Written for J.R.R. Tolkien’s own children, The Hobbit met with instant critical acclaim when it was first published in 1937. Now recognized as a timeless classic, this introduction to the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, the wizard Gandalf, Gollum, and the spectacular world of Middle-earth recounts the adventures of a reluctant hero, a powerful and dangerous ring, and the cruel dragon Smaug the Magnificent."
I had thought about giving this book 3 stars because the plot wasn't bad, but I decided on giving it 2 stars. I skimmed through huge portions of it, and the descriptions of the forests were immensely repetitive. I found myself zoning out while reading about their journey, as it felt like the same thing over and over again. The book could have done well if it was a little shorter. The battle at the end was nice to read about, but it ended pretty quickly and then the rest of it was about the Hobbit's journey back home.
Writing - 3/5 : The writing style of the author is very rambling, and the book abounds in descriptions. He likes to twist sentences around and make them as long as possible. The story has a good flow, though. And please don't hate me for saying this, but this book felt like a Geronimo Stilton? A small creature going on an adventure, roaming strange lands with a group of others, and meeting new people. I guess I would have liked this book more if I had read it a few years ago.
I loved the songs in this book. They all rhymed and accompanied the story well. They made sense according to what was happening at that time and didn't seem forced. The illustrations in the book I read were great too. I want to watch the movie now, to see them all come to life.
Characters - 5/5 : All the characters were well developed. Although this is a prequel, we are given enough information to get an idea about everyone's behaviour. Bilbo had a constant personality throughout, and I agreed with his views about most things. Gandalf was interesting to read about as well and was a likeable character. Although there were many dwarves, each one of them had a separate personality. It was simple to differentiate them from each other by their dialogues and actions.
It was easy to grasp that the goblins were much larger than the dwarves, but their basic appearance sounded more or less the same. I could not picture how the elves were different from the goblins either, or how the dwarves were different from The Hobbit. Maybe it is just my bad imagination and years of assuming all of them look similar. But I would have liked it if we had gotten a little more description than that, since the author had plenty of pages to spare for describing the forests.
Pacing - 1/5 : I don't like giving this book such a low rating, but it was the pacing that spoilt everything for me. I absolutely could not get myself to care about how many trees were surrounding them, or how many streams they crossed each time they entered a new forest. Since the outcome of most scenarios was apparent, I was impatient for the end or a few twists along the way. There were so many dwarves, so I thought the author might kill some of them to make the story interesting. I didn't really want anyone to die, but I did want something unexpected or drastic to happen.
Overall, though I liked the story, I'm going to have to give it 2 stars. I wish the author would have made it shorter or added a few plot twists along the way. I would recommend it for 8 to 12-year-olds, as older people are likely to get bored.
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