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| Review Summary |
Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit, which is a small simple creature. He enjoys living in his quiet neighborhood. One day, a wizard named Gandalf and a bunch of dwarves convince him to come on an adventure with them to take treasure that once belonged to Thorin, one of the dwarves. Bilbo hesitates but agrees and they begin their journey.
As the journey progresses, Bilbo becomes much more courageous and useful to the group. While stuck in underground tunnels, Bilbo finds a ring that turns the wearer invisible. This ring helps the group escape from near death experiences.
The group overcomes many obstactles on the way. They have to escape from trolls, spiders, elves, and more. They also get lost in the pitch black forest of Mirkwood.
They reach the castle with the treasure, but there is a dragon named Smaug guarding it. After Bilbo finds his weak spot, he tells it to a bird who tells the nearby Lake-town. When Smaug goes to Lake-Town to destroy it, a man is able to kill Smaug by shooting an arrow in his weak spot.
The dwarves were then able to go claim the treasure that was rightfully Thorin's grandfather's many years ago. However, it was not that simple. Elves and humans who had helped the dwarves along their journey demanded a portion of the treasure.
Suddenly the evil Wargs and Goblins came to fight the dwarves, humans, and elves for the treasure. This became The Battle of Five Armies. The human, elves, and dwarves win the battle and divide up the treasure. Everyone returns to their own homes contently.
Stacey Berkowitz, Resident Scholar
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Bilbo Baggins is just an ordinary four-foot tall hobbit who enjoys his life of luxury until one day Gandalf the Wizard and a group of dwarves show up and he is recruited by them as a burglar, and reluctantly forced to aid them in the destruction of the evil dragon Smaug.
Before he completes that, however, little Bilbo Baggins gets repeatedly captured and imprisoned, saving himself only through the clever skills that he has adopted in his new career as a burglar, and meets one of the most grotesque creatures in the world, the sinister jewelry-obsessed monster Gollum.
Steve Arthur, Resident Scholar
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Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who leads an extremely simple life without ever having any adventures, when along comes a wizard and thirteen stout dwarves who wisk him off on an unexpected journey for lost treasure. Bilbo, hired as the burglar, goes through many perils and finds a special ring that grants him invisibility (which he uses often to his advantage). Bilbo must prove himself against many foes including wolves, spiders, goblins, elves and a mysterious creature known as Gollum who swims around in an underground cave telling riddles. This book is quite an adventure and was written mainly as a children's book back in 1937, but adults alike will read and enjoy the fine storytelling The Hobbit has to offer. A must read for all fantasy fans and Tolkien-addicts.
Peter Viox, Resident Scholar
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Gandalf the Grey, a wizard, comes over to the house of one Bilbo Baggins. Gandalf tells Bilbo he's going to look for treasure with a bunch of dwarves, and Bilbo grudgingly accepts. Through a bunch of fantastical adventures, including Bilbo finding a ring that makes him invisible, they reach the cave with the treasure. The dragon that guards the cave is killed, and there's a huge battle in which one of the dwarves is killed. Bilbo learns along the way how to be nice to other people, leaves with less than his share of the treasure, and when he gets home starts writing a book about his adventures called "There And Back Again".
Jason Luna, Resident Scholar
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This story, seemingly written as one that a grown-up may tell a group of children at fireside, is the story of Bilbo Baggins traveling with a group of dwarves who came upon him abruptly and dragged him into their plans. It tells of many adventures that occured on the path, such as meeting the goblin king underneath the mountain or meeting the giant spiders that lived in Mirkwood. They leave Bilbo's house, the dwarves and Bilbo, and initially run into trouble in the form of three giant trolls. They meet goblins underneath a mountain, meet an important little character by the name of Gollum, get caught by spiders in the forest, get caught by elves in the forest, escape to laketown, and finally confront Smaug the dragon, who has usurped the treasure which originally belonged to the dwarves.
reepicheep, Resident Scholar
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The Hobbit is the tale of Bilbo Baggins, an ordinary hobbit leading an ordinary life. Enter Gandalf the wizard. Gandalf recruits Bilbo to set out on an adventure in search of treasure. However, this is no ordinary treasure, but a dragon's hoard. The Hobbit follows Bilbo on his quest along with Gandalf and their dwarven companions. They will encounter many hostile and dangerous creatures including trolls, elves, orcs, wolves, and a huge dragon. Their journey takes them from the quite safe Shire, to the lair of the dragon in the Lone Mountain. Along the way, Bilbo also encounters an object that will forever change the balance of power in Middle Earth for years untold. Bilbo finds the ring of power. This is the beginning of an epic series that will leave Middle Earth changed forever.
Patrick Thompson, Resident Scholar
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Bilbo Baggins is just another hobbit - a small, comfort-loving humanoid - until Gandalf the Grey, a wizard, walks through his door. Gandalf drafts Bilbo into a team of adventuring dwarves, on a quest that will span much of Middle Earth. In the course of it, Bilbo has to keep up with the dwarves, survive goblins, spiders, trolls, and wargs, outwit a creature named Golum, and defeat an ancient, canny red dragon named Smaug in order to steal his treasure.
Ivy, Resident Scholar
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The wizard Gandalf gets the hobbit Bilbo Baggins caught up in a perilous adventure to help a band of dwarves rescue their stolen treasure from the dragon, Smaug.
Legolas-S, Resident Scholar
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The Hobbit is the tale of Bilbo Baggins, a quiet hobbit from the Shire, who is unwillingly hired to be a burglar, and the "lucky number", by a group of thirteen dwarves. They, along with the wizard Gandalf, lead him through many adventures to the Lonely Mountain, which was once the home of the dwarves, but has been taken by the dragon Smaug. In the end, it is Bilbo alone who must face down the dragon and recapture the mountain, while at the same time trying to keep peace with armies of men, elves, and dwarves.
Though written to be a children's book, The Hobbit is a delightful tale for people of all ages.
F.B.-B., Resident Scholar
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The classic beginning to the classic adult fantasy series. Unusually, Tolkien writes this introductory story for children, while the Lord of the Rings is definately adult fare. However, the Hobbit stands as a complete and satisfying adventure in itself, set in ancient earth-time of trolls, dwarves, goblins, dragons, hobbits and man. Perenially popular, the master fantasist is constantly imitated but never equalled.
Michael JR Jose, Resident Scholar
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| Detailed literary breakdown of The Hobbit |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 20%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 30%
Tone of book
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION?
- fantasy world/fantasy past
Tech./$$$/Info hunt
Yes
Stealing/recovering/destroying
- money/gems/treasure
Adversaries are…
- dragons (hostile)
GIANT monster(s)
Yes
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- thief/con artist
Age:
- 40's-50's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Physique
- healthy but a geeky weakling
Main Adversary
Identity:
- magical being
Age:
- long-lived adults
Has magical powers?
Yes
Magical/mental powers of main antagonist:
- fire/thunder/weather cntrl
- can fly
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a little/some
How sensitive is this character?
- mean, arrogant
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- bulging muscles
Setting
Terrain
- Water
- Mountains
- Forests
Earth setting:
- during "Tolkien" (fairytime) times
A substantial portion of this book takes place on a non-Earth planetary body:
- humans in a primitive/fantasy society
Takes place on Earth?
Yes
Planet outside solar system?
Yes
Style
Person?
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
- moderately detailed references to deaths
How much dialogue?
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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