The Imperial Dragon of all Fantasies

books:


	• The Hobbit J.R.R. Tolkien Houghton Mifflin, 2002 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 1615 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

This is a Must-Read

The Lord of The Rings, everlasting masterpiece of Tolkien, begins here. Therefore, anyone interested in reading LOTR must read The Hobbit first. Why and when the Shire-folk got involved in the War for the Middle Earth? How does Bilbo Baggins becomes the bearer of The One Ring for while?
Besides, it't more than time we stimulate our youngsters with this excellent quality reading.
So, I read it for my son when he was about 9, and now, I purchased his own The Hobbit, which he is already reading. I expect he will read LOTR in the sequence, and I shall buy it here, at Amazon!
Amazon, thanks for being an excellent connection channel between me (in Brazil) and my 13 year old son (in USA).

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An adventure for all ages

I first read The Hobbit in eighth grade, on recommendation from a friend of mine (whom I am extremely grateful for, since it was my introduction to a world I have never managed to find my way back from and never want to). Though it may seem a little slow-moving at first, it is actually an excellent adventure story, though perhaps a bit much for younger children to attempt to read for themselves. (However, reading it aloud to them is strongly recommended!) Bilbo is a likable character, easy to relate to, because all of us want to go out and have adventures and slay dragons, and yet we also enjoy the comforts of home a bit too much. Gandalf is appropriately mysterious and yet somehow feels like a loving grandfather, and the Dwarves are endearing and bring a smile to your face. Even if you don't like fantasy, give this book a try. Who knows, it could end up being your new favorite.

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Great, great, great book.

If you have never read this, buy this book. At the very least, borrow it from someone.

The Hobbit

The Hobbit is a fairly good book. It has an interesting storyline an grabs the reader throughout the whole novel. I for one read it when I was in 5th grade at school. I found it interesting and usually was a chapter or two ahead of the class. The Hobbit is a beginning book. What I mean by this is that it takes a lot of time explaining the story. This takes up a couple of chapters and I think it would have been a better book if it had built some more suspense in the end scene and extrapolated it a bit more. But otherwise, this book has few shortcomings. Other than the fact that they spent a lot of time in Mirkwood forest, I liked the book. Beorn was portrayed well. The plot line is nice, although there is a kill stealing at the end. All-in-all, I recommend this book

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The Imperial Dragon of all Fantasies

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"The Hobbit" by JRR TOLKIEN

Tolkien never lived to see the glorious acceptance of his labor of love, but it as though the story poured forth directly from his heart into the hearts of a public much in need in a reaffirmation of the values we all share with his little people of the Shire: Food, presents, pipe and bowl, and tales of adventures to warm cozy evenings by a fire with tea and cakes. Somewhere, in Tolkien's heaven, his heart has rest, for all of this joy given cannot go unrewarded.

I feel that Tolkien showed us, through various races which peopled his Middle Earth, the various phases of human development. The races are earthy, airy, watery, and finally, fiery. The amazing Hobbits seemed to hold the balance necessary. They valued gold without greed, friends without demanding power over others, and family lineage, wherein even those of a "Tookish" nature could find acceptance in a neighborhood. Fundamentally, they were farm folk and tradesmen. One cannot help but observe there was a minimum of financiers in the Shire. Everybody works in the Shire, and elsewhere in Middle-Earth, soldiering is seen.

Only a children's story? A book for children of all ages is more the case. Though the story originated in the childhood imagination of Tolkien on the foggy downs of England, it shows us a very subtle construction, a woven fabric of esotericism. At the pinnacle of the weave is the great advancement of the Wizards. Wizards have every opportunity to develop as Gandalf, full of fiery power, yet ever-vigilant and self-sacrificing; yet, as we are later to learn, sometimes they become susceptible to selfishness, self-centeredness, and a megalomanical preoccupatin with EGO and power. Wizards can fall from the grace which elevated them.

