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The Hobbit Review


The Hobbit  Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
Author(s): J.r.r. Tolkien

ISBN: 0618260307    EAN: 9780618260300
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 320
Reading Level: Young Adult

Average Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

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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.


User Submitted The Hobbit Reviews


November 30, 2008
The Hobbit on CD
This is a wonderful CD. The narrator uses voices for all the characters. My students loved it.

November 30, 2008
Excellent Reading but Beware glue on CDs
This is an excellent reading of the Hobbit, and I'm really enjoying it. The reader does a great job of doing all the voices. I'd give it five stars but the quality of the CD manufacturing is not the best. I actually found some globs of rubber cement or sticky glue on the bottom of two of them. I finally got it cleaned off, but not before I had already tried the CD in my computer and a glob of glue mucked up the DVD burner and I had to replace it. I was pretty upset. There wasn't any glue on the packaging, just 2 CD's which I've never seen before. So just check them carefully.

But the reading of the book itself is so great, and the book so good that it kind of softens the blow. At least I had a tower PC and could just put in a new DVD burner. So just check the CD's when you get it first.

November 8, 2008
Excellent book
This book is fantastic. I have to read it at least once a year. It is very entertaining, very fun and never gets old. Each time I pick up the book to read it it feels and reads as fresh as it did the first time. Great book for all ages and the best place to start if you are interested in "The Lord of the Rings" or learning more about Middle Earth. I'd recommend this book to everyone and it makes for a wonderful present for any and all occasions.

November 4, 2008
Really Good MUST READ
I really enjoyed this book I could never put it down. It's a good childrens book full of excitment. It's all about a group of dwarves going to kill a dragon who stole all their money and destroyed their town.

November 3, 2008
UNabr CD read by Rob Inglis is EXCELLENT!!!
Rob Inglis is, in my opinion, one of the best readers out there, and I think he's perfect for "The Hobbit" and the complete "Lord of the Rings." He sings what needs singing, very well, which is relatively unusual. I have thoroughly enjoyed the creation he has wrought!!

November 2, 2008
The Lord of the Rings
Absolutely beautiful work on the 50th anniversary edition. Should be a tresure for life to hand down.

October 28, 2008
Definitely There and Back Again
We owe a debt of incalculable value to J.R.R. Tolkien. He is the father of an entire genre, a genre that has been able to carry many of us through our darkest hours. Although The Hobbit came out over 70 years ago, it is yet fresh and vibrant. Dear Bilbo is still an enchanting hero and still unique--so many main characters are thinly veiled reflections of ideal selves, whereas Bilbo makes us instead rather want to become Hobbits.

The Hobbit is less world-weary than the Lord of the Rings. It is also a more tightly knit story. For these two reasons, I prefer The Hobbit to the later saga, but I am still grateful that I am a better person for having experienced both The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings.

In The Hobbit, we experience a series of adventures that are precipitated by an odd invitation from Gandalf, and through these adventures we see Bilbo pass from mere observer to central character. Tolkien was a master at many things: character, mythology, story; however, his observations of the essential qualities of human nature make his writings timeless and transcendent of societal changes.

It was a joy to experience The Hobbit. I look forward to reading it to my girls. I don't consider it merely recommended reading; I classify it as canon.


October 27, 2008
The true father of Fantasy
Tolkien is the true father of the Fantasy genre. The Hobbit is an amazing book for anyone over the age of 11. I first read it when I was 11 or 12 years old and still find new things to like about it now that I'm 41. From story to plot to character development Tolkien truly made his world come alive.

Best Fantasy series I have ever read, to this day. All 4 books are phenomenal... as are his other works, especially the Silmarillion.


October 18, 2008
A delightful, wonderful book
I read this book over twenty years ago, so I can't recall much of the plot in this review. But I do remember greatly enjoying it. I became a fan of J.R.R Tolkien for life. Anyone who has read or watched Lord of the Rings and not read the Hobbit is making a mistake. I can't think of anything negative to say about this book.

October 18, 2008
A fascinating look into Tolkien's creative process
What a fascinating look into the creative process for "Middle Earth" this book provides! It's the first of Tolkien's works set in that realm, and it introduces characters he later tweaked to suit his needs in writing The Lord of the Rings. The first look at Gollum is a real treat, and so is the overall setup for the universe of the later trilogy. Dwarves, elves, trolls, goblins and hobbits...oh, my!

Compared to the complex "Rings" books, this one tells a simple and straightforward tale. Its violence and general scariness level is about the same as most traditional fairy tales, making it suitable for most children although decidedly unsuitable for kids who get nightmares easily (I was one of those myself - "Hansel and Gretel" absolutely freaked me out). Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit who lives contentedly in a very comfortable hobbit hole, welcomes first a wizard named Gandalf and then a band of noisy, hungry, demanding dwarves into his home. Before he knows it, he's been swept up in their quest to reclaim an ancestral treasure - a quest that takes him far away, on a journey from which he may never return.

My well-meaning friend who suggested giving this book a miss, "Because it's just for children," apparently has far different tastes than I do. What fun!


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