Fetch The Hobbit Picturized By J.R.R. Tolkien Presented As Copy

reread in February, been a wonderful read!

"If more of us valued food, cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.
. . "

Thorin Oakenshield sums it up when he says these last words to Bilbo Baggins,

sitelinkThe Hobbit is the ultimate and an amazing adventure "nasty disturbing uncomfortable things" in Bilbos words story, This book is a real delight, a mustread!,

These below lines recited by Bilbo are just beautiful::

Roads go ever ever on,
Over rock and under tree,
By caves where never sun has shone,
By streams that never find the sea
Over snow by winter sown,
And through the merry flowers of June,
Over grass and over stone,
And under mountains of the moon.


Roads go ever ever on
Under cloud and under star,
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar.

Eyes that fire and sword have seen
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green
And trees and hills they long have known

Some books are almost impossible to review.
If a book is bad, how easily can we dwell on its flaws! But if the book is good, how do you give any recommendation that is equal the book Unless you are an author of equal worth to the one whose work you review, what powers of prose and observation are you likely to have to fitly adorn the work

'The Hobbit' is at one level simply a charming adventure story, perhaps one of the most charming and most adventurous ever told.
There, see how simple that was If you haven't read it, you should, because it is quite enjoyable, At some level, there is little more to say, Enjoy the story as the simple entertainment it was meant to be, Read it to your children and luxuriate in the excitement and joy that shines from their faces, That's enough.

But if it was only simple entertainment, I do not think that it would be anything more than just a good book.
Instead, this simple children's story resonates and fascinates, It teases and hints at something larger and grander, and it instructs and lectures as from one of the most subtle intellects without ever feeling like it is instructing, lecturing or being condescending.


At its heart, the complaint I opened the review with is just a variation on one of the many nuanced observations Tolkien makes in 'The Hobbit' when he complains that a story of a good time is always too quickly told, but a story of evil times often requires a great many words to cover the events thereof.
How often has that idea fascinated me,

Consider also how the story opens, with Bilbo's breezy unreflective manners which are polite in form but not in spirit, and Gandalf's continual meditation on the meaning of 'Good morning.
How much insight is concealed within Gandalf's gentle humor! How often do we find ourselves, like Bilbo, saying something we don't really mean and using words to mean something very unlike their plain meaning! How often do we find ourselves saying, "I don't mean to be rude, but.
. . ", when in fact we mean, "I very much mean to be rude, and here it comes!" If we did not mean to be rude, surely we wouldn't say what we say.
Instead we mean, "I'm going to be rude but I don't want you to think I'm someone who is normally rude, . . ", or "I'm going to put myself forward, but I don't want you to think of me as someone who is normally so arrogant, . . ", or even, "I'm going to be rude, but I don't want to think of myself as someone who is rude, so I'm going to pretend I'm not being rude.
. . "

I think that is what makes this more than just a good book, but a great one, Tolkien is able to gently skewer

us for our all too human failings, and he does so without adopting any of the cynicism or selfloathing so common with those that seek out to skewer humanity for its so evident failings.


We fantasize about heroes which are strong and comely of form, and we have for as long as we've had recorded literature.
Our comic books are filled with those neopagan mythic heroes whose exaggerated human virtues always amount to, whatever else may be true of them, 'beats people up good'.
These modern Ajaxs, Helens and Achilles dominate the box office, and I would imagine dominate our internal most private fantasy lives as well, Oh sure, the superhero of our fantasy might have superhuman ethics to go along with his superhuman ability to kick butt, attract the opposite sex, and enforce their will upon others, but it is always attached to and ultimately secondary to our fantasy of power and virility.
How different is Tolkien's protagonist from Heracles, Lancelot, Beowulf, or Batman short, small, mundane, and weak, Of all the principal characters of the story, he possesses probably the least of that quintessential heroic attribute martial prowess,

And yet, he is not actually merely an 'average Joe', Bilbo is just as much an exaggerated idealized hero as Heracles, it's just that those attributes in which Bilbo is almost transcendently inhuman isn't the sort of attributes we normally fantasize about having ourselves.
Bilbo is gentle. He is simple. He is humble. Power and wealth have little attraction for him, He is kind. He takes less than his share, and that that he takes he gives away, He is a peacemaker. Though wrongly imprisoned, he bears no grudge and desires no vengeance for the wrongs done to him, Rather he apologizes for stealing food, and offers to repay in recompense far more than he took, Though mistreated, he harbors no enmity, He never puts himself forward, but he never shirks when others do,

How often do we fantasize about being this different sort of hero, and yet how much better we would be if we did How much better off would we be if we, like Thorin could declare in our hearts, "There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West.
Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure, If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world, " How often is it that we hunger after all the wrong things What profit would we really have if we had in great measure the power to 'beat people up good' What real use could we put it too How much better off would we be individually and as a people if we most desired to be graced with Bilbo's virtues, rather than Achilles speed, strength, and skill with arms How much less mature does this mere children's book of a well litworld cause our darker fantasies to seem

Now, I admit I am biased in my review.
I read this booktimes before the age of, I broke the spines of three copies of it with continual reading, Yet in my defense I will say that I'm considered only a moderate fan of the book by many, I've known several devotees of the book who, like the protagonist of Bradbury's 'Fahrenheit', can recite whole chapters from memory ensuring that this would be one of the few books that would survive the sudden destruction of all the world's technology if only the world's story tellers survived.
If you are inclined to think no book can be that good, and that my review overhypes it, so much the better, Go in with low expectations so as to be certain that they will be met or exceeded, Forget all I have said save that, "If you haven't read it, you should, because it is quite enjoyable, "
I read the first book of TLOTR a few years ago and was completely underwhelmed by it, I certainly wouldn't have read this, had me daughter not asked me to read it aloud to her, What a lucky thing that she did! This was genuinely heartwarming and full of adventure, Not a word was wasted unlike in TLOTR, where entire chapters left my head swimming with unnecessary detail, and the characters the entire hoard of them were beautifully described.
Buddy read with sitelinkFares and I could not be more excited!

