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<\/p>\nMore audiobook time.\u00a0 Now that the first part of The Hobbit movie is out – I wanted to re-read the book before seeing it to see how true it is to the book.\u00a0 As usual, I went the audiobook route.<\/p>\n
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I first read The Hobbit when I was in 5th grade.\u00a0 I remembered it as a HUUUGGEEEE book.\u00a0 When I picked it up – I remember running my hands over the book cover and being awestruck at it’s size.\u00a0 All those pages with so few pictures!\u00a0 As an adult, I picked up the book and marveled at how small it is compared to other things I read now.\u00a0 I guess that as with most childhood memories, fears, school teachers, and bullies – things just seemed so much more big when you’re physically little.<\/p>\n
Summary:<\/strong> Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who lives in a quiet, rural hobbit village that largely symbolizes the English idealism of calm, country living.\u00a0 He’s comfortable, and likes it that way.\u00a0 No adventures, no tom-foolery; 5 square meals a day and lots of relaxed pipe smoking while looking over the countryside.\u00a0 Gandalf the wizard appears and invites himself, and a number of Dwarves to supper.\u00a0 Bilbo’s calm, sedate home is quickly overrun with Dwarves on a mission to recover their cave home that was taken by Smaug the dragon years before.\u00a0 They enlist, or rather, abscond with Bilbo as their ‘burglar’ at Gandalf’s suggestion.\u00a0 They set off and have numerous adventures along the way.\u00a0 They are captured by goblins and Bilbo encounters Gollum.\u00a0 He finds the one ring, and escapes using it’s powers.\u00a0 The party travels through a deep haunted forest and are imprisoned by the elves that live there.\u00a0 They escape in barrels floating down the river and arrive at the human town of Laketown.\u00a0 After getting the help of the citizens for provisions and ponies, they arrive at Smaug’s mountain to find a hidden magical dwarven door which allowed secret entrance to the mountain.\u00a0 Bilbo enters and engages the dragon in verbal swordplay.\u00a0 Smaug attacks the mountainside to kill the visiting party and then attacks the nearby Laketown for helping the Dwarves.\u00a0 Smaug is ultimately killed by one of the city’s men after receiving a tip from a bird.\u00a0 In the final scenes, the Dwarves barricade themselves into the mountain to defend their treasure while armies of men\/elves and Dwarves from the north arrive outside to get their share.\u00a0 Instead of fighting each other, Bilbo sneaks away a prized gem to break the stalemate and they all end up fighting the goblins that were stirred up after the Dwarves killed the goblin king during their escape.\u00a0 Bilbo returns home to find he was declared dead and has to rescue his property from auction.<\/p>\n Review:<\/strong> As a side, it’s always good to note that Tolkien was a devote Catholic – and many themes of Christianity are present in his novels.\u00a0 As a Catholic, one picks up on myriads of themes such as self-sacrifice, flawed heroes with realistic failings, confronting fears, the journey that takes you places you do not expect nor desire at times and changes you forever, bravery in the face of overwhelming odds, and his military roots show in his concepts of nobility, duty, and honor.\u00a0 For example, in this reading, I particularly was struck by the line of Bilbo as he first crept down to Smaug’s layer (ch 12):<\/p>\n It was at this point that Bilbo stopped. Going on from there was the It’s ideas like this that speak so well to the life of faith; and why even those who are not believers find these same themes speak to experiences in their own lives.\u00a0 Whole books have been written examining the themes of Tolkien – and I think any that miss this key to many of his themes have really missed a lot.<\/p>\n I give this book a B+ taken on it’s own outside the hype.\u00a0 It’s certainly not the best writing in the world at times (certainly not as good as Lord of the Rings or things today) – but it’s always good.\u00a0 As a keystone of the genre, however, it’s definite an essential read.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" More audiobook time.\u00a0 Now that the first part of The Hobbit movie is out – I wanted to re-read the book before seeing it to see how true it is to the book.\u00a0 As usual, I went the audiobook route. I first read The Hobbit when I was in 5th grade.\u00a0 I remembered it as a HUUUGGEEEE book.\u00a0 When I picked it up – I remember running my hands over the book cover and being awestruck at it’s size.\u00a0 All…<\/p>\n
\nI won’t re-tell the story as it’s been done hundreds of times elsewhere, and much better than I could do.\u00a0 So, how about a recap?<\/p>\n
\nWhat can one say?\u00a0 It is one of the original great fantasy novels of all time.\u00a0 It introduced a number of the great themes that carry through the genre even today.\u00a0 Yet, you can tell this is one of Tolkien’s early works of fantasy.\u00a0 Tolkien uses a number of ‘cheats’\/easy outs of coincidence to solve some of his plot problems; but all of these are forgivable.\u00a0 Yet all the great writing, imagery, and important themes that will get fuller treatment in the Lord of the Rings trilogy are there.\u00a0 It’s great to see his first foray.<\/p>\n
\nbravest thing he ever did. The tremendous things that happened afterward
\nwere as nothing compared to it. He fought the real battle in the tunnel
\nalone, before he ever saw the vast danger that lay in wait.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n