(A Book Review of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien)
"So snow comes after fire and even dragons have their ending! I wish now only to be in my own arm-chair!" - Bilbo Baggins Mr. Bilbo Baggins, taking to the usual smoking of his pipe and blowing rings in the bright early morning, believed life couldn't get any better. Between eating the many hobbit meals, six to be exact, collecting gossip about the, supposedly, private business of others, and enjoying the splendid gift giving and merry making, nothing seemed better. This is the story of Mr. Bilbo Baggins - or at least it was. For just down the road where he sat, a wizard, whose eyebrows bristled out past his wide brimmed hat and his staff which thudded along, was coming to give happy Bilbo a visit. Being the first book by J.R.R. Tolkien that I have read, I was very well pleased. The style was simple and the story fantastic. Though it was not such a labyrinth as other mysterious phantasy books, The Hobbit delivered an adventure as written through the eyes of a friend; and more closely the adventures of living as one. With a book of this sort, one must begin with the Title and storyline itself. J.R.R. Tolkien's title, "The Hobbit", and Bilbo's "There and Back Again..." are perfectly suited to tell the reader what to expect; the adventure of a Hobbit going There and Back again. However, soon before the closing pages, you will find that the letters, "There and Back Again..", were written with a heavy laden pen. It all began with twelve dwarves and an old grey wizard, at tea, pushing Bilbo out of his house and upon the road to retrieve the old dwarven treasures - Of course guarded by the evil dragon Smaug. Though his twelve dwarvish companions prove to be much more a problem than help, Gandalf, the wizard, played the guiding hand and ultimately the more mysterious of the characters. As they travel through thick and thin, mysterious and wondrous, to the last safe haven of Rivendell and to the more hostile Mirkwood Forest, Bilbo fights the idea of going back to the Shire and at every turn wishing to be in the comfort of his home. This constant fight to go home proves to be the bases of the story and moral: That an adventure worth going on always makes for a better story. Once Bilbo had finished his adventure, he struggled with accepting the idea of going home again. My remarks to the story and language are but short. The story was precise, easy to understand, and always kept you "in the know". Tolkien’s language was nothing short of praiseworthy of E.B. White and his belief in brevity and the use of simple language. But on the flipside, the story at times seemed too predictable and repetitive; a trouble came and a trouble went with almost no consequence and no surprise. Additionally, his use of the English language, I felt, though precise and understandable, were too constrained for the fantasy genre and may have limited some of Tolkien’s fantastic ideas and conceptions. These remarks hold a bit less value when being compared to the characters. Between Bilbo, the dwarves, and Gandalf, they were loveable, humours, and at most times very convincing. If Tolkien's idea was to keep your love for Bilbo, he did just that at the expense of the others. Gandalf was constantly leaving just before trouble and arriving just in time to save them, and the dwarves seemed too numerous and not enough character development to tell between any of them. As for the moral of the story. What more could a book be without a reason to read it? A boat without a captain seems unreasonable enough, but too many people seem to find a modern book without a moral necessary. They used to call them "children’s" books, which were devastating at best, but now they have got into being called "The Adult Section". If modern moral standards were to succeed, The Hobbit would be relocated to the philosophy and ethical section of any local bookstore. The story's moral hinges on a variety of levels – I will list a few. From Bilbo you are given the glimpse of everybody that has lived; to always want to be great and adventurous but never looking far enough (or in this case, close enough) and after, upon completing your task, wondering why it was hard to begin at all. The dwarves gave incite of what numbness of the mind could do, what working hard could accomplish, and how treasures can corrupt a just cause. Even Gandalf, as removed as he was, always proved to show what should be happening; if he was pushing Bilbo to continue, showing them the route best walked (though perhaps not the safest) or counseling the civilizations of others in courses of action. This book would have won my favour on this topic alone; most other books either lack morals or attempt to twist a farce into something profound. |
