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J.R.R. Tolkien: The Hobbit

The Hobbit

Hobbit/Lord of the Rings is one of my favorite subjects. I read the Hobbit quite a few times before I graduated to the Trilogy. Cannot recommend this book enough.

Mike
 
I was given Lord of the Rings as a Christmas present, so I'm hoping to get around to reading it soon.
 
LOTR

If you really like LOTR when you read it, you may want to consider picking up The Silmarillion. It is the Tolkeins history of Middle Earth. Talks about all of the tales, and ages past. He considered it his greatest work.

Mike
 
I read The Fellowship of the Ring about a year ago, then stopped because I really didn't have the time to read it and truly enjoy it anymore.

I'm going to have to re-read The Fellowship of the Ring again before I can even think of starting The Two Towers... I think reading The Hobbit first, and maybe The Silmarillion as well, will make the experience even better? (I guess I can kiss my money goodbye on those ;))

Just can't wait until the holidays!

btw-- The twelve (?) volumes by Christopher Tolkien concerning Middle Earth, are those his own work or "revisions" of the stories that weren't published by his father? (or is it his grandfather?)
 
The 12 volumes are just putting together the notes that his father left. It concerns the war of the ring described in the beginning of Fellowship (The movie) There are also a ton of stories relating to old ages, characters and cultures. Tolkein truly world built to the point of inventing a whole language (elvish)
I have the first two volumes. The book of lost tales 1 and 2. Beautiful writing. It has been compared to the behind the scenes of the writing of the Lord of The Rings.

Mike
 
I don't know much about LOTR but I have seen the film "The Fellowship of the Ring" and I've started reading "The Hobbit" (a few chapters so far).
I have a question that will show the depth of my ignorance and I figured the LOTR fans surely know the answer ;):
I've just read the chapter where Bilbo and the dwarfs rest in Rivendell at Elrond's. I've wondered if this is also the place where Frodo and the elves and dwarfs form the fellowship in "The Fellowship of the Ring". The description of the place in the book sounded a lot like what we see in the film....

Marie
 
Hi Marie, I read The Hobbit towards the beginning of the year but can still remember lots about it.
Yes, Rivendell is the place where Frodo and the fellowship rest on their way after the attack on Frodo. That's why Bilbo went there to write his book - he'd been before in The Hobbit. I got the impression reading The Hobbit that the place changes a bit in Tolkien's mind in LOTR. The elves seem very playfull with their singsong in The Hobbit, but more serious in LOTR. What do you think? I know we'll overlap with next month's read but a little bit won't hurt.

It's interesting that Tolkien re-wrote a part of The Hobbit to fit better with Lord of the Rings.
 
Thanks for the info, Darren.:)

The elves seem very playful with their singsong in The Hobbit, but more serious in LOTR. What do you think?
Click to expand...

Yes, and also, if I remember the film correctly, Gandalf was not as playful in LOTR either (for example in The Hobbit he colors smoke rings to amuse the dwarves), maybe this is because the Hobbit was intended for children, Tolkien wanted to set a lighter tone?
 
I think Darren is right too. In fact:
There is a note in the front of the Hobbit --at least my version--that suggests that the story was corrected because Gandalf finally got the complete story from Bilbo. He also successfully blames the lie from an otherwise truthful Hobbit on the Ring, further villifying it.
Good move if you ask me. Also...
The more somber mood of Gandalf and Rivendell may be attributed to the increasingly dark prospects faced by Middle Earth with regard to the reemergence of Sauron and his servants. The finding of the Ring was a great blow to them as well for it seems that they hoped it had been destroyed when they whipped him the first time.
 
Intersting point about the change in mood in LOTR. Will have to wait to re-read LOTR to discover the history behind that. My only knowledge so far is from the LOTR film.

Darren.
 
I have finished "The Hobbit" and enjoyed it, except for the storytelling itself (probably because it was addressed to children, I found the humor a bit heavy-handed).

I was wondering, about the rewriting of the chapter "Riddles in the Dark" (that is mentioned in the preceding posts), does anybody know exactly what was in the original version?
I've just started LOTR and in the prologue,
the narrator says that Bilbo had first told Gandalf that the ring was a present that Gollum intended to give him because he had won the riddles contest. Was it this version that was in the original Hobbit? And in this case, did Tolkien change it because it was in contradiction with the power of the ring, the fact that anybody could willingly give it away or even imagine giving it away?
 
Please don't think I'm ranting but it just occured to me that although The Hobbit may seem mild enough for us here in 2002, it was published in 1937. Thats 65 years ago. This guy was on the cutting edge and practically founded a whole new genre of books. I can't see anyone letting their kids read this in 1937. Not in the U.S. anyway. Thats probably why it didn't really become popular here until the 60's. (OK I'm done now :eek:)

If you can find a version that was published before 1982 you might find out what was originally in the book. Mine is the revised edition.

Does anyone know if the new "Red Book of the Westmarch" edition is the original? Might check there too.
 
True... I am not trying to deny the numerous merits of Tolkien, I was just talking about my own reading experience of "The Hobbit". But anyway I think that there is a big difference in his writing between The Hobbit and LOTR and the way LOTR is written works better for me... The humor is definitely subtler and the style improved.
Just my personal opinion :)
 
I've started reading LOTR (a little ahead on the BOM schedule :)) and frankly I didn't expect to be so hooked ! I've read about 100 pages so far and have trouble putting it down... I was wondering how everybody is progressing? Have some of you read /reread "The Hobbit"? Did others start right away with LOTR?
 
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