The Annoying Hobbit

[Rumil]

Many plaudits to Child of the Seventh Age!

Strangely, though I read the Hobbit after the Lord of the Rings I have always loved it too. I think that I had tapped into Tolkien's 'book within a book' concept ie the Lord of the Rings essentially being an ancient copy of the Red Book of Westmarch, written by Frodo et al, and languishing high on a dusty shelf in the Bodleian library until the Prof discovered it one drizzly summer's afternoon when the cricket had been abandoned due to poor light.

Now to run with the Hobbit, I see it as a 'children's book within a children's book'. Although the Prof claims to have written it for his children, I strongly suspect that Bilbo wrote it to entertain his young relatives when they were a similar age. Therefore, when one comes back to it after LoTR, it's a bit like a detective story - how does it fit together with the 'real world' of Middle Earth? Through Bilbo's tale we get to see entire additional swathes of Middle Earth, and if the style appears childish, just remember that while it was Frodo's bedtime story, it also covers events of great significance and seriousness. After all, if it was written in the highfalutin idiom of Gondor, the tale wouldn't have been half so entertaining I'm sure.

[Lalwendë]

Time for me to get serious and defend The Hobbit (beyond the fact that it has a dragon in it)

Firstly, The Hobbit was written as a children's book, so will necessarily have a different style to LotR. It will be simpler in tone, less complex and have more vivid imagery. These kind of things work in children's books, and are possibly essential to appeal to the younger mind. Having more vivid images can go a long way in explaining why the Dwarf characters are often comic, and why Gandalf is more humorous and tricksy.

The Hobbit is also something of a classic fairy tale. We are introduced to a new character, a little person, who lives in an exaggerated version of our world at its best, and one day he's swept away on a journey. And on this journey he encounters all kinds of weird and wonderful creatures and people. There are pixies in the form of the Elves, monsters in the form of Smaug and the orcs, and horror in the form of Gollum. But at the end of it all, Bilbo lives happily ever after, just as he should.

I think it does help if The Hobbit is the first of the books any new reader approaches, purely because LotR is such a monster of a book that it would overshadow anything. And The Hobbit doesn't deserve that. It's wonderful in its own right.

The style is possibly a little old fashioned to many brought up on the 'realistic' tales that are nowadays seemingly deemed more appropriate for children than fairy tales, but it is no different to that found in books by Enid Blyton or Arthur Ransome. And I wouldn't say its altogether far from JK Rowling's style, episodic and quite vivid.

And anyway, it has my favourite character in it, Bilbo.

[Mithalwen]

I think there is something in the best read aloud theory. As I mentioned, I was enchanted when Bernard Cribbins read it on Jackanory when I was about 8.

I found a littel quote in UT today which may be helpful to those who are antagonistic or ambivalent, when Gandalf says that the story would have been a bit different if he had written it.... now that is something to conjure with

[Imladris]

My post will be short as Child and Sophia the Thunder Mistress has said most of what needs to be said.

I love the Hobbit...sometimes I love it even more than LotR and the Sil (well...it doesn't take much for something to make me like it more than the Sil...but heh). The Hobbit is realer to me, in a certain aspect, than LotR ever was. In the Hobbit I know Bilbo...I can relate to him and the dwarves. In LotR it is different. Though still real the characters are untouchable. Far off. Who could ever hope of relating to Aragorn or Frodo, or even Sam? Tolkien made them to be figures afar off, figures that were unrelatable. In part, that is why I like the Hobbit better sometimes than LotR.

And as for the laughing elves who sang silly songs....I love that. Combined with the somber elves of LotR the elves are instantly changed from just being silly (or somber) to a complex race.

I love the Hobbit. As Lalwende said, there's a big dragon in it. That talks in riddles.

Bloody brilliant.

[Ruoutorin]

I am grateful for everyone's response! Maybe it's just a matter of taste. I like the Sil more for it's tragic nature (the tales of Turin and Hurin, et al, appeal to me more then the tale of Beren & Luthien) and I appreciated the view into what the races of ME endured to get them to the point where they are in the LotR. The Hobbit, to me at least, doesn't really fit into that scheme. Yes, there is a dragon, but I never could vision Smaug to be in the same league as Glaurung. For me, there is just something missing in The Hobbit.

[Kuruharan]

Yes, there is a dragon, but I never could vision Smaug to be in the same league as Glaurung.

In a sense he wasn't. However, I always thought that the two characters were fairly similar.

[Eruanna]

The Hobbit is a wonderful book in its own right and although it seems much lighter in tone than the LotR, I do not believe it should be dismissed as a children's book.
The story of Bilbo's journey 'There and Back Again' is told in a fairy tale style, but has at its heart a deeper, darker meaning. Bilbo meets all manner of cruel and twisted 'monsters', even some of the elves are a threat and we are in no doubt that in his riddling contest with Gollum, his very life is at stake.
It could be argued that many children's tales have a 'dark heart'; those of the Brothers Grimm come to mind.
However, Bilbo's journey is one he experiences both externally and internally. He is a much changed hobbit at the end of his adventure than the quite complacent little person we met at the beginning.

Lalwendë said:

I think it does help if The Hobbit is the first of the books any new reader approaches, purely because LotR is such a monster of a book that it would overshadow anything.

This is true. However, reading 'The Hobbit' first also prepares us for the world and the story of 'The Lord of the Rings' just as Bilbo's adventure prepares Frodo for his adventures to follow.