J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit or There and Back Again. The Deluxe Edition of the World's Most Beloved Fantasy. 1977. Paper.

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• Format: Paperback
• ISBN: B00K1065DK
• Release Date: January 1978
• Publisher: Ballantine
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.

Customer Reviews

This is a story that grows with the reader.

In a mythical or maybe just forgotten time, many creatures lived in places like the Shire, home to Bilbo Baggins, the Hobbit. Hobbits are comfort-loving creatures with no real sense of adventure. A knock on the door, and Bilbo's life is about to change. Calling this book a children's book is like calling "Alice in Wonderland" [see "The Annotated Alice"] a children's book. Yes, children can read this book, and it is fun. However, there is a lot more to this book than a cute story. And it has all the depth of the other Tolkien works, except for being shorter. Many people look at this story as a prequel to "The Lord of the Rings", where in reality it is a stand-alone story with a perfectly good beginning, middle, and end. When you read "The Lord of the Rings," there is enough description to forgo "The Hobbit." Personally, I find that reading The Lord of the Rings first gave me an in-depth background to better appreciate The Hobbit. Many of the creatures and adventures will put you on the edge of your seat. You will recognize the personalities and grow along with Bilbo as he faces new challenges and learns to deal with life. A good book to read first would be "The Power of Myth" by Joseph Campbell. Then you get a clearer picture of why the story progresses as it does.