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glen3's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: War
Moderate: Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, and Animal death
clayby's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.
I first read 'The Hobbit' many years ago when I was in middle-school, my maiden voyage into the written works of Tolkien. I enjoyed it greatly back then, staying up on school nights reading 'til I could barely keep my eyes open. Being older (and more prone to passing out early) now, there was none of that during this reading, but it did take over my life for a week or two.
'The Hobbit' may be a children's tale, and thus some may write it off in favor of Tolkien's other work, but it has a wonderful charm, details you may not catch at first, a sense of something grand fomenting behind the scenes. From the start it pulls you in, taking you on this beautiful journey and back again.
As a small addendum, I would also like to praise this specific edition of 'The Hobbit' (ISBN: 9780261103283) for its beautiful artwork, as well as the preface which I found very interesting.
Moderate: War, Death, and Violence
em_davies7019's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: War, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Death, Fatphobia, Animal death, and Kidnapping
usually_sleep_deprived's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Violence, War, and Death
i_write_on_occasion's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Moderate: Death and Violence
Minor: Animal death
allisonshewfelt's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Moderate: Death, War, and Violence
Minor: Animal death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Alcohol, Slavery, Confinement, and Injury/Injury detail
eilys's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Violence
Minor: Animal death
crufts's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
When I read The Hobbit, I predicted that the book might have a similar relationship to the trilogy of Hobbit movies, i.e. the book would be decent but maybe not quite as funny or well-plotted. But I was wrong!
It turns out that virtually every joke from the movies was taken directly from the original book. In other words, the book itself was already really funny without any help from the film director.
Not only that, but the book's plot is actually a lot tighter and cleaner than the movies. This is made pretty obvious by the fact that a 300-page book does not need to be stretched out into eight hours of film. The problem is so well-known that there are about a dozen fan-made "supercuts" of the trilogy that cut down the unnecessarily long runtime. In contrast, the original book is fast-paced and efficient.
Finally, I really liked the characters and their different attitudes to the adventure. They're now so famous that they've virtually become archetypes (for example, Bilbo has become a classic Reluctant Hero), but putting that aside, I liked how they were written and definitely found myself caring about what happened to them.
Great fun, arguably better than the movie trilogy, would recommend.
Moderate: Violence, War, Death, and Xenophobia
Some typical fantasy racism appears towards orcs, goblins, etc. The ending of the book involves a huge battle. Giant spiders appear during the forest sequence.claudiamacpherson's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Blood, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, and War
art_books_chemistry's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Death, War, and Violence
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Grief