[reading circle] The Hobbit

[Bruno]

[Magnus]

This spoiler contains things from LOTR-prologue and spoilers about Elvish weddings and some info about the origins of Elves, Dwarves and Humans from the Silmarillion
Alvin:

spoiler:

I looked at the proluge of "The fellowship of the Ring" and I get the impression that no one knows where the hobbits come from, but it says in the prologue that Hobbits are more related to us(Humans) than Dwarves or Elves but I meant that maybe Bilbo was related to an Elf since there was Actually 3 Elves that married humans so why not a hobbit-elf wedding? That is who I think. Elves was the Firstborn, and then came Humans, (even if dwarves were awake a short time before the Elves;-) (read Silmarillion for more info) but I'll guess that the hobbits comes after Elves and Men and dwarves, maybe the have evolved from Man, that is my theory

EDIT:
Petter:

spoiler:

Petter wrote: "I hate the way Gandalf in the hobbit is a "no one knows about him'" and some years later he is well known last hope of the men," I think it's more than a few years, remember that in the hobbit Bilbo is a young man(or hobbit) but in the first chapter of LOTR he's 111 years old, so a long time has passed, so it isn't impossible that Gandalf have been more famous during that time

[Petter]

spoiler:

Yeah , but I dont like to see the good gandalf be an unknmown "beggar" at Beorn ! Though I love the character Beron

[Bruno]

[Linko_16]

More on Gandalf:

spoiler:

I don't know very much about the complicated world Tolkien has set out, but I was under the impression that Gandalf was a mysterious and unknown figure only in the Shire, since the hobbits just didn't function on the same wavelength as the rest of the world and preffered to live comfortable lives on their own. Sure, he would become better known in the Shire in between The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring, but I always figured he was quite the celebrety in the rest of the world. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I liked Gandalf better in this book, too. He was something of a God figure, someone seemingly all-powerful who never helped the characters out directly, always guiding them with benevolent intentions that the narration never revealed.

I don't know if I really want to get back into this book right now (my English teacher is quite brutal with her own reading schedule for us), but I must say that I absolutely loved it. It is right to say that the Lord of the Rings series, though a fantastic story, was a little too history-bookish... I felt like rather than just reporting what happened, The Hobbit delved far more into the thoughts, feelings, and overall personality of Bilbo throughout his adventure.

If you have the chance, I advise you to look up a copy of this book with illustrations by Michael Hague. My local library has one, and it is quite stunning. If you can't get one, you can see a few of the pictures (not all of them are there, though there will still be some spoilers) by following this link.

[Magnus]

Linko_16 about Gandal

spoiler:

I agree with that, that Hobbits don't know much about the outside world and that is the reason for Gandalf not being very famous among them

Bruno & Petter

spoiler:

I likes Gandal when he comes to Beorn too, ^^

Petter

spoiler:

Maybe , I'll will think about Beorn and Tom when I comes to that chapter

Chapter V : "Riddles in the dark"

spoiler:

I really likes this chapter, and I likes all the riddles in the chapter, but Bilbo cheated in the end but since Gollum accepted it doesn't matter . I think many forgets this about the ring, but in the middle of the day , you aren't completely invisible but the others can see your shadow

I likes that Chapter^^

[Bruno]

[Magnus]

Chapter VI

spoiler:

I think it is funny that Gandalf is sitting in a tree and throwing pinecones at the Wargs and the eagles are so Majestic if you know what I mean

[Bruno]

[Petter]

I finished it yesterday (or today .)

*Petter walks out of his room

"Better have 15 min.s on the comp. anmd go mto bed.

<looks at clock , 00:30>

<does 3-4 RCs>

<looks at clock 00:31>

I read for 3 hours straight and thought it was 1

The end

spoiler:

I love the ending words , .."said gandaf and handed Bilbo the tbacco

Hobbits (read the start of lotr too)

spoiler:

I would love to eb a hobbit , the hobbits are the best creatures in midgard imo. Im not the BIG elven fan nor dwarves , but hobbits

[Bruno]

[Magnus]

Chapter VII: Queer Lodgings

Petter

spoiler:

I think the reason for Gandalf being an "unknown" beggar is that he hasn't been there before, atleast Beorn knows Radagast ^^ ^^ Now when I read this chapter I don't think Beorn is like Tom Bombadil, I think they are completely different, what do you think Petter

spoiler:

Anyone else that wonders what the Carrock is, I have always thought of it as a BIG stone

spoiler:

I love how Gandalf tells Beorn the story and always saying a little bit to large number, I don't know however what to think about the dogs that can walk on their hindlegs, Beorn is a skin-changer that's cool^^

[Bruno]

Chapter VII: Queer Lodgings

[Magnus]

That's what I meant, that the dogs was to fairy-tale-ish, they don't fit into the story.

Tolkien is much better than Rowlin

But that doesn't mean Rowling is bad

[Basilus West]

OK. I've read the whole book!

First of all, I have to emphasize about the point it's a story which is written for children, what is visible through many direct comments of the writer towards his reader. This style and this kind of comments are not present in LOTR.
I notice too that this children tale style quite disappears in the end of this book. Precisely, it begins to disappear when they enter the Lake Town and it totally disappears when it's told about Bard

spoiler:

the man who kills Smaug.

At this point, the style changes dramatically, it is more like sagas and other scandinavian legends thus it looks like Silmarillion or LOTR. In the first parts, we can imagine that the narrator is very close to Bilbo; or Bilbo itself (with a sort of self-derision). It's no more possible in the ending. Then the content changes too

spoiler:

as it becomes more social and political.

All this are little errors in my eyes.
Second, did you notice it's exactly the same story scheme than LOTR?

spoiler:

The hero is unvoluntarily driven into an adventure. They meet Elrond at Rivendell, then they cross the mountain through a cave where they are pursue by gobelins. Here, Gandalf uses his best magic. They find a refuge in a forest and are rescued by their inhabitants. They enter a town where there are political problems just before they go to the mountain of fire. Facing the mountain of fire, they are discouraged. The hero can enter the mountain but he cannot solve the main problem, it is solved by another one (Gollum or Bard). Social and political problems are solved by a big battle. Eventualy, the political power is given to a war hero who was the son of former kings (Bard, Aragorn) instead of a bad regent. Then the hobbit comes back to his home where he find a little social problem which is easily solved. In this scheme, some events are not in the same place but they are quite the same : spiders in Mirkwood correspond to the spider at the entry of Mordor ; what happens in Mirkwood corresponds to what happens in the LOTR old wood - sleepy waters, etc.

The Hobbit was written just before WWII. I suppose that it's visible in its content. I suppose too that Tolkien was not very satisfied of the children style and that the reason why he changed his style in the end and decided to take quite the same elements and put them in a bigger saga.

There are some unforgettable chapters in the Hobbit. IMO, the greatest one is the first. Other good moments are

spoiler:

The trolls encounter An ephemeral vision of stone giants playing at throwing blocks during a thunderstorm Gollum and the riddles Beorn, though it's a remake of chapter one The description of Mirkwood and particularly the moment when Bilbo climbs a tree and discovers the endless forest through thousands of moths flying The description of Smaug with its enjewelled scales sleeping on his treasure.

It's not really the place to speak about LOTR, but even if I like the Hobbit very much, I really prefer LOTR which is deeper and far more poetic.