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Though not the first tale Tolkien wrote about Middle-Earth, The Hobbit was the first to be published, and so the words “In a hole in the ground liv... (show more)
Though not the first tale Tolkien wrote about Middle-Earth, The Hobbit was the first to be published, and so the words “In a hole in the ground lived a hobbit” served as most people’s introduction to the author’s mythopoeia. It is, of course, the story of Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit who dwells in that hole. With both respectable Baggins blood and more adventurous, unpredictable Took blood running through his veins, he has lived a quiet fifty years in his hole under the Hill but when adventure comes quite literally knocking on his door, he finds himself unexpectedly taking it. It comes in the form of the wise old wizard Gandalf and thirteen hardy dwarves (led by the august and most loquacious Thorin Oakenshield) who seek to reclaim their treasure from the dragon Smaug. A long journey lies between them and the Lonely Mountain, however, and along the way Bilbo finds his way in and out of many escapades, while encountering elves, goblins, trolls, men, eagles, skin-changers, a strange creature named Gollum, and finally the dragon himself.
This was one of my favorite books when I was a child, and perhaps that has some bearing on why I still love it so much today. However, I still think that much of the criticism surrounding its “kiddiness” is completely off the mark. Of course it is juvenile! It is a children’s book, after all, written by the author to tell his own sons and daughters at bed-time; moreover, it is, as W. H. Auden so wonderfully put it, “One of the best children’s stories of the century.” I have always felt sorry for those who cannot recognize that tales written for younger audiences are not necessarily inferior, and hope that maybe one day they will, to quote C. S. Lewis, “be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”
I will say that because of the book’s relative simplicity, it is best read when one does not have The Silmarillion or The Lord of the Rings fresh in one’s mind. It can be rather aggravating to see Sauron referred to as “the Necromancer,” or Valinor “Faerië.” On the other hand, it is interesting to see how the originally whimsical tone changes and develops over the course of the book; the narrator seems to grow up right alongside Bilbo. Of the characters, he is the best developed, changing over the course of the narrative from a rather reluctant adventurer who forgets his pocket-handkerchiefs at home to a resourceful hero, although he always maintains his sense of humor and lovably “squeaky” voice. Aside from Thorin, Balin, Fili, Kili, and Bombur, the dwarves are rather interchangeable, and Gandalf is much more vague and mysterious here than he is in LotR. The cameos, on the other hand, are quite fascinating. Chapter V, “Riddles in the Dark” may be one of my favorite chapters in all literature, introducing as it does the unforgettable Gollum and his “precious” Ring; this, of all the episodes in the book, would have the most impact on the rest of Tolkien’s writings, and it features not only excitement and suspense but also a jolly good riddle game. Smaug, of course, is literature’s quintessential dragon, and Bard, in spite of his dourness (or perhaps because of it), makes for an enigmatic and fascinating Hero.
Magical, exciting, and thoroughly charming, The Hobbit is a fantasy adventure to warm the coldest hearts (show less)
