The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Hobbit is a fantasy adventure story of a familiar general kind: a central character (or group of characters) sets out on a journey or a quest, or is accidentally transported, like Dorothy, to a strange land and then, after a series of perilous adventures, seemingly insurmountable obstacles, dangerous enemies and narrow escapes, reaches the goal or fulfills the quest, returns home, and lives happily ever after. The central character in this case is a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins. Hobbits, we are told, are "little people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded Dwarves." Bilbo sets off, a bit to his own surprise, with a group of thirteen dwarves to travel to a distant mountain, the former home of the dwarves. The dwarves were driven out of their home by a fearsome dragon named Smaug, who now guards the fabulous treasure that formerly belonged to the dwarves. The aim of the trip is, of course, to get rid of the dragon and recover the treasure. The dwarves and Bilbo are accompanied, some of the time, by a wizard named Gandalf.
Well, unsurprisingly, the party encounters dangerous enemies like trolls, goblins, wolves, elves, giant spiders, and others, as well as friends, including a flock of eagles. Unsurprisingly, too, they kill some of their enemies and escape from the others. Finally, again unsurprisingly, they reach the mountain, the dragon is slain (although not by them), and the dwarves recover the treasure. But the leader of the dwarves, Thorin, has become avaricious at the sight of the treasure, and a battle ensues among various contenders--elves, dwarves, men, and an invading horde of goblins--for a share in the treasure. At last, the goblins are overcome by a multitude of eagles, Thorin is killed but reconciled to Bilbo before he dies, and peace is restored to the mountain. Bilbo returns to his comfortable hobbit hole, where "he remained very happy to the end of his days, and these were extraordinarily long."
The Hobbit is pleasant light reading. The writing is occasionally labored, though mostly straightforward. I found the author's first-person comments to be a bit tiresome; such remarks as "I should not like to have been in Mr. Baggins' place," or, "I don't know how long he kept on like this" are perhaps intended to be humorous (the book contains almost nothing in the way of humor otherwise) but to me they seemed just cute and mildly annoying.
I would recommend The Hobbit to anyone in the mood for an easy-to-read magical fantasy story. I think the best time to read it would be when one is about nine years old.
Well, unsurprisingly, the party encounters dangerous enemies like trolls, goblins, wolves, elves, giant spiders, and others, as well as friends, including a flock of eagles. Unsurprisingly, too, they kill some of their enemies and escape from the others. Finally, again unsurprisingly, they reach the mountain, the dragon is slain (although not by them), and the dwarves recover the treasure. But the leader of the dwarves, Thorin, has become avaricious at the sight of the treasure, and a battle ensues among various contenders--elves, dwarves, men, and an invading horde of goblins--for a share in the treasure. At last, the goblins are overcome by a multitude of eagles, Thorin is killed but reconciled to Bilbo before he dies, and peace is restored to the mountain. Bilbo returns to his comfortable hobbit hole, where "he remained very happy to the end of his days, and these were extraordinarily long."
The Hobbit is pleasant light reading. The writing is occasionally labored, though mostly straightforward. I found the author's first-person comments to be a bit tiresome; such remarks as "I should not like to have been in Mr. Baggins' place," or, "I don't know how long he kept on like this" are perhaps intended to be humorous (the book contains almost nothing in the way of humor otherwise) but to me they seemed just cute and mildly annoying.
I would recommend The Hobbit to anyone in the mood for an easy-to-read magical fantasy story. I think the best time to read it would be when one is about nine years old.