Essential to all understanding of the adventures of the Hobbit is the fact that Bilbo Baggins does not like adventures at all. When Gandalf chooses Bilbo to host Thorin Oakenshield's party of Dwarves, Bilbo gives his opinion of Adventures thusly:

"Nasty, disturbing, uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner!"

The excitement is infectious as the troop encounters many dangers, for not all problems can be solved by the powerful axes of the dwarves. Sometimes, only the peculiar stubborn courage of the little Hobbit can get the troop out of harm's way. All along the journey, wondrous creatures are met; Elves, Men, and dangerous things of darkness and shadow, ending with an encounter with a dragon.

****So How Does Tolkien Write So Magically?****

Tolkien compresses TIME. Alternatively, he decompresses TIME. He does this by presenting history, events, and other characters through a very childlike perception of time. Sometimes vast epochs are explained in a single paragraph, or several generations of Hobbit, Dwarf, Elven or Human history presented in a blur. Chronological events and occurrances are alternatively slowed or speeded up in the telling. TIME is magical for Tolkien. The reader is captured and fascinated, led along a narrative path like a child, sometimes fully awake, observing a blur of rapid action. Other times, it is though the reader is in a half-sleep, a "dreamtime" and unsure of the measurements of minutes, hours, days, years and epochs of time.

This "child-time" is the distinct voice Tolkien achieves, causing many readers to view the Hobbit as a children's story, distinct from Lord of the Rings. It is not a different story. It is that the Hobbit represents the psyche before it awakens. It's primary concerns are creature comforts, rather than adventures.

In the Hobbit adventure, it is far too early to present the power of Tolkien's purpose in its full revelation. Tolkien must allow us to wake up gradually. That is the adventure he invites us to take. The fullness of the truth is not yet shown. Tolken needs for the reader to develop an adventurous spirit.

This shows itself by comparing the Hobbits. First is Bilbo Baggins, who grows by every adventure; but for Bilbo, the Shire can still be a home, at least, for many more years. Second, Frodo never expects to return to the Shire. Frodo lives, believing that only death awaits him, but his childlike psyche is now transformed into that of a fully-developed spiritual identity. Now he knows. The childlike dreamworld is gone. If Frodo fails, he knows Middle Earth will fall into despair. Frodo knows, what Gandalf and Aragorn knows. Bilbo had the assurance that the Shire would always be there. Frodo sees that if he fails his quest, all of Middle Earth will literally fall under the Shadow. Frodo's is not the psyche of the child-like Hobbit.

Tolkien's masterpiece has much in common with C. S. Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia". In both, martyrdom of self is very real. In LOTR, Frodo willingly marches to his own death, obeying the call to duty which bound the Fellowship. This compels him to an ultimate act of self-sacrifice, just as Aslan in the "Chronicles of Narnia" orchestrates his own martyrdom, to save a Son of Adam.

The same device may be found in the tale of "Peter Pan" who claimed that he never wanted to grow up, and yet he fought a very real evil in Captain Hook.

Tolkien & Lewis seem to have offered a clarion call to man, inviting us to transcend the mere pursuit of comfort, and to enter into the conflict between Good and Evil. It is nearly impossible to claim either author as superior. They are both exceedingly good.

With childlike wonder we learn in this dear tale a simple truth that we find in other literature; the simple fact that conflict is seldom far, and Evil is always to be countered with courage. The reader may not remember the name of he who slays the dragon Smaug, but does it matter? A little reflection upon the character GANDALF will reveal much. --Bruce Bain

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Written for J.R.R. Tolkien's own children, The Hobbit met with instant critical acclaim when first published more than sixty years ago. Now recognized as a timeless classic with sales of more than 40 million copies worldwide, this introduction to Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf the Wizard, and the spectacular world of Middle-earth tells of the adventures of a reluctant hero, a powerful and dangerous ring, and the cruel dragon Smaug the Magnificent.

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