"The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien

Posted by J.

http://www.amazon.com/Hobbit-J-R-R-Tolkien/dp/0618260307/sr=1-1/qid=1161909475/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-1762748-7350520?ie=UTF8&s=books

I read Tolkien's Lord of the Rings Trilogy back in High School - having discovered it quite by accident - and quickly fell in love with it. For many years I told myself I should read the little prequel The Hobbit (especially after the Lord of the Rings trilogy came out on the big screen) but never quite got around to it. This past week I had a business trip and decided to take it along and read it over three days. And I was not disappointed. It bears many of the same characteristics which so endeared the the Lord of the Rings books to me:

• It is wonderful story-telling that can be enjoyed on that simple level alone.
• Beneath the story there is real moral and theological depth. The various characters, creatures, and races of beings show mixtures of traits and choices which reflect very much on reality and serve as a mirror of our own good and evil.
• The contrast between despair and hope. Dark episodes resulting from both bad choices and uncontrollable circumstance at times envelope the story, but basic positive traits of perseverance, hope, and help when least expected shine through much as they do in real life to those who will grasp them (and fail to shine through for those who fail to grasp them).
• The fascinating world of Tolkien. His storytelling ability and his theological and moral depth are made all the more convincing by his ability to construct a world which has real depth. Languages, landscapes and geography in particular give the opportunity to see the depth of the world Tolkien imagined. And what I really like is the way that world seems to have a tenuous connection to reality. "Beorn" the bear-man whose name means bear in Scandinavian languages comes to mind, but also the descriptions of landscapes so similar to northern and western Europe.

A good read no doubt, Tolkien genuinely deserves a place in the pantheon of the great authors of western literature. Like a lot of people, I'm disappointed that the fantasy genre he wrote in is so easily dismissed by many literary critics. Scratch the surface just a little bit and the richness of his thought, skill, and art are boundless.