Reviews - The Wisdom of the Shire: A Short Guide to a Long and Happy Life

22 reviews for:

The Wisdom of the Shire: A Short Guide to a Long and Happy Life

Noble Smith, Peter S. Beagle

3.8 AVERAGE

brendalovesbooks's review against another edition

4.0

Parts of it were a little too political for me, but it was mostly a sweet little book.

jay_the_hippie's review against another edition

3.0

I liked the idea behind this book better than the execution.

Actually, many of the points the author made were good. I mean, the hobbits do live a simple life that does lead to it also being a happy life, but the ideas are presented more as imperatives at times. Also, I would have liked more "how do you get from here to there," because a busy life centered around multiple busy children does not evaporate based on wanting it. He does mention prioritization, which is good, but his assumption that the Internet and television is the drain for my time is dead wrong: I don't see how cutting the 30 minutes of TV I watch each year or the handful of minutes I spend surfing the Internet each week is really cutting into my productive hours. There are many such assumptions he makes (Monsanto has done so much good in its history. It offends me that the author uses it as an example of wrongness in the world.)

While I'd say that the footnotes are one of my favorite parts of the book -- I love how they tie in reminders of what happened in the books and the movies -- a fair number of them have little or no apparent relation to the sentence they are supposed to illuminate.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, but that was due in large part for the reminders and synopses of the actual books from Tolkien.

bethanyharnden13's review against another edition

4.0

The premise of this book can be summed up by quoting Thorin Oakenshield in The Hobbit: "If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." If we would walk in the ways of hobbits, elves, ents, good wizards and company, we might bear less burdens (or bear them more easily with the help of friends). It is the small joys and simple adventures of life that make it most enjoyable: walk more, sing more, relax more, enjoy the good green earth and share its bounty with your friends and family. A wonderful read before a fire on a cosy night in your snug hobbit hole. Filled with side note tidbits and fun facts about Tolkien and LOTR.

annashiv's review against another edition

4.0

Really enjoyed it. I loved learning about hobbits and even more about the world of Middle Earth. My only problem with it was that it seemed to push the reader to do a lot and change basic living patterns (sometimes in big ways) without giving a lot of advice or ways to do it. It would say things like don't let big companies ruin this planet, but wouldn't give any ways of preventing such a thing. Not so much as a website or source of information to learn about what big companies are doing to make the world suck. but other than that I liked the simpler suggestions like sing or walk more or things like that. I would suggest this book to anyone who really loves Hobbits and wants to be more of one. I know I certainly am a hobbit in more than just stature.