Book Review: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
First published in 1937
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Publisher’s Description:

Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely traveling any farther than his pantry or cellar. But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard Gandalf and a company of dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day to whisk him away on an adventure. They have launched a plot to raid the treasure hoard guarded by Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon. Bilbo reluctantly joins their quest, unaware that on his journey to the Lonely Mountain he will encounter both a magic ring and a frightening creature known as Gollum.

My 8th grade son loves all things Tolkien. He’s been after me to read the Lord of the Rings triolgy forever even though I’ve told him multiple times that I don’t care for fantasy. Plus, I’ve seen all of the LOTR movies and I didn’t understand a single thing that happened in any of them.

I agreed to read The Hobbit as a compromise, primarily because it’s shorter and would take away less of my reading time. I wanted to read at least a little something by Tolkien because I thought it was really sweet of him to want to share books he loved with me. He was really excited when I told him I’d read The Hobbit.

I’m sorry to say that reading it did not make me like fantasy more. I really liked the parts with Gollum but I found the rest confusing and it just didn’t hold my interest very well. I found myself putting it down for long stretches at a time. Regardless, I’m glad I read The Hobbit so that I have a better idea of what Tolkien is all about. I also like being able to talk about books with my son since we’re both big readers.

He recently had to read To Kill a Mockingbird for school. I reread it myself so that we could discuss it. That’s much more my speed and luckily, he liked it too.

I know I’m in a very small minority of people who don’t love Tolkien. If you like fantasy, you should probably read this book.