This has been my favourite book since I was ten and this has been the 4th time I've read it.
When I was ten, before I knew anything about The Lord of the Rings, my father and I went to the library. While walking through the shelves of books looking for something to read with me, my father spotted The Hobbit and told me it would be a good book to read and that I would like it. Naturally, I took it out and read it over the next four days and fell in love with the world of Bilbo and his wonderful adventure. Shortly after, I read The Fellowship of the Ring, watched the movies, the commentaries, all the special features and became obsessed.
A few years later, my father and I went to visit the library again. This time, I found a copy of the 6th edition of The Hobbit, and so I decided to read it again. It has been the most beautiful book I've ever read. The 6th edition, for those of you who don't know, has colour prints of Tolkien's original artwork for The Hobbit making it far more beautiful than the black and while pictures normally included in your everyday edition of The Hobbit. Unfortunately, the book was in terrible shape. When I went to return it, fearing that it wouldn't make it through the drop box, I took it to the information desk showing them the terrible condition it was in. In a last stitch attempt to own something that beautiful I said that I would buy it from the library because I didn't think it would last in circulation any longer. They told me I'd have to wait until the annual book sale at which point I knew I would never see the book again. I went home with a broken heart that day, but it wasn't long before I was on ebay and amazon looking for a 6th edition that I could call my own, only to find that the majority of them were a hundred dollars or more, so again, I lost hope on owning it.
A few years later my parents gave me a copy of an edition of The Hobbit Which I've never been quite sure what one it is. That being said, it is extremely beautiful and has been publish during the 60's at the latest. I've always been surprised at how excellent condition it is in, the spine has never been broken, pages never been dogeared, no pages ripped or teared, the original binding is intact, and the covers are hardly faded. The only thing that isn't perfect is the dust jacket, which shows its age, but otherwise has suffered no damage. I read it shortly after it was given to me and it has never left my house since then, due to fear of damage. Currently my father is boring this edition.
Lastly, last year I bought myself a paperback copy published in 2006 that I could bring outside the house. This is the edition I have just finished reading.
This review is about the best book I've ever read.
I openly admit that I haven't read all of Tolkien's publications; I have yet to read The Return of the King, The Unfinished tales, The Silmarillion, and The Children of Hurin, but out of all the books I've ever read The Hobbit has been my favourite. I cannot explain the complexites of the story which I love so much without spoiling it, so I'll just say this: It has set the standards for the books I enjoy: It is more adventurous than The Princess Bride: The characters are more complex than those of Don Quixote: and the writing is the best that I've ever read.
I give this book 10 pocket handkerchiefs out of 10. It really is the best book I've ever read and it will always be my favourite. I highly recommend it to everyone, especially someone who is looking to get into fantasy, it's a great gateway book.
A note on the movie:
So I've read a verity or reactions about The Hobbit and a surprising number of them were fairly negative. I know that some people don't want to go see it because they don't like Peter Jackson, for whatever reason, and some people are really afraid that it's going to suck, so I'm taking this opportunity to give my own views on this movie and tell you why I believe that it is good and why it is worth anyone, especially fans of The Hobbit and Tolkien's, time.
There's a few things that I worry about when I got and see a movie based on a book, the first thing being the casting. When I found out who was playing who I was pleased, but after seeing the way they all interact on the screen I don't think I could picture anyone else playing those roles. The second is accuracy. There was a few points where the plot deviated slightly from the book, but the amount of times that lines in the movie were directly quoted from the book or references were made to Tolkien's commentary on the events in the book were fantastic and I believe that it makes up for any of the more insignificant plot deviations. The Hobbit brought up one final concern: the bit where it's in three parts. I know a lot of people are really apprehensive about it being in three parts because the "book is too short" and other arguments along those lines. If you've read the book recently, I hope you realize that there is more than enough action to make three movies and I'm very pleased that Mr. Jackson has decided to turn it into three movies. Without this decision I fear that the movie would have been rushed and many of the finer points would have been excluded.
All in all, I really loved The Hobbit. I thought it was really well done and I'm really excited to see it again and see the other two parts. I definitely recommend going and seeing it if you read the book. I promise that it wont be a disappointment and if it is feel free to talk to me because I'd really love to hear why it didn't live up to your expectations and what parts you found bad.
