Title: The Hobbit
Publication Year: 1937
Plot: The Hobbit is set within Tolkien's fictional universe and follows the quest of home-loving Bilbo Baggins, the titular hobbit, to win a share of the treasure guarded by a dragon named Smaug. Bilbo's journey takes him from his light-hearted, rural surroundings into more sinister territory. The story is told in the form of an episodic quest, and most chapters introduce a specific creature or type of creature of Tolkien's geography.
Miscellaneous: The publisher was encouraged by the book's critical and financial success and, therefore, requested a sequel. As Tolkien's work progressed on its successor, The Lord of the Rings, he made retrospective accommodations for it in The Hobbit. These few but significant changes were integrated into the second edition. Further editions followed with minor emendations, including those reflecting Tolkien's changing concept of the world into which Bilbo stumbled.
This novel was long-anticipated by the group. The discussion leader called it out weeks in advance. People had ideas about the book or read it when they were younger. We all looked forward to it. I read it twice, the last time being when I was probably 14.
As usual, our first talking point was not what I anticipated: “Why were there spiders?” Two readers were wondering because almost every other creature is fantastic in nature. The book has hobbits, dwarfs, goblins, and a dragon. So something as commonplace as a spider felt somewhat out of place. Also, they wondered why the dragon needed so much gold. Anyone have any ideas?
The group enjoyed the riddles and rhymes. It added a playful quality to the book, and they enjoyed pausing during their reading to think about what the answers to some of the riddles might be. Even the big bad villain talks in riddles. It was clear this books was not written for hardcore fantasy buffs (if they existed in large numbers at the time). And it made the book accessible. One reader said, “it reminds me of Dungeons & Dragons with a little bit of Star Wars, mainly because of the journey-aspect of the book.”
They really liked Bilbo as a hero. He is plan, relatable, and likable. He doesn’t necessarily want to be there. As a creature of comfort, he wanted nothing more than to be home and eat good food Thrust into the position was, Bilbo isn’t so different than many of us in that regard: life calls for us to step up sometimes!
Readers really liked the travel aspect of the book. One reader said, “You know you’re in for a good time when you see a map at the front of the book.” He said the book had just enough world-building. “It’s easy for fantasy books to go overboard with explaining language and currency and politics.” The group liked that The Hobbit kept things simple.
Thanks for following along. Next time we’ll be discussing Kim. We hope you’re reading something good!
If you would like to read The Hobbit, here are some links: