5.0 out of 5 stars A review from an 8-year-old girl (with some help from her father)

P.S. · January 12, 2024

The media could not be loaded. Through The Eyes Of A ChildNo one is really going to read a review from some random dude about a story beloved for so long by so many. If I said I loved it, I’m just one voice in a chorus of others. If I said I hated it, I would be chided for a lack in taste or understanding. If I said there were parts I liked and others I didn’t – I’d be lost in the middle ground of it all and attacked by both fans and detractors of the story.However, one thing I can offer is the review of at the time of this writing a newly-crested 7-year-old girl in the year of our Lord 2023 as we read the story together and offer up her perspective as someone coming brand new to a work that really kicked off the fantasy genre. While the review may lack detail and wordiness, I can tell you there was no push by her father to like or not like any part of it and the review is an accurate take prompted only by the questions asked by a loving father. (Although this father might interject observation from time to time in parentheses)This was actually a “take two” reading as dad had only read the story and forgot that voices and inflections are what drives children to get invested in the story. We did not make it very far even for a kid who is pretty patient with a learning-as-he-goes-parent and enjoys a world of fairytales and princesses. So this second attempt was assisted by a narrator with a British accent who could sing the songs and change inflections for the characters.Characters – Indeed!The Hobbit definitely has a lack of female characters but this didn’t phase our reader too much – although adding one girl would have been okay with our reader. She enjoyed both Bilbo and Gandalf the most. She loved that Bilbo went on his journey even though he didn’t really want to and in the midst of all his trials in the story – he wanted to do the right thing. (A note here – it’s interesting that “doing the right thing” here is seen instead of “continuing the adventure” or “getting out of the situation”. It seems that the reader got Tolkien’s desire and Bilbo’s role immediately.). With Gandalf, one might think the fact that he was a wizard and did wizardly things at times would be the draw for our reader. In fact, she enjoyed that Gandalf was with the troop of heroes for half of the story and returns just when it seemed like the group needed his help at the end. She enjoyed that Gandalf followed Bilbo back from the great mountain back to the Shire and completed Bilbo’s journey with him.The JourneyAction isn’t devoid in the enjoyment of the reader. The battle of Smaug and the ending of the menace was her favorite part. She liked that the bad guy was defeated and peace would reign. Although, the end of the story doesn’t happen here as she thought it was interesting that the selfishness of King Thorin ruined the peace and what could have been a good time. (Just like a good child asking “are we there yet?” this was mirrored with “when are they going to get to Smaug?” but it seems the building in anticipation was worth it in the end).Tolkien is known for building his world and if a tree needs a history, by Joe, that tree will get a full backstory. Our reader agreed that there was too much detail at times and the desire to get on with the adventure was forefront. However, she also agreed that it allowed her to imagine the world of our characters to a better extent. (It’s interesting to think about how many fantasy stories she’s exposed to and how figuring out the world and the rules of the types of magic encounters occurs. This probably gets lost of us big kids who know these stories or story types and forget we need to sometimes start fresh with our assumptions to get more out of the story). The details in the action parts were fun and added to lengthening of that enjoyment. Even with the times of travel and rest, our reader liked the characters talking with each other and interacting. So even the “boring parts” were good for our reader.Themes & TakeawaysOur house is not unexposed to British humor although sometimes the subtlety of a joke is lost due to our reader’s age or life experience. Yet, the humor and Brish turns-of-phrases in Tolkien’s story were not lost on her. While many readers, I believe, tend to overlook the songs; our reader found these to be the funniest parts. One reason is that we don’t make up songs for the stuff we do in our day-to-day travels like it seemed our characters did. (This is probably a sad telling of our current state of culture and one that Tolkien probably bristles at).When questioned on what was not enjoyed about the story, our reader thought for several minutes before coming away that there was nothing that she didn’t like. When asked about Golem being a mystery, she was okay with not knowing more about him. She liked that we would see him again in the next books after it was revealed he would show up again. Before that time, she was imagining more of what he looked like and what he was. Even if there was no next book, she was ok with not knowing more about Golem. When asked if she thought the Ring was important, she says that she believes it’s important but can’t even think of why.Our reader’s enjoyment of adventure stories stems from an enjoyment of mysteries and their unfolding and being solved and guessed at. In this adventure story, there was the big adventure but there were also a number of mini-adventures in their travels. Each one was an interesting mystery to see how our heroes would get out of the situation or overcome it. She’s of the belief that Bilbo would continue to go on adventures and do so with other people. (It’s clear that she sees the change in Bilbo from the beginning of the book to the end. And a child’s mind would see the fun had in this adventure and want to continue it. Only the adult mind, roots us at home).Only The Start Of The JourneyClearly, the story was enjoyed by our reader. When asked if she would read it again she stated that she would re-read it a million times even when she knew what would happen. Her father was informed that we would have to continue onto the next book. But as for this book, our reader gave a Final Grade – A+Final GradeA+

