The Hobbit: Is it good enough to read before the Lord of the Rings?

Today, we will be diving into the question 'Is The Hobbit good enough to read before the Lord of the Rings or can it just be forgotten'. By finding all the details (which is why this is a book review) and then answering the Big Question.

The Hobbit is part of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, this book being the prelude. The author, as you may have already noticed from the pic, being J.R.R. Tolkien.

The trilogy is made of the following:

• The Fellowship of the Ring

• The Two Towers

• The Return of the King

With all that in mind, let's start the review!

... A-Ahemm! Curtains paalleeaasse!

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The Hobbit: A Complete Book Review

Title: The Hobbit

Author: J.R.R. Tolkien

Published: 21 September 1937 (that was 83 years ago!)

Is part of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. You should read this book first if your one of those people who are fussed about reading things in order (like me :D)!

The plot of the story is basically that there is this Hobbit (a type of species in the story; there are many more to come) called Bilbo Baggins and he one day opens his door to find dwarves (another species) knocking at his door uninvited for 'An Unexpected Party' which is the name of the first chapter. He slowly ends up having 13 dwarves in his hobbit-hole and a wizard called Gandalf... and of course himself.

Gandalf is an old friend of Bilbo but Bilbo doesn't remember him when he first sees him in the book as the last time he saw Gandalf was when he was a child. Gandalf only knew Bilbo because he knew his Took grandfather. Bilbo's full name is Bilbo Baggins, his mother being Mrs Baggins and his father being Mr Took.

So, Gandalf hosts a party at Bilbo's house without his permission which was why it was unexpected. Gandalf intends for Bilbo to go on a journey/adventure with him and Bilbo refuses saying that he doesn't like adventures and wants to stay at home. But Gandalf brings the dwarves over anyway which Bilbo doesn't know about. When the company comes over, he finds that he is wanted to come with the dwarves to be their burglar. Burglar for what? To steal treasure from a mountain which is under the protection of a dragon called Smaug!

OK. Now let's get down to the pros and cons!

The vivid, descriptive language which Tolkien uses in his book instantly transports you into the world he tries to paint in your mind. He describes the toils in which the protagonist (Bilbo Baggins) goes through very well, especially when he is in near-death trouble!

He also makes it realistic by making the characters often sing whilst they are trudging along the road and things like that. It's unreal to just be silent throughout a WHOLE journey and the books which I have read have always made this mistake. The characters do converse but there is never that entertainment to make it real and Tolkien did exactly that: the characters conversing, singing and telling tales to each other.

The last point I have to say is that the ending is very rewarding and isn't a bad one as it doesn't uniformly end with a happily ever after. It does end like that but it doesn't at the same time but I shan't say any more for I may give away the ending!

One thing I disliked about The Hobbit was that sometimes I would feel like that the chapters were being longed out a bit too much. Okay fine, it's to do with the plot and Tolkien is explaining something in detail. But sometimes the scenes which he longs out are aren't even important. I've timed myself reading, but I'm not sure if it's just because I'm a slow reader, but it would take me H A L F - A N - H O U R to read just 2 pages! This is what I dislike but I don't think it is much of a big deal if you have a lot of time in your hands but sometimes it can just bore you a bit! Other than that I think that The Hobbit is a great read.

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To conclude, I think that The Hobbit is a great read if you have a large concentration span and if you love action, adventure and fantasy. Speaking of someone's concentration span, I think this would be suitable for someone who is aged 8+.

I personally liked the book because of the detail of fantasy and the way Tolkien portrayed the characters' journey. Again, this is the very first book in the series and is basically a prelude but I would call it more or less like a monologue except someone is narrating it.

I have made my rating 0.5 stars less than the total because of the lengthiness of some chapters but I have kept it high to 4.5 specifically because it did not bother me as much. Another factor to support this point is that, again, the ending was rewarding.

Everyone thanks for reading. Be sure to like, subscribe to my mailing list and share this post to people you think will like this sort of content too! Don't forget to leave a comment of what your opinion is of the book if you have read it, and if not, then tell me what you agreed and disagreed with. I would just like to say that if I hurt anyone's feelings that I did not really mean to be rude and was just giving my opinion. But without further ado, again, thanks for reading!