Edit after finishing: So I'm bawling right now, Every time I have to say goodbye, I just can't bear it, Full review to come.






Since this is a buddy read with the awesome sitelinkFares , my review will be chapter by chapter, accompanied by appropriate gifs and quotes every two days.


Chapter: An Unexpected Party, This is giving me such nostalgia!

Underrated quote: The hobbit was a very welltodo hobbit, and his name was Baggins.
The Bagginses have lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of mine, and most people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him.
This is the story of how a Baggins had an adventure, and found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected, "



Chapter Two: Roast Mutton



Tolkien's humour is really underappreciated: "Thorin and Company to Burglar Bilbo greeting! For your hospitality our sincerest thanks, and for your offer of professional assistance our grateful acceptance.
Terms: cash on delivery up to and not exceeding one fourteenth of total profits if any all travelling expenses guaranteed in any event funeral expenses to be defrayed by us or our represented, if occasion arises and the matter is not otherwise arranged for.


Or another gem:

"Where did you go to, if I may ask" said Thorin to Gandalf as they road along
"To look ahead.
" said he
"And what brought you back in the nick of time"
"Looking behind, "



Chapter three: A short rest



What I love about this chapter is that it establishes my favourite ship, Bilbo X Rivendell.
All jokes aside, it is the chapter where Bilbo discovers a lifelong connection with Rivendell, a place that will ultimately provide him with respite and comfort in his late years.


They stayed long in that good house, fourteen days at least, and they found it hard to leave, Bilbo would gladly have stopped there for ever and ever,

Chapter: Over Hill and Under Hill



When he peeped out in the lightning flashes, he saw that across the valley the stonegiants were out, and were hurling rocks at one another for a game, and catching them, and tossing them down into the darkness where they smashed among the trees far below, or splintered into little bits with a bang,

Chapter: Riddles in the dark



Gollum had no sword.
Gollum had not actually threatened to kill him, Or tried to yet. And he was miserable, alone, lost, A sudden understanding, a pity mixed with horror, welled up within Bilbo's heart: a glimpse of endless unmarked days without light or hope of betterment, hard stone, cold fish, sneaking and whispering.
All these thoughts passed in a flash of a second,

If it weren't for Bilbo's empathy at that moment and he had decided to kill Gollum, Frodo and Sam would have had Gollum to help them make it to Mordor on a more secret path.
Bilbo's empathy saved Middle Earth, Think about that. Deep stuff.

Chapter: Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire



Unpopular opinion time: I love the Hobbit movies with all my heart.
This chapter is one of my favourites in the movie even though there's a lot of Bilbo/Thorin drama alright, I love the drama.
That bromance is the best,

This chapter has some great lines by the dwarves, especially underrated ones like Dori and Balin, There are wargs, goblins and of course, Eagles in this one, The Eagles are cool and neutral assholes as usual, You know, as the saying goes, don't risk a feather for a mortal, I totally made that up, but that's how they are

What did I tell you" said Gandalf laughing Mr Baggins has more about him than you guess.
" He gave Bilbo a queer look from under his bushy eyebrows, as he said this, and the hobbit wondered if he guessed at the part of his tale that he had left out.


Chapter:Queer Lodgings



I love this chapter so much, I love Beorn. I can relate to him he's a vegetarian who loves nature, animals and plants, And he's a bee keeper! It's as if Tolkien predicted our bee crisis and rise in vegetarianism, Beorn is the Tom Bombadil of the Hobbit he doesn't care for shiny things, rings and gems, He just loves his nature,

I love how Gandalf introduces the hobbits! We get spoiled by Gandalf's sharpenedbyawhetstonewit and Beorn's hilarious sense of humour!

There are some tantalising parts of this chapter where Beorn wants to know the story of the company's journey thus far.
However, there are some weird bits like the dogs serving food on their hind legs and Bears dancing outside in the moonlight, This is the whimsical side of Tolkien I love!

Gandalf leaves the dwarves to journey through Mirkwood alone, AND THIS is where things get awesome!

Some of my favourites quotes:

At any rate he under no enchantment but his own.
He lives in an oakwood and has a great wooden house and as a man he keeps cattle and horses which are nearly as marvellous as himself.
They work for him and talk to him, He does not eat them neither does he hunt or eat wild animals, "

So they all went to breakfast with him, Beorn was jolly for a change indeed he seemed to be in splendidly good humour and set them all laughing with his funny stories nor did they have to wonder long where he had been or why he was so nice to them, for hetold them himself.
He had been over the river and right back up into the mountains from which you can guess that he could travel quickly, in bear's shape at any rate.
From the burnt wolfglade he had soon found out that part of their story was true but he had found more than that: he had caught a Warg and a goblin wandering in the woods.
From these he had got the news the goblins patrols were hunting with Wargs for the dwarves and they were angry because of the death of the Goblin King.

Side note: I wanted to share something special with all my reading buddies, This is the exact copy of The Hobbit my aunt gave me ten years ago for myth birthday, I've read it about eight times, It is the book that got me into reading and eventually got me two Tolkien tattoos and a lifetime of love,



What I love about The Hobbit is that the protagonist isn't some young person with strength and energy to boot he's a middleaged guy who finally lives a life of adventure.
It's a message that anyone out there can have an adventure despite their age, .