Binding: Paperback
EAN: 9780618260300
Edition: 1
ISBN: 0618260307
Label: Houghton Mifflin
Languages: Array
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 320
Publication Date: 2002-08-15
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Reading Level: Young Adult
Studio: Houghton Mifflin

Written for J.R.R. Tolkien"s own children, The Hobbit met with instant critical acclaim when first published more than sixty years ago. Now recognized as a timeless classic with sales of more than 40 million copies worldwide, this introduction to Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf the Wizard, and the spectacular world of Middle-earth tells of the adventures of a reluctant hero, a powerful and dangerous ring, and the cruel dragon Smaug the Magnificent.
"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort."

The hobbit-hole in question belongs to one Bilbo Baggins, an upstanding member of a "little people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded dwarves." He is, like most of his kind, well off, well fed, and best pleased when sitting by his own fire with a pipe, a glass of good beer, and a meal to look forward to. Certainly this particular hobbit is the last person one would expect to see set off on a hazardous journey; indeed, when Gandalf the Grey stops by one morning, "looking for someone to share in an adventure," Baggins fervently wishes the wizard elsewhere. No such luck, however; soon 13 fortune-seeking dwarves have arrived on the hobbit's doorstep in search of a burglar, and before he can even grab his hat or an umbrella, Bilbo Baggins is swept out his door and into a dangerous adventure.

The dwarves' goal is to return to their ancestral home in the Lonely Mountains and reclaim a stolen fortune from the dragon Smaug. Along the way, they and their reluctant companion meet giant spiders, hostile elves, ravening wolves--and, most perilous of all, a subterranean creature named Gollum from whom Bilbo wins a magical ring in a riddling contest. It is from this life-or-death game in the dark that J.R.R. Tolkien's masterwork, The Lord of the Rings, would eventually spring. Though The Hobbit is lighter in tone than the trilogy that follows, it has, like Bilbo Baggins himself, unexpected iron at its core. Don't be fooled by its fairy-tale demeanor; this is very much a story for adults, though older children will enjoy it, too. By the time Bilbo returns to his comfortable hobbit-hole, he is a different person altogether, well primed for the bigger adventures to come--and so is the reader. --Alix Wilber

Customer Rating:
Summary: Over the Edge of the Wild
Comment: It must be over a decade since I last read this book- and nearly 35 years since I first read it. Yet, when I reread it this week I still became completely engrossed in it once again. Tolkien crafted a nearly perfect faery-tale here. In some ways it presages the Lord of the Rings, yet it is somehow different. It has a different feel to it. Had LOTR never been written this book would have still stood on its own as a classic.

When I choose to reread this classic I searched out a copy of the edition that I first read in High School (a friend lent me his treasured copy.) This was the 1966 Houghton Mifflin hardcover edition- 25th printing. I had heard some negative reports on the quality of later editions and I knew that this one was first rate. It has Tolkien's own illustrations in it and on the dust cover. Plus, after over 40 years it has still held together- and probably shall for 40 more.

So many books have copied this one over the years, but most of them are quickly forgotten while this one will last foreever. But then, Tolkien said that he sensed that everything that he put into this book (and LOTR) had actually happened somewhere, sometime, and that he was just tapping into it...

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Customer Rating:
Summary: The Hobbit on CD
Comment: This is a wonderful CD. The narrator uses voices for all the characters. My students loved it.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent Reading but Beware glue on CDs
Comment: This is an excellent reading of the Hobbit, and I'm really enjoying it. The reader does a great job of doing all the voices. I'd give it five stars but the quality of the CD manufacturing is not the best. I actually found some globs of rubber cement or sticky glue on the bottom of two of them. I finally got it cleaned off, but not before I had already tried the CD in my computer and a glob of glue mucked up the DVD burner and I had to replace it. I was pretty upset. There wasn't any glue on the packaging, just 2 CD's which I've never seen before. So just check them carefully.

But the reading of the book itself is so great, and the book so good that it kind of softens the blow. At least I had a tower PC and could just put in a new DVD burner. So just check the CD's when you get it first.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent book
Comment: This book is fantastic. I have to read it at least once a year. It is very entertaining, very fun and never gets old. Each time I pick up the book to read it it feels and reads as fresh as it did the first time. Great book for all ages and the best place to start if you are interested in "The Lord of the Rings" or learning more about Middle Earth. I'd recommend this book to everyone and it makes for a wonderful present for any and all occasions.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Really Good MUST READ
Comment: I really enjoyed this book I could never put it down. It's a good childrens book full of excitment. It's all about a group of dwarves going to kill a dragon who stole all their money and destroyed their town.

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