The Hobbit Experience
A while back when I was comfortably entrenched on my sofa with my afghan, reading and probably giggling a little, my son had some friends over. One of them came over to my corner wondering what I was reading because it looked like I was having fun. When I said "The Hobbit' his immediate response was "I read that when I was 12." (Twelve seems to be the magic number.) He went on to tell me that his father had, almost with ceremony, given him the book, telling him he had read it when he was 12 and was passing it down. His fiancee came over and I read some of the amusing parts to them. They decided they were going to dig up the book and read it to each other. And they are. (By the way, his copy is some 1975 special edition.)
I was going to save this and ask this question later, but belongfellow's post made me want to do it now. What is it about this book? Why is it read over and over by some? What was it when you were 12 and what is it now? Tell me now or, tell me later, but I'd really like to know.
This is what I remember. I read it when I was 12. I remember I liked the book and went on to read LOTR and didn't like that as much. No specifics other than thinking the hobbit world was cool.
I can honestly say I am probably enjoying it much more now. I like the way he creates his setting, or world, and characters in the context of the story. I have trouble with some fantasy when the explanation and description of the world and it's inhabitants takes over the book and the story gets lost. Tolkien uses enough of the familiar so I can easily incorporate anything new without distracting me from the story.
And that being said, it's all about the language and the style. I am enjoying this in the same way I enjoyed Lemony Snicket. I love the way he speaks to the reader. His phrases and descriptions are unique, amusing and very visual. I can't help but smile when I read it.
I was going to save this and ask this question later, but belongfellow's post made me want to do it now. What is it about this book? Why is it read over and over by some? What was it when you were 12 and what is it now? Tell me now or, tell me later, but I'd really like to know.
This is what I remember. I read it when I was 12. I remember I liked the book and went on to read LOTR and didn't like that as much. No specifics other than thinking the hobbit world was cool.
I can honestly say I am probably enjoying it much more now. I like the way he creates his setting, or world, and characters in the context of the story. I have trouble with some fantasy when the explanation and description of the world and it's inhabitants takes over the book and the story gets lost. Tolkien uses enough of the familiar so I can easily incorporate anything new without distracting me from the story.
And that being said, it's all about the language and the style. I am enjoying this in the same way I enjoyed Lemony Snicket. I love the way he speaks to the reader. His phrases and descriptions are unique, amusing and very visual. I can't help but smile when I read it.
posted by CDL | 11:19 PM
6 Comments:
wow, i just did some figuring and realized i also was 12 when i first read The Hobbit. i think. i just asked my parents a few days ago where our copy of the Hobbit came from. neither one of them knew. i seem to remember just finding it on a bookshelf somewhere in the house (not mine), but it might not have happened that way at all. i know shortly after reading the Hobbit i was given LOTR and i was in 7th grade at the time. i started the Fellowship one day when i was home sick and read the entire first half that day. it took me 3 more weeks to read book 2. i'll be thinking about "what The Hobbit was and is." good question
I would have been about that age too. My parents were both teachers and they raised me on the quality picture books of the time. And my mom read chapter books to my brother and me as we got older (I remember Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and A Wrinkle in Time, specifically). But I don’t remember being much of an independent reader until seventh grade. That year our teacher read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to us. I liked it enough that when I found out there were more Narnia books I read them all. After seeing me getting into fantasy, my mom asked around and came back with a recommendation of Lloyd Alexander, so I read his books too. I don’t know how I came across it, but I’m pretty sure The Hobbit was next. Each of those reading experiences was one of discovering of an amazing new world. Just like the first time Lucy steps through the back of that wardrobe, it was truly magical for me.
I can’t say I remember the specific experience of reading The Hobbit that first time, but I know I liked it. It was The Lord of the Rings, which I read right after, that really made the impression. It was my first “adult” fantasy, and the darker tone and more complex storyline blew me away. I know at times I felt a little impatient with all the “talking” and detail and Tolkien’s patient storytelling style, but I loved it. There was a real sense of darkness and danger and foreboding, the impending possibility of Sauron’s evil overcoming all of the goodness in the world. The Hobbit was a light tale of an enjoyable adventure; this one had substance and felt meaningful, the stakes seemed much more real. It was eighth grade when I gave an oral book report on The Silmarillion, so I know I did all that reading in about a year. After that I didn’t read anything but fantasy if I could help it until at least college (with a small dalliance in Stephen King my last year or two of high school). Anytime I hear one of the songs that was popular on the radio that year (which played while a lay in my bed reading) it evokes the mood and gives me warm chills.
I'm with Degolar on this one.
The Tolkien books are pretty much the only fantasy I've read. I read LOTR first, and it made a huge impression on me. I was around 18 or 19, and I read it in 4 days in Hawaii and loved it. I read The Hobbit after, and while I enjoyed it, I didn't like it nearly as much as LOTR.
Dude! You like Tolkien but have never read any other fantasy? We need to expand your experience of the genre a bit. Let me know when you're ready for some recommendations.
Interesting, thanks. I've often thought of Hobbit and LOTR as the "gateway books" to fantasy for lots of kids.
I think my favorite thing about the book was that for a while, you forget that Tolkien is telling you the story until he tosses in his own personal comments.
This is the first time I've read it (though, the cartoon is well worn on VHS at my parental units house) and I found it very enjoyable. I wanted more Smaug. :)
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