by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Hobbit is at one level simply a charming adventure story, perhaps one of the most charming and most adventurous ever told. If you haven’t read it, you should, because it is unforgettable. Written for J.R.R. Tolkien’s own children, this story resonates and fascinates. Beginning in the quiet rural village of Hobbiton, across the water, in a land called Middle Earth, Bilbo Baggins, lives a quiet existence. He has a smidgen of wanderlust in him, but he is mostly content to enjoy hearty meals and a good pipe, until an old friend appears. Gandalf the Grey. Bilbo’s life is upended, as he is a led on a quest helping a group of dwarves – led by Thorin Oakenshield – to regain the land and an incredible treasure that is rightly theirs. No small feat, as inside the Lonely Mountain lies a cruel, deceptive dragon – Smaug the Magnificient. Troubled with trolls, slinking spiders, riddles in the dark, a shape – shifting Beorn, goblins, elves and a murderous dragon, there are magical beings aplenty. A timeless classic, the ending is just the beginning with ‘the Hobbit’ as it provides a great introduction to the spectacular world of Middle-earth.

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

 

Comfort is what I found in this book. It was a book that has enthralled and amazed me since a child and continues to charm me every time I pick it up; a must read for all.​

Reviewed by Mr Webster