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A review by lillimoore
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
5.0
A beloved classic deserving of its status, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit follows our sweet, quick-thinking, comfort-loving main character, the estimable hobbit Bilbo Baggins, on his foray out from his comfortable hobbit hole and into the big, wide world of treasure-hoarding goblins and dragons, whimsical, music-loving forest elves, men who are also bears, a stoic troupe of dwarves, and giant eagles soaring overhead. This tale has earned its place amongst legends that drive forth many more narratives that follow it, and The Hobbit as well as J.R.R. Tolkien's other works that take place in this universe have recognized by many readers as the exemplary literature that initially defined what modern fantasy has become today, and that is the reason I read this (also, because my boyfriend really, really wanted me to.) I wanted to get a little more into that world of fantasy, and this was a great place to start and see the origins of such stories.
I think every child should enjoy this whimsical adventure when they are of age to really appreciate it. Tolkien's colorful cast of characters will leave such an impression. You and your child will both be hesitant to put this book down and return to reality. It will absolutely imprint on your imagination; personally, all I wanted to do this whole read was invite friends over to play Dungeons and Dragons (and that's precisely what I did the day I finally finished it!). Bilbo is a loyal, true friend and a hero that any reader will enjoy following. His constant thoughts of food and comfort were a joy to read and so relatable to me, as I am often thinking of what my next delicious meal will be in times of discomfort. Gandalf is as fun a character as media and culture will lead you to believe and has lots of surprises up his wizard sleeves. I also was particularly fond of Beorn as a character, but there is really not a miss character-wise in the entire book. It's bursting with imagination and woodland creatures and moments where you hold your breath for the fate of our beloved Bilbo and his 13 dwarf companions.
My only complaint became very apparent when I watched the movie but didn't bother me one iota as I was reading the book, and that is this: the white men's story of conquest is so boring. I think because when you're reading the book, there's goblins and hobbits and elves and eagles and wizards and dwarves and ponies and all sorts of other races of creatures roaming this world that keep it feeling diverse and interesting. But when you watch on screen, the lack of color and gender diversity is extremely apparent and makes the film such an absolute snooze-fest (not to mention they divided it up completely unnecessarily into 3 films and threw in all kinds of details that are not faithful adaptations to the books. I've only watched 1/3 and it was terrible save for Martin Freeman's performance as Bilbo, which was not as prominently featured as it should have been in a movie that is supposed to be about its titular character!).
Listen, before you get all up in arms about this complaint in my comments, let me just say that I recognize the context of the time and place in which these books were written and don't fault the book for this at all because it remains engaging and feeling diversified for the reasons I just listed. But damn! I mean, if you're going to be this unfaithful in the movie adaptation, you might as well cast a few POC as the dwarves and hell, even throw in a female character somewhere. I think I would have enjoyed the movie a bit more if there was more than just lots of white bread to look at. I hear that in the LOTR trilogy, female characters are much more prominent, so I look forward to that. I also recognize this is a book review, and not a movie review, but when I pointed this out to my boyfriend (a cis white man) he had never even thought about it before. Because of the success and influence of Tolkien's work, I really urge his fans to consider this when creating their own fantasy worlds, books, and movies, and try to expand on the already gorgeously rendered world he has created in his literature instead of existing comfortably within it. A great example of this is The Legend of Vox Machina on Amazon Prime, based on the podcast Critical Role. Everyone is just pansexual with no griping about it and it makes for a lot of fun. Female, nonbinary, trans, and disabled characters all feature in the series equally as heroes, villains, leaders and followers, and it makes total sense, because this is a fantasy world and literally anything goes. So while The Hobbit and its successors are amazing jumping off points, it's even more exciting to be a fantasy reader today, when the world is so much more accepting of people just being people.
Okay, let me hop off my soapbox to reiterate what a joy this book was to read. If you haven't jumped in yet, I definitely encourage you to do so, and even better if you can do so with someone who loves the fantasy world or with a child who needs to preserve their beautiful imagination in this technology-driven day and age!
I think every child should enjoy this whimsical adventure when they are of age to really appreciate it. Tolkien's colorful cast of characters will leave such an impression. You and your child will both be hesitant to put this book down and return to reality. It will absolutely imprint on your imagination; personally, all I wanted to do this whole read was invite friends over to play Dungeons and Dragons (and that's precisely what I did the day I finally finished it!). Bilbo is a loyal, true friend and a hero that any reader will enjoy following. His constant thoughts of food and comfort were a joy to read and so relatable to me, as I am often thinking of what my next delicious meal will be in times of discomfort. Gandalf is as fun a character as media and culture will lead you to believe and has lots of surprises up his wizard sleeves. I also was particularly fond of Beorn as a character, but there is really not a miss character-wise in the entire book. It's bursting with imagination and woodland creatures and moments where you hold your breath for the fate of our beloved Bilbo and his 13 dwarf companions.
My only complaint became very apparent when I watched the movie but didn't bother me one iota as I was reading the book, and that is this: the white men's story of conquest is so boring. I think because when you're reading the book, there's goblins and hobbits and elves and eagles and wizards and dwarves and ponies and all sorts of other races of creatures roaming this world that keep it feeling diverse and interesting. But when you watch on screen, the lack of color and gender diversity is extremely apparent and makes the film such an absolute snooze-fest (not to mention they divided it up completely unnecessarily into 3 films and threw in all kinds of details that are not faithful adaptations to the books. I've only watched 1/3 and it was terrible save for Martin Freeman's performance as Bilbo, which was not as prominently featured as it should have been in a movie that is supposed to be about its titular character!).
Listen, before you get all up in arms about this complaint in my comments, let me just say that I recognize the context of the time and place in which these books were written and don't fault the book for this at all because it remains engaging and feeling diversified for the reasons I just listed. But damn! I mean, if you're going to be this unfaithful in the movie adaptation, you might as well cast a few POC as the dwarves and hell, even throw in a female character somewhere. I think I would have enjoyed the movie a bit more if there was more than just lots of white bread to look at. I hear that in the LOTR trilogy, female characters are much more prominent, so I look forward to that. I also recognize this is a book review, and not a movie review, but when I pointed this out to my boyfriend (a cis white man) he had never even thought about it before. Because of the success and influence of Tolkien's work, I really urge his fans to consider this when creating their own fantasy worlds, books, and movies, and try to expand on the already gorgeously rendered world he has created in his literature instead of existing comfortably within it. A great example of this is The Legend of Vox Machina on Amazon Prime, based on the podcast Critical Role. Everyone is just pansexual with no griping about it and it makes for a lot of fun. Female, nonbinary, trans, and disabled characters all feature in the series equally as heroes, villains, leaders and followers, and it makes total sense, because this is a fantasy world and literally anything goes. So while The Hobbit and its successors are amazing jumping off points, it's even more exciting to be a fantasy reader today, when the world is so much more accepting of people just being people.
Okay, let me hop off my soapbox to reiterate what a joy this book was to read. If you haven't jumped in yet, I definitely encourage you to do so, and even better if you can do so with someone who loves the fantasy world or with a child who needs to preserve their beautiful imagination in this technology-driven day and age!