Farmer Giles of Ham/The Adventures of Tom Bombadil - J.R.R. Tolkien Book Review

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"Farmer Giles of Ham/The Adventures of Tom Bombadil"
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Review Summary

Farmer Giles becomes the hero of the countryside after suposingly chasing off a giant who was stomping on the village. Farmer Giles is then sent by the king to kill a dragon. He makes a deal with the dragon not to kill him in return for the dragon's treasure, but Giles is deceived. Later, he is able to get all the dragon's treasure for himself, and the dragon becomes tame.
Anna , Resident Scholar

If 'The Hobbit' is an introduction to 'The Lord of the Rings', then 'Farmer Giles' is an introduction to the 'The Hobbit'. Gentle and funny, whimsical and clever, this short story can be enjoyed by adults and children alike. Farmer Giles of Ham lives in the age of knights, giants, dragons, and has a talking dog. He is an unwilling but eventually worthy hero. The poems that form 'The Adventures of Tom Bombadil' are light whimsy and should be taken in that vein. They will be partly familiar if you know the Lord of the Rings. The other poems are more serious and 'The Hoard', about a treasure of gold and silver, is particularly good.
Michael JR Jose, Resident Scholar

Detailed literary breakdown of Farmer Giles of Ham/The Adventures of Tom Bombadil

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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 30%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 20%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 20%

Tone of book - humorous or laughable
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - fantasy world/fantasy past
Adversaries are… - dragons (hostile)
Is this an adult or child's book? - Kid's book (ages 7-14)
GIANT monster(s) Yes

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Profession/status: - farmer
Age: - 40's-50's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - magical being - animal
Has magical powers? Yes
Magical/mental powers of main antagonist: - can fly - is very quick
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - an average amount - a lot
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - bulging muscles

Setting
Terrain - Mountains
Earth setting: - during "Tolkien" (fairytime) times
Takes place on Earth? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How much dialogue? - significantly more dialog than descript - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog

Most similar books to Farmer Giles of Ham/The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch
How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell
Mara's Flame by Hamish Clark
Dragon's Bait by Vivian Vande Velde
Hatching Magic by Ann Downer

Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).

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