Scan barcode
A review by laurenjpegler
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
2.0
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.”
I've wanted to read The Hobbit for the longest time now, and unfortunately it hugely disappointed me. I was constantly uninterested in the story, hated the narrative Tolkien adopted and felt little to no feelings for any of the characters. Obviously this frustrated me a little considering I'm such a huge fan of the movies and felt the book was such a let-down in comparison.
I think the main reason I disliked The Hobbit was because it identifies as children's fiction, or juvenile fantasy. It's a renowned fact that I hate children's literature (I've just studied a whole academic year of it, so I think my hatred is a little justifiable). The main reason I can't get along with children's fiction is purely down to the narrative and writing style. Quite rightly, the author uses plain and simple language to reach that lower-aged audience, but that didn't work well with this kind of story. Considering the fact that this is a fantasy novel, it lacked huge detail and mature content that would have helped me imagine this world. If it hadn't been for the movies, I would have not only struggled to imagine these characters and settings in my mind, but would have been continually confused with the plotline (I became so uninterested sometimes I skim read, but didn't take a single thing in). Essentially, the story had a lot of potential, but fell short due to the way Tolkien chose to write it.
In addition to this, I also got the feeling Tolkien tried to shove too much action and plot into the story. I think it’s fair to say the story would have been more successful if he had written it as a duology. Some chapters, such as the trolls one at the start, lasted too long compared to the more important and relevant ones (aka the Battle of the Five Armies). The kind of narratives you find in fantasy were not only over too soon, but lacked so much detail they were unfulfilling. Going back to my original point suggesting there was too much going on: I felt like I never got a chance to breathe. I didn’t get a chance to make sense of everything that was going on, and for that, I just got bored of reading it sometimes.
I think if Tolkien took more time with it, paced his narrative out more evenly and added more detail to help imagine this world, then it would have received such a higher rating from me. I’m just a little disappointed on the whole, but I am hopeful for the LoTR trilogy. They're much longer reads and aimed at a much more mature audience, so I’m quite excited to see how Tolkien executes them compared to The Hobbit.
I've wanted to read The Hobbit for the longest time now, and unfortunately it hugely disappointed me. I was constantly uninterested in the story, hated the narrative Tolkien adopted and felt little to no feelings for any of the characters. Obviously this frustrated me a little considering I'm such a huge fan of the movies and felt the book was such a let-down in comparison.
I think the main reason I disliked The Hobbit was because it identifies as children's fiction, or juvenile fantasy. It's a renowned fact that I hate children's literature (I've just studied a whole academic year of it, so I think my hatred is a little justifiable). The main reason I can't get along with children's fiction is purely down to the narrative and writing style. Quite rightly, the author uses plain and simple language to reach that lower-aged audience, but that didn't work well with this kind of story. Considering the fact that this is a fantasy novel, it lacked huge detail and mature content that would have helped me imagine this world. If it hadn't been for the movies, I would have not only struggled to imagine these characters and settings in my mind, but would have been continually confused with the plotline (I became so uninterested sometimes I skim read, but didn't take a single thing in). Essentially, the story had a lot of potential, but fell short due to the way Tolkien chose to write it.
In addition to this, I also got the feeling Tolkien tried to shove too much action and plot into the story. I think it’s fair to say the story would have been more successful if he had written it as a duology. Some chapters, such as the trolls one at the start, lasted too long compared to the more important and relevant ones (aka the Battle of the Five Armies). The kind of narratives you find in fantasy were not only over too soon, but lacked so much detail they were unfulfilling. Going back to my original point suggesting there was too much going on: I felt like I never got a chance to breathe. I didn’t get a chance to make sense of everything that was going on, and for that, I just got bored of reading it sometimes.
I think if Tolkien took more time with it, paced his narrative out more evenly and added more detail to help imagine this world, then it would have received such a higher rating from me. I’m just a little disappointed on the whole, but I am hopeful for the LoTR trilogy. They're much longer reads and aimed at a much more mature audience, so I’m quite excited to see how Tolkien executes them compared to The Hobbit.