Book Review: The Hobbit

Sean started out his summer re-reading the Harry Potter series (for the umpteenth time). A month before school resumed, I caught him back with book one again. Incredulously, he was re-reading the series, yet again. Desperate for him to move on to something else, I brought home three options I felt sure he'd enjoy. I suggested Craig Silvey's Jasper Jones (despite the foul language, a riveting tale with boy appeal), Patrick Ness' The Knife of Never Letting Go (one I'd happily re-read, although perhaps not a dozen times in Sean's fashion), and J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. For two of these, I promised the opportunity to watch the movie once finished. Since I was hoping he'd go for the final option, I secured the audio version for myself.

I read this as a teenager, but haven't picked it up since. Although it was a delight to listen to Rob Inglis' narration, I did stumble upon a few videos showing a more recent rendering by Andy Serkis. Talk about intense reading! My long-standing memory from my personal reading was the Gollum's repetition of "my precious" in the passage of riddles between the hobbit and Gollum (rendered here by Andy Serkis).

Is there anyone who doesn't know what The Hobbit is about? The wizard Gandalf interrupts Bilbo Baggins in his hobbit-hole and invites him on a quest, accompanied by over a dozen dwarves. After reluctantly agreeing, Bilbo finds himself in Gollum's murky quarters and happens upon a magic ring. Throughout the adventure, he proves his worth again and again. With elves, wolves, bears, eagles, and dragons afoot, Bilbo uses his wits and his magic ring to get them out of scrapes and closer to the dragon's hoard of riches.

Although fantasy is not my first choice in fictional fare, I did enjoy Tolkien's rich narrative skill. I'm even eager to continue on to The Lord of the Rings trilogy, since I never persisted with that before. I believe I've already watched all the movies, but if I can finagle Sean into finishing this read, I will watch The Hobbit with him and encourage him to read the trilogy, as well.