The Hobbit

By J.R.R. Tolkien

Review by Nitin

The opening paragraph grabs the reader’s attention.

·Put reader right into the action

·Make reader imagine the unimaginable (ie. It’s not everyday that a 13 year old girl is accused of murder…)

·Don’t start with “the book I read was…” That’s way too BORING! Hook us into the plot!

In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit. It wasn’t a muddy and dirty hole full of worms; it was a hobbit hole which meant comfort. Like all hobbits, Bilbo Baggins was short and stout, he had tough soles that had hair on them and replaced shoes, and he also possessed a voracious appetite. He was also like a normal hobbit when it came to interests; he hated long quests that took him away from home. But that all changed when Gandalf the Grey, a wizard came for a visit on one afternoon, on a fine sunny day.

The title and author are worked in naturally

·Don’t say, “My book was The Giver” when you can say, “Jonas, a twelve year old boy and the main character of Lois Lowry’s Newbery Award winning novel The Giver, must make decisions that impact his entire society.”

In J.R.R. Tolkien’s amazing prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit, Gandalf, a wizard, invites 13 dwarves over to Bilbo’s hobbit-hole and appoints Bilbo Baggins as the official “burglar” of a quest for a stolen treasure, without asking for Bilbo’s opinion. Bilbo has no option but to go on the quest.

The overall idea and plot are discussed, without giving away the ending

·Keep it short and sweet, even if it’s a long book

·Just give the reader the gist of the book. Be clear, make sense, don’t give away the ending

The quest was organized by 13 dwarves. The leader, Thorin, son of Thrain, explains to Bilbo how a wicked dragon named Smaug, suddenly attacked and slaughtered the inhabitants of the dwarf city, Dale. Only a few escaped from Smaug, including Thorin, Thrain, Thorin’s grand father. Smaug fled with the treasures of Dale to his cave inside The Lonely Mountain.

The next day, the, group accompanied by Gandalf, left for Rivendell, the city of elves. As they rode along the path to Rivendell, at around evening, they settled down for supper, when they noticed that Gandalf was missing. It was very wet and rainy and they could not find any where to sit down and eat. They spotted a faint red glow, and decided to send Bilbo to investigate. Bilbo discovers that it is a group of three trolls, but in the process of investigating, he gets caught. The trolls start fighting over whether to keep Bilbo or release him. Meanwhile Bilbo escapes, but to replace Bilbo, a dwarf came to investigate Bilbo’s prolonged disappearance. The dwarf gets captured. Soon every dwarf is captured in the same manner. Just when he is needed, Gandalf appears, and he frees the dwarves and turns the trolls into stone. The group discovers the troll’s hiding place and they retrieve two swords that are valuable and were made by elves. Bilbo picks up a sword for himself. They continue their journey.

The party arrives at Rivendell. They take a short rest and meet with Elrond the leader of the elves. Elrond gives them directions to their next stop, the Forest Gate to the dark and dangerous forest of Mirkwood. They leave Rivendell.

They head towards a pass on the Misty Mountains, a great mountain range that they must cross. One night, while they are up on the mountain pass sleeping, goblins come out and capture all of them except for Gandalf. Once again, Gandalf comes to the rescue and frees all the captives. They run through the goblin’s tunnels to escape goblin runners in pursuit. The goblins come up so fast and silently, that Gandalf and his friends are taken by surprise. Bilbo gets hit in the head and he blacks out. When he regains conscious, he crawls around till he touched the wall of the tunnel. Bilbo found a ring of ice cold metal and absentmindedly put it in his pocket. Little did he know had dangerous the ring would be in the coming years. Suddenly a small slimy creature came up behind Bilbo. They creature scares Bilbo and the creature, called Gollum, makes a deal with Bilbo; they will play a riddle game. If Bilbo can’t answer one of Gollum’s riddles, he will get to eat Bilbo. If Gollum can’t answer one of Bilbo’s riddles, Gollum will show Bilbo the way out of the goblin tunnels. Bilbo finally won. Gollum went against his promise and claims that the Bilbo’s riddle was unfair, which it was. Gollum became very angry, and his eyes turn into a fiery green color. He lunged at Bilbo.

Describe one exciting incident in detail

·Again, don’t give away the ending

·Be clear enough so that someone who HAS NOT read the book can follow

The most interesting incident was when Gandalf was freeing the dwarves from the trolls. Gandalf hid behind a bush and imitated one of the troll’s voices. He set the trolls arguing amongst themselves. Finally when the sun rose, the trolls were turned to stone. Trolls must be underground by dawn or else they will turn to stone.

End the review with your opinion and recommendation

·Who might like this type of book? (Sports fans? People that love to laugh? History buffs? Late night readers that like to be freaked out?

·What did you think? Is it worth reading? If it won an award, is it worth the hype?

This book will appeal to the readers that love fantasy and adventure. It is a captivating book from start to end. I would rate it 4½ out of 5 stars.