A review by mafiabadgers
The Hobbit, Or, There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien

adventurous medium-paced

4.0

Reread 02/2021 & 08/2024.

The 1930s were a big decade for fantasy, with Conan the Barbarian cropping up in 1931, The Hobbit's 1937 publication, and Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser beginning their long and storied history in 1939. Tolkien usually gets associated with epic fantasy, mostly in the 'noblebright' mode (as opposed to grimdark), but this time around I'm struck by how much The Hobbit has in common with coeval sword and sorcery. The dwarves are as motivated by a desire for gold as they are for revenge, and right from the get-go Thorin is, frankly, petty. Gandalf is determined to ensure everyone else knows he's the smartest person in the room, and as much as Bilbo chastises the dwarves for
their refusal to split the treasure-hoard, he's reluctant to tell them when he finds the ring, and doesn't hesitate to pocket the Arkenstone, even when he knows the dwarves are searching for it, day after day. Although it wasn't very well executed, I have to approve of Peter Jackson & Company's decision to focus more on the suffering the people of Lake-town went through, as it emphasises the cruelty of Thorin's selfishness. Not to mention that he is perfectly willing to throw Bilbo from the wall to the rocks below, when he learns that his friend, who has saved his life so many times, has given the Arkenstone to Bard.
There is a sickening tension to this situation that could be so easily resolved; certainly the book's best sequence. Elsewhere, Bilbo gets into the habit of rescuing the dwarves from various plights, and this begins to be a little tiresome, particularly as the dwarves don't get to say much during all this, and Bilbo is always more interesting when he has company. Lord of the Rings is known for having few female characters, but here their absence is taken to a spectacular degree, with Belladonna Took being the only named woman. I should have liked to get to know the dwarves a bit better too, but I get the sense Tolkien isn't very interested in doing so, often attributing lines of dialogue to "one of them" or the group collectively. A good book, but not quite a great one: Tolkien's best work was yet on the horizon.