Thoughts on The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.

- J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit Chapter I: An Unexpected Party

Some of you that know me well may know by now that I was not a big fan of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit Trilogy. While I still thought that The Hobbit movies were better than most of the Marvel movies for example, that is actually a pretty low standard in my view. Azog the white orc, Azog's son Bolg, Tauriel the Elf, the two hour battle in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, the incorporation of extensive dialogue for Smaug and Bilbo, and the comedy of the dwarfs in the first Hobbit movies, which I found to conflict with their later heroic ability to wipe out dozens of orcks, were all some major issues I had with the film trilogy based on Tolkien's book. Cast Hollywood aside however, and I think we will find a much better fantasy story from Tolkien himself. 

The Hobbit is about a reluctant Bilbo Baggins who has no interest in adventure and is self absorbed in his home of the Shire. Bilbo is the last character in fiction that many readers would think would arise as a hero but Gandalf and Tolkien are wiser than we are about what constitutes a hero and a good story. Gandalf brings Bilbo on a quest with a group of dwarfs through far away lands and eventually to a dragon's lair. The story includes elves and battles and magic. Of course, the plot of the The Hobbit is also not the subject of this post. 

What I am attempting here is merely reflect some personal thoughts about the story and the text. It is interesting to note for example that Beowulf was an inspiration to The Hobbit. Like The Hobbit, the story of The Hobbit sees a dragon arise out of his lair and burn an entire town. Also like Beowulf, Beorn the bear has a similar linguistic name to Beowulf according to some scholars. It is no surprise that Tolkien, professor of Anglo-Saxon, incorporated many elements of Old English Literature into his stories. I am fond of Beowulf and Old English Literature in general. My appreciation of Anglo-Saxon literature helps me appreciate The Hobbit more.   

I personally have always enjoyed the Rankin Bass cartoons about Middle Earth. I probably like their cartoon of The Hobbit based on Tolkien's book better than the second and third films based on it by Peter Jackson. While I felt The Hobbit an Unexpected Journey was close to the book, I felt The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug to stray not only from the text but even from Bilbo himself as it diverted towards other characters that weren't even in the book. These problems with The Desolation of Smaug only intensified in The Battle of the Five Armies. The Hobbit book was just quite superior to The Hobbit movies. While I enjoyed the book when I read it years ago, I'm sure I'd appreciate it much more now. 

I read The Hobbit 9 years ago, so my memories of it may not be entirety fresh. Forgive my rustiness concerning my knowledge of the text and go read it for yourself. While I am fond of this work, I consider it inferior to The Lord of the Rings, though that is getting a little off topic. At any rate, the story is an easy fun read that children and adults will both enjoy.