per bambini, o almeno l'intenzione era quella. La magia sta nel comporre quelle semplici frasi, che riescono a sintetizzare l'atmosfera (rigorosamente british) e il sentimento. In più i dialoghi sono magistrali, hanno un eleganza e raffinatezza pari a quella de Il Signore degli Anelli, e non parliamo delle canzoni che finalmente iniziano ad avere senso in inglese.

Per quanto riguarda la storia mi piaceva già e mi piace tutt'ora, ma preferisco leggerla pensando che non abbia alcun legame con Il Signore degli Anelli, e non come un prequel di esso. Ha un ritmo che adoro, ogni capitolo è tutta una storia a sé stante con colori e atmosfere diverse, si passa tra una miriade di stati d'animo e di luoghi incredibilmente belli. I dettagli come da copione riescono a creare quella sorta di convinzione di star leggendo una storia reale di un mondo poco distante ma alieno. Alcuni passaggi mi hanno divertito troppo come l'incontro con Beorn, ed altri entusiasmato come il dialogo tra Smaug e Bilbo. Tuttavia la potenza dell'anello magico di Bilbo, nonostante il punto debole dell'ombra, è comunque veramente troppo overpower, se non fosse stato per quello credo che le avventure della compagnia di Nani sarebbe finita molto prima di arrivare alla montagna solitaria. Il fatto che Bilbo in diverse situazioni sia stato una sorta di Deus Ex Machina mi ha dato un pochino fastidio, ma tutto sommato non è così grave. Ho un'opinione simile anche per la morte di Smaug che ritengo che sia stata troppo fortuita e sbrigativa, ma dopotutto come dice Gandalf alla chiusura, che fornisce una chiave di lettura per la storia, le redini del destino hanno guidato quest'avventura fin dall'inizio. Non è tanto la storia della riconquista del tesoro di Thorin Oakenshield o di Bilbo, lo Hobbit, ma un frammento della grande canzone della Terra di Mezzo.

Another book that I listened to the audio version of and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Rob Inglis really is an awesome narrator and he, once again did a blinding job, just like he did with LOTR. I really could listen to him narrating a book all day!

Again, like with LOTR I'd watched the movie of this, but hadn't read the book! I'm glad to have finally crossed both off my TBR list!

Just a word on J.R.R.Tolkien...what a truly masterful storyteller! Yeah, I know I'm very late to the party (the books wise atleast), but better late then never, right?! Watching the movies was amazing, but reading the books really allows you to appreciate both the stories!