Common Sense Note
From the book's slow start to its breathtaking finish, readers will marvel at the unrelenting inventiveness of this brilliantly written tale.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Mark Nichol
Heroic fantasy succeeds best when the lead character has the most room to grow into hero-hood, and little Bilbo Baggins has a lot of growing to do. The wise wizard Gandalf cleverly appeals to the latent adventurer in Bilbo, but the hobbit is soon up to his ears in peril. At first he is a hindrance to the grim band of dwarves, but even before he acquires the magic ring he is demonstrating a plucky spirit.
Once he tricks the ring's current but not necessarily rightful owner, the slinky creature Gollum, and stumbles upon its power, the dwarves find themselves ever more in his debt at he boldly uses the ring to his -- and their -- advantage. But he doesn't tell them how he's able to sneak around and rescue them from under the noses of their captors, whether giant spiders or elves (who are not bad--just antagonistic toward dwarves).
But after the dragon is out of the picture, Bilbo is forced to make a difficult decision. When the dwarves refuse to share the treasure with the elves and men, who have valid claims to at least a portion, Bilbo betrays the dwarves for a higher good.
From The Book
There he lay, a vast red-gold dragon, fast asleep; a thrumming came from his jaws and nostrils, and wisps of smoke, but his fires were low in slumber. Beneath him, under all his limbs and his huge coiled tail ... lay countless piles of precious things, gold wrought and unwrought, gems and jewels, and silver red-stained in the ruddy light.
Plot Summary:
In the mythical land called Middle-earth, distinctly unadventurous Bilbo Baggins is swept up in a quest to recover dwarves' treasure from an evil dragon. The author created this story as a read-aloud for his own children, and the progression of Bilbo's character to that of pivotal figure in an epic conflict shows how much the story grew in the telling.
Related Books:
Hobbit lovers will gravitate toward the much more complex sequel, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which consists of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. Younger readers may enjoy Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising sequence, which begins with Over Sea, Under Stone.
Rate It!
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ViolenceMuch swordplay, fighting, and battles. Many scary but exciting adventures, including capture by giant spiders. |
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Social BehaviorAt times Bilbo is deceptive and the dwarves, greedy. |
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