The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien

I feel like this is one of those classic books that doesn't really need a review - but I'm going to write one anyway! I started The Hobbit a few years ago before I started university, but once the work kicked in and I was reading two books a week for my course I just didn't get round to finishing it! Now I'm done with uni, it was a great time to immerse myself into Tolkien's world. Over the Christmas period, I watched the Lord of the Rings films in one day - fifteen solid hours! I think that's a pretty big achievement, personally.

I haven't yet watched The Hobbit films, but I wanted to start from the beginning with the books, and my 2019 goal is to read all the books including The Silmarillion! The first book was a fairly quick read, and took me about three or four days, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Tolkien's target audience was children between the ages of 5 and 9, though I'd say by modern standards a five year old would do well to get through a novel like this! It was definitely a very enjoyable read, and you quickly become absorbed in the magical world of hobbits, dwarves and dragons. Loads of you have probably already read this, but in case you haven't, I'll give a quick run-down of the plot!

The novel begins as the hobbit Bilbo Baggins is visited in his modest little home in the Shire by thirteen dwarves, and persuaded to join them on their journey to re-claim the Lonely Mountain and their treasure from the dragon Smaug. Reluctantly, he accepts and is recruited as the 'burglar' by Gandalf the wizard, which the other dwarves initially ridicule. Bilbo will ultimately come away with a share of the treasure and heroic reputation.

The novel follows the perilous journey of Bilbo and the dwarves to the Lonely Mountain, and some terrifying encounters along the way, including his meeting with Gollum and their battle of riddles. This is the moment when Bilbo finds the infamous ring, quite by accident, and discovers that when he puts the ring on he becomes invisible. This ring, unbeknownst to Bilbo at the time, will be the most dangerous object he has ever encountered - and the main feature of the subsequent books!

Overall, I urge anyone to read this if they haven't already! I love that escapism you get when you are transported to Tolkein's world, and I'm keen to watch the films (although I've heard they don't live up to the book)! Having now also read The Fellowship of the Ring, the trilogy definitely does have darker themes and the language becomes more complex, so The Hobbit is definitely a younger read - brilliant all the same!