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Plenty of readers come to "The Hobbit" backwards. They have seen the films, or read "The Lord of the Rings," and only later go looking for the smaller book that started it all. That is a perfectly good way in, but it can set the wrong expectations. "The Hobbit" is not an epic in the grand, solemn sense. It is a warm, funny, sometimes frightening adventure about a very ordinary person who is dragged out of his front door and into a much larger world.
Who wrote it, and when
J. R. R. Tolkien was born on 3 January 1892 in Bloemfontein, in the Orange Free State (now part of South Africa), and died on 2 September 1973 in Bournemouth, England. He was not a professional novelist. He was a scholar of language: from 1925 he was the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford, and later Merton Professor of English Language and Literature.
The story of how the book began is almost a legend itself. In the early 1930s, while marking exam papers, Tolkien came across a blank page and, on a sudden impulse, wrote a sentence about a hobbit living in a hole in the ground. The book grew from there and was published on 21 September 1937 by George Allen & Unwin, under the full title "The Hobbit, or There and Back Again." Tolkien drew the illustrations and designed the dust jacket himself.
Reviews were almost unanimously favorable, and the book won a New York Herald Tribune prize for the best juvenile fiction of 1938. His publishers asked for a sequel. That request eventually became "The Lord of the Rings," published in 1954 and 1955.
Where the story begins
Hobbits are small, human-like people with furry feet who live in comfortable underground homes. Bilbo Baggins, of Bag End in the Shire, is a respectable, well-to-do hobbit whose life is pleasantly free of surprises. He would very much like to keep it that way.
Then the wizard Gandalf arrives. Through a bit of wizardly trickery, Bilbo finds himself hosting an unexpected gathering: thirteen dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield, crowding into his tidy home. They have a plan. Long ago their people lost the Lonely Mountain, and all its treasure, to the dragon Smaug. They mean to take it back. Gandalf has recommended Bilbo to them as the expedition's "burglar," and the dwarves are openly doubtful that this fussy little householder is up to the job.
Despite their laughter, and despite his own better judgment, Bilbo sets out with them. Where the road leads from there is for you to discover.
What makes it worth reading
The first thing you notice is the voice. The narrator speaks to you directly, stepping in to explain things, to joke, or to comment on the characters. Tolkien later said he disliked this habit, but it is a large part of the book's charm. It feels like being told a story by someone who knows exactly when to lower their voice.
The second is the hero. Bilbo is a hobbit in comfortable middle age, not a warrior or a prince, and his whole way of life is built around a cozy, orderly home. That is what makes the journey matter. When he does find courage, it is the kind an ordinary reader can recognize: small decisions, made while frightened, that turn out to count.
The third is the world itself. Because Tolkien spent his working life studying old languages and legends, the names, peoples, and places in the book have an unusual weight. Even in a story written in a light, playful tone, you can sense a much older and deeper history just beyond the edge of the map. Readers who go on to "The Lord of the Rings" will find that history waiting for them.
A practical tip: the early chapters move quickly and are full of humor, so it is a good book to read aloud, whether to children or simply to yourself. And since Tolkien drew the original illustrations himself, it is worth looking for an edition that includes them.
Who will enjoy it
"The Hobbit" suits readers who want a fantasy novel they can finish in one book rather than a trilogy. It is a natural choice for anyone who loved the films and wants to meet the original Bilbo, and for parents looking for a classic to share with older children. It also works well for adults who have never read much fantasy and are curious where the modern genre came from. If you have ever been reluctant to leave a comfortable routine, you may find Bilbo more familiar than you expect.
Open it to the first chapter, let the dwarves knock on the door, and you will already be on the road.
Sources
- Wikipedia, "The Hobbit" (first publication date and publisher, subtitle, Tolkien's own illustrations, opening setup, "almost unanimously favourable" reviews, 1938 prize, the narrator and Tolkien's later dislike of it) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hobbit
- Wikipedia, "Bilbo Baggins" (Bilbo described as a hobbit in comfortable middle age at Bag End) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilbo_Baggins
- Wikipedia, "The Lord of the Rings" (began as a sequel to The Hobbit; published 1954-1955) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings
- Wikipedia, "J. R. R. Tolkien" (birth and death dates and places, Oxford professorships, publication years of The Lord of the Rings) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien