The Hobbit

January 7, 2002
Between the film release of Harry Potter
and The Lord of the Rings, this is the season of the magical movie, and this audiobook is an inevitable spinoff. Countless readers have grown up on the adventures of the little furry hobbits who crave good food and a warm bed, but wind up trapped in caves, attacked by spiders and burdened by a dizzying assortment of treacherous adventures. While the stories are quite intricate, the message of good triumphing over evil is always evident. This appealing theme of the downtrodden overcoming obstacles is what keeps listeners' attention. There is so much action on this dramatization that listeners may often feel pulled in many directions. The narrators, including Ray Reinhardt as Bilbo and Bernard Mayes as Gandalf, are engaging, and the sound effects (including noises in the cave or forest, or the hobbits sitting down to a meal) are also quite strong. But those not already familiar with the story may find it difficult to distinguish between the various characters or keep track of all the action. Listeners will probably want to read the book along with listening, or perhaps listen and then watch the movie. The tapes are presented in a rustic-looking wooden box, making this appropriate for gift giving.

m1lk3y_w4y - I have immensely enjoyed enjoyed The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. The Hobbit is about Bilbo Baggins, who is a hobbit, which is a person who is rich and highly respected. Hobbits are known to live a good life, enjoy their riches and not supposed to go on adventures, but Gandalf and his dwarf friends tell Bilbo of an adventure of his lifetime and that this adventure has a generous reward at the end, which is why they choose him for the job. As they set off, they find themselves in trouble with the orcs, who are like goblins. Bilbo finds a magic ring and they make many enemies along the way. Their adventures are dangerous and nerve-wrecking! They must go through a black forest with giant spiders that are poisonous, and the King of the Forest, who puts them in prison for disturbing his royal subjects. Bilbo helps the dwarves escape and he finally reaches his treasure, but the adventure does not end there. They then have to defeat an evil dragon that has been plundering all the people of the towns near his mountain and takes their valuables. Bilbo finally defeats the dragon and gets his share of the reward, which is a handsome sum of money and treasures. He heads back to his home, but finds that he is no longer respected because he went on an adventure rather than live his life as a hobbit like everyone expected him to. I recommend this book to higher level readers because it is a challenging book to understand, although it is quite interesting.