5.0 out of 5 stars The Hobbit: An Unexpected Musical

G.G.G. · January 2, 2023

I read a version of this years ago when I was young, and have seen the classic cartoon as well as the more recent trilogy, which is freshest in my mind. A reasonable amount of time has been spent in fantasy worlds otherwise, enough that this passage from the Author's Note stunned me:"This is a story of long ago. At that time the languages and letters were quite different from ours of today. English is used to represent the languages. But two points may be noted. (1) In English the only correct plural of dwarf is dwarfs, and the adjective is dwarfish. In this story dwarves and dwarvish are used*, but only when speaking of the ancient people to whom Thorin Oakenshield and his companions belonged. (2) Orc is not an English word. It occurs in one or two places but is usually translated goblin (or hobgoblin for the larger kinds). Orc is the hobbits’ form of the name given at that time to these creatures, and it is not connected at all with our orc, ork, applied to sea-animals of dolphin-kind."Wait wait... Wait. Orcs and goblins the same? Does. Not. Compute.That cognitive disconnect aside, this is an enjoyable, rollicking classic read ripe with descriptive, fun language, and characters often bursting into song. Like, a lot.Bilbo's peacefully at home when Gandalf chooses him for a mission. A load of dwarves, many interchangeable, arrive to eat his food, sing, and leave... Thus the quest begins. There's the grandson of the king, the old one, the fat one (not shaming, he's oft referred to as such), and the two young ones, plus multiple leftover dwarves. Many of the characters they meet on their journey are individually more distinctive, like Gollum, Elrond, and Beorn.It's a fun read if you're in the mood for an old fashioned tale; I won't wait so long before reading it again.

Good book

J.S. · July 23, 2024

Depends on one’s taste.

Absolutely gorgeous

M.J. · February 8, 2024

It's so beautiful, definitely worth the money!

Bra

F.E. · July 27, 2024

Jag gillade att boken kom i tid och det var en engelska bok

Quite nice with Tolkien’s illustration as the cover jacket

A.C. · November 13, 2020

So I’ve always found the hobbit book designs to be either too simplistically mature for the content, or too colourfully childish for me to want to put it on my bookshelf. This one though in my opinion is very well put together.

Der Klassiker!

J. · February 24, 2016

Dieses Buch ist ein Muss für jeden Fantasy-Fan. "The Hobbit or There And Back Again" ist eine wundervolle, fantasiereiche Geschichte um einen kleinen Hobbit, der in ein großes Abenteuer verwickelt wird. Zudem ein schönes Beispiel für einen Satz, der ebenfalls von Tolkien stammt, und an den man sich immer erinnern sollte: "Even the smallest person can change the course of the future".Übrigens war diese Taschenbuchausgabe von HarperCollins mein erster Kontakt mit dem "Hobbit" in jedweder Form. Die Filme wollte ich nicht zuerst sehen, da ich denke, man sollte etwas immer zuerst im Ursprungsmedium erleben. Und nachdem ich nun kürzlich etwa nach dem ersten Akt von "Eine unerwartete Reise" eingeschlafen bin, kann ich die Filme wohl auch gänzlich bleiben lassen. Unglaublich, wie man eine solch simple Geschichte dermaßen strecken kann. Beim "Herrn der Ringe" konnte ich mich allerdings dem damaligen Hype nicht entziehen, und fand die Filme unglaublich toll. Die Bücher sind aber noch besser (fange gerade mit "The Fellowship of the Ring" an) :DJa, was soll man noch groß sagen? Das englische Original, das ich hier vorliegen habe, kann ich leider mit keiner der deutschen Übersetzungen vergleichen, da ich diese nicht besitze. Die meisten Bücher lese ich sowieso in der Originalsprache, sofern ich diese denn spreche. Hierzu kann man sagen, dass der Schreibstil, obwohl recht einfach gehalten, sehr ansprechend ist, und zuweilen einen wundervollen Humor aufweist. So etwas findet man heutzutage in "Kinderbüchern" wirklich eher selten. Bezüglich zwei oder drei älterer englischer Begriffe musste ich mein Wörterbuch konsultieren, hätte ich allerdings weiter gelesen, wäre das Ganze wohl ziemlich selbsterklärend gewesen.Die Geschichte an sich ist spannend, liebenswürdig, und wunderbar einfach gehalten, und ist eine perfekte Darstellung der klassischen Heldenreise, verpackt in einer Drei-Akt-Struktur, wie man sie auch aus vielen klassischen Dramen, sowie aus Filmen wie z.B. "Krieg der Sterne" kennt. Joseph Campbell hätte hierzu sicherlich zu gerne seinen Kommentar abgegeben.Auch die Anmerkungen, die Einführung zum Buch, die Karten sowie das zusätzliche erste Kapitel von "The Fellowship of the Ring" sind schöne Ergänzungen.Mehrere Rezensenten hier bemängeln, dass das Papier in dieser Ausgabe etwas dünn sei. Das stimmt, allerdings stellt dies für mich kein Problem dar. Schon mal eine Bibel in der Hand gehabt? :DInsgesamt ein tolles Preis-/Leistungsverhältnis, habe mir gleich noch die LotR-Dreier-Box mitbestellt, da mich Tolkiens Welt so sehr begeistert. Das Silmarillion muss jetzt wohl auch noch her, fürchte ich...