The Hobbit is a story about Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit, who is gets wrapped up in an adventure with a group of dwarves and Gandalf the wizard. Bilbo enjoys a simple life in his peaceful home until one day Gandalf pushes him to embark on a journey to recover a treasure guarded by a dragon named Smaug. Gandalf wants Bilbo to be the group’s burglar, but before they leave, the dwarves come over to Bilbo’s house, and they eat all of his food.
The
group then embarks on the long and difficult adventure. Quickly, however, they run into trouble when
they encounter trolls in the woods. Both
Gandalf and Bilbo help save the group, and it is not long after that the group
is ready travel again. But in the Misty
Mountains the group again encounters trouble when they are scattered by a bunch
of goblins. Bilbo accidentally discovers
a magical ring that makes him invisible when he puts it on. He has an uncomfortable meeting with the
ring’s keeper, a creature called Gollum.
Bilbo escapes from the Mountains and rejoins the group.
After
this, the group has to survive an encounter with giant spiders and a group of
wood-elves. Once the group finally makes
it to Smaug’s cave, the group decides that the group burglar, Bilbo, should
enter first. Bilbo enters and manages to
steal a cup, which makes Smaug extremely angry.
The dragon takes out his rage on the town of Esgaroth. But Bilbo discovered Smaug’s weakness – he’s
missing a plate in his armor, so Bard is able to attack this spot and slay
Smaug.
Following Smaug's death, word spreads that
Smaug is dead and that the treasure is left unguarded. This attracts humans, goblins, wolves, and
other creatures. This becomes the battle
of the five armies. During the epic
battle, Bilbo is knocked unconscious. In
the end, Gandalf and Bilbo make their way back to Bilbo’s home, where he
encounters new problems, like the fact that he has been considered legally
dead.
This
book was one of my favorite reads all semester. Given how much I love fantasy, it's really strange that I've never read this book before - this is one of the reasons I chose to read it for one of my books in the first place. Another reason I read it is because the movie is coming out soon, and I wanted to read the book before I saw the movie. Now I can't wait to go and see it. It's going to be amazing!
Will I teach this book someday? I'm not sure. I would have to do some research first to see whether it's ever taught, and if so, how teachers go about doing it. This is because I would want to be really confident in the way I taught this book, because I would hate to ruin it for someone. And I wonder if a fantasy tale like this would or could be appreciated by students who don't care for fantasy. I imagine that the Harry Potter craze opened up the genre to a wider population, but I can also imagine that some Harry Potter fans might not like Tolkien. Crazy, I know.
Do I recommend this book? Absolutely. Anyone who hasn't read it, should... immediately. It's a good old fashioned adventure, hero's journey kind of story. And it's humorous as well. One of my favorite parts about the book, too, is that you realize how big the world is that Tolkien created. There are maps, and histories, and other stories, and songs, and languages, and illustrations throughout the book. It's incredible, and it's very easy to immerse yourself in the story and the world of the hobbit. So, I think it makes a really fun read, and I will definitely read it again someday.
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