When I was ten, before I knew anything about The Lord of the Rings, my father and I went to the library. While walking through the shelves of books looking for something to read with me, my father spotted The Hobbit and told me it would be a good book to read and that I would like it. Naturally, I took it out and read it over the next four days and fell in love with the world of Bilbo and his wonderful adventure. Shortly after, I read The Fellowship of the Ring, watched the movies, the commentaries, all the special features and became obsessed.
A few years later, my father and I went to visit the library again. This time, I found a copy of the 6th edition of The Hobbit, and so I decided to read it again. It has been the most beautiful book I've ever read. The 6th edition, for those of you who don't know, has colour prints of Tolkien's original artwork for The Hobbit making it far more beautiful than the black and while pictures normally included in your everyday edition of The Hobbit. Unfortunately, the book was in terrible shape. When I went to return it, fearing that it wouldn't make it through the drop box, I took it to the information desk showing them the terrible condition it was in. In a last stitch attempt to own something that beautiful I said that I would buy it from the library because I didn't think it would last in circulation any longer. They told me I'd have to wait until the annual book sale at which point I knew I would never see the book again. I went home with a broken heart that day, but it wasn't long before I was on ebay and amazon looking for a 6th edition that I could call my own, only to find that the majority of them were a hundred dollars or more, so again, I lost hope on owning it.
A few years later my parents gave me a copy of an edition of The Hobbit Which I've never been quite sure what one it is. That being said, it is extremely beautiful and has been publish during the 60's at the latest. I've always been surprised at how excellent condition it is in, the spine has never been broken, pages never been dogeared, no pages ripped or teared, the original binding is intact, and the covers are hardly faded. The only thing that isn't perfect is the dust jacket, which shows its age, but otherwise has suffered no damage. I read it shortly after it was given to me and it has never left my house since then, due to fear of damage. Currently my father is boring this edition.
Lastly, last year I bought myself a paperback copy published in 2006 that I could bring outside the house. This is the edition I have just finished reading.
This review is about the best book I've ever read.
I openly admit that I haven't read all of Tolkien's publications; I have yet to read The Return of the King, The Unfinished tales, The Silmarillion, and The Children of Hurin, but out of all the books I've ever read The Hobbit has been my favourite. I cannot explain the complexites of the story which I love so much without spoiling it, so I'll just say this: It has set the standards for the books I enjoy: It is more adventurous than The Princess Bride: The characters are more complex than those of Don Quixote: and the writing is the best that I've ever read.
I give this book 10 pocket handkerchiefs out of 10. It really is the best book I've ever read and it will always be my favourite. I highly recommend it to everyone, especially someone who is looking to get into fantasy, it's a great gateway book.
A note on the movie:
So I've read a verity or reactions about The Hobbit and a surprising number of them were fairly negative. I know that some people don't want to go see it because they don't like Peter Jackson, for whatever reason, and some people are really afraid that it's going to suck, so I'm taking this opportunity to give my own views on this movie and tell you why I believe that it is good and why it is worth anyone, especially fans of The Hobbit and Tolkien's, time.
There's a few things that I worry about when I got and see a movie based on a book, the first thing being the casting. When I found out who was playing who I was pleased, but after seeing the way they all interact on the screen I don't think I could picture anyone else playing those roles. The second is accuracy. There was a few points where the plot deviated slightly from the book, but the amount of times that lines in the movie were directly quoted from the book or references were made to Tolkien's commentary on the events in the book were fantastic and I believe that it makes up for any of the more insignificant plot deviations. The Hobbit brought up one final concern: the bit where it's in three parts. I know a lot of people are really apprehensive about it being in three parts because the "book is too short" and other arguments along those lines. If you've read the book recently, I hope you realize that there is more than enough action to make three movies and I'm very pleased that Mr. Jackson has decided to turn it into three movies. Without this decision I fear that the movie would have been rushed and many of the finer points would have been excluded.
All in all, I really loved The Hobbit. I thought it was really well done and I'm really excited to see it again and see the other two parts. I definitely recommend going and seeing it if you read the book. I promise that it wont be a disappointment and if it is feel free to talk to me because I'd really love to hear why it didn't live up to your expectations and what parts you found bad.
