Book Review: THE HOBBIT by J R R Tolkien

Najeeba Johar Hayat

Middletown, Connecticut

If you are looking for wild adventure, fights with trolls, treks through treacherous forests, terrifying dragons and attempts to recapture a “lonely mountain” full of gold, then this my friends is the book for you. The Hobbit is the predecessor to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and I must say it has got this fantasy-lover hooked. Basing it on Norse mythology, JRR Tolkien (now recognized as one of the great thinkers of the 20th century) creates an entire world filled with danger and drama, in which destiny calls its subjects by name and where the land itself is ripe with the opportunity for fantastic, life-altering adventure. Join Bilbo Baggins and his company of Dwarves on their perilous escapades to return the lonely mountain and ancient city of Dale to the Dwarves and Men from the clutches of the evil dragon Smaug. The Hobbit is an absolute thrill; Tolkien’s world is a treat to behold. Each race is steeped in tradition, each story with millennia behind it and the land itself is shaped by its own significance. A thread of continuity stretches from the past to the present to weave the rich cloth from which the story is fashioned. This story remains as fresh today as it was when it was published seventy years ago. Worth a million reads.