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maryhannawilson's review against another edition
3.0
Let me start by saying that, "The Hobbit" by J. R. R. Tolkien is not one of my favorite books so a five-star rating would be impossible for any adaptation of it.
That said, this graphic adaptation of The Hobbit does a solid job of sharing the story in this particular writing format. The voice of the narrator helps move the story along while filling in necessary details to the plot.
There is an overwhelming amount of text on most of the pages, making it a little tiresome to navigate compared to most graphic novels. It is understandable because there is a lot to cover in the original story, but it does make it tricky to read at times.
Overall, I think this is a great adaptation for fans of graphic novels. It would be a good way to introduce the story or to enjoy it in a different format.
That said, this graphic adaptation of The Hobbit does a solid job of sharing the story in this particular writing format. The voice of the narrator helps move the story along while filling in necessary details to the plot.
There is an overwhelming amount of text on most of the pages, making it a little tiresome to navigate compared to most graphic novels. It is understandable because there is a lot to cover in the original story, but it does make it tricky to read at times.
Overall, I think this is a great adaptation for fans of graphic novels. It would be a good way to introduce the story or to enjoy it in a different format.
rebeccacider's review against another edition
4.0
Reread the Hobbit in preparation for my Great Winter Reread of The Lord of the Rings (since it's been a whole three years or something, and I've been coming down with a cold and needed some comfort reading.)
I should probably read The History of the Hobbit at some point, because I am very interested in the textual history of this book - it is such a weird concept when taken on its own. I mean, hobbits? In some vaguely defined but obviously incredibly rich secondary fantasy world? In a book that's written for children, mostly, but isn't horrible and saccharine?
Most of the book gets by on the merit of being fun and wacky and having a good protagonist, but the end is actually quite dark and moving - Bilbo weaves his riddles before the dragon, a quarter of a town is decimated, Thorin walls himself in with his treasure and dies defending it.
Thorin is a really, really interesting character, actually, although it only struck me on this rereading. Normally Tolkien takes kings and the descendants of kings pretty seriously. Not all kings are good, but nevertheless they are of High Blood and are by default entitled to be a bit imperious, at least in his other writings.
Not so in The Hobbit! Tolkien is constantly poking fun at Thorin's grandiosity and long speeches, pointing to the artificiality of his royal pomp. The Elvenking is also a figure of fond ridicule. And even Bard, who as a warrior and the descendant of kings is of course just the person to kill Smaug, save Esgaroth, and rule Dale (God forbid some upstart commoner accomplish all three), is a slightly comic character. Much of this is due to the difference in tone of The Hobbit from his more "serious" works, but I think it's still interesting to see Tolkien writing questionable rulers more along the lines of Denethor than Feanor, who nevertheless have a right to their power.
I should probably read The History of the Hobbit at some point, because I am very interested in the textual history of this book - it is such a weird concept when taken on its own. I mean, hobbits? In some vaguely defined but obviously incredibly rich secondary fantasy world? In a book that's written for children, mostly, but isn't horrible and saccharine?
Most of the book gets by on the merit of being fun and wacky and having a good protagonist, but the end is actually quite dark and moving - Bilbo weaves his riddles before the dragon, a quarter of a town is decimated, Thorin walls himself in with his treasure and dies defending it.
Thorin is a really, really interesting character, actually, although it only struck me on this rereading. Normally Tolkien takes kings and the descendants of kings pretty seriously. Not all kings are good, but nevertheless they are of High Blood and are by default entitled to be a bit imperious, at least in his other writings.
Not so in The Hobbit! Tolkien is constantly poking fun at Thorin's grandiosity and long speeches, pointing to the artificiality of his royal pomp. The Elvenking is also a figure of fond ridicule. And even Bard, who as a warrior and the descendant of kings is of course just the person to kill Smaug, save Esgaroth, and rule Dale (God forbid some upstart commoner accomplish all three), is a slightly comic character. Much of this is due to the difference in tone of The Hobbit from his more "serious" works, but I think it's still interesting to see Tolkien writing questionable rulers more along the lines of Denethor than Feanor, who nevertheless have a right to their power.
jessicatamm92's review against another edition
5.0
After I read the Lord of the Rings series in middle school, I finally got around to reading this book. It's a baby compared to the huge LOTR series, but it's still full of adventures and everything else that I loved in LOTR. I've since watched the first two parts of The Hobbit movies and loved them (although they are adding in a lot, I'm loving all the additional story). Highly recommend!
egmoo's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
fdevestation's review against another edition
3.0
Bit of a disappointment, kind of hard to read, the plot was good though. Characters didn't get enough personality
nickdleblanc's review against another edition
3.0
This book was my introduction to The Hobbit in 1990 when my father read it to me and showed me all of the beautifully drawn and colored images. It’s a great adaptation, and a wonderful way to introduce young kids to the material. Also, if you’re like me and want to dip back into the world of Tolkien without taking on the responsibility of a full book, it hits all the important beats and provides some rich illustrations that try their best to color in the difference. My only real complaint is that sometimes the narration is inconsistently written and does some weird stuff with narrative perspective, like hearing the narrator refer to himself in the third person and tell you you’re going to learn more about something in just a page or two. But that stuff is easy to get over. It has good depictions of Smaug and Gollum, I love to look of Hobbiton and the wood elves. Supposedly there is a “redux” version of this where the author went in and did some additions/changes. I wouldn’t know about those as I read the copy from 1990 that I found in our family house basement that had a broken spine from me leaning on it as a kid and staring at the images of Bilbo spiking a spider in the head and smoke rising from Smaug’s slender red nose. A quality graphic adaptation/abridging.