The Hobbit, or There and Back Again is the prequel to The Lord of the Rings, and the first published part of Tolkien's Legendarium. It was first published in 1937. It's been adapted into several audiobooks, at least one stage version, an opera, a comic book, a cartoon, and a trilogy of films.
Unlike LOTR, The Hobbit is clearly a children's book. In some ways it reminds me more of Grimm's fairy tales than part of Tolkien's Legendarium. We're introduced to Bilbo Baggins, the title character, who reluctantly agrees to help a group of Dwarves reclaim their home and gold from Smaug the dragon. Along the way they have many adventures, both hair-raising and humourous (and sometimes both at once; the trolls would be terrifying if they weren't so stupid!).
From the very first page Bilbo was my favourite character. His exasperation with his uninvited guests, his reaction to all the perils he faces on the journey, his gradual character development from being an easily-frightened tagalong to facing Smaug twice and escaping unharmed... In some ways I actually like Bilbo better than Frodo.
Smaug, even though he's a monster who gets his richly deserved comeuppance shortly after his first appearance, is my second favourite character. Maybe it's because I just like dragons. Or maybe it's because of how he has an actual personality instead of being just a plot device.
There's no shortage of creepy characters and incidents in this book, but Gollum takes the cake. My heart was in my mouth the whole time I read his riddling contest with Bilbo 😨 And knowing what the Ring is makes it terrifying even when it isn't doing anything except turning Bilbo invisible.
As I mentioned earlier, the films improve on the book in some ways. Gandalf's random disappearances in the book serve no real purpose except to get him out of the way when his powers would solve a problem quickly. We're told at the end he was fighting a Necromancer, but this is basically an afterthought to explain where he was. I prefer the films' version, where we get to see him and the White Council fight Sauron. Also, Bilbo is unconscious for most of the Battle of Five Armies in the book. He hears what happened second-hand, which doesn't make for a very exciting conclusion. The films actually show the battle, and the events leading to Thorin's, Fíli's and Kíli's deaths.
Speaking of Thorin's death, I cried so hard I couldn't see the page 😭 Fíli's and Kíli's deaths don't have quite as much impact, because we don't get to know them well in the book.
The Hobbit suffers slightly from being much shorter than LOTR and not having nearly as much character development or world-building in it. The reader doesn't grasp how vast and amazing Middle-Earth is in this book. But I love it almost as much as LOTR even with those flaws 😄
Is it available online?: I doubt it.
Rating: 10/10.
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