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322 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 21, 1937
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.Books exist in time and place and our experience of them is affected by the specific time and place in which we encounter them. Sometimes an uplifting or inspiring book can change the path of a life that has wandered onto a wrong course. Sometimes a book, discovered early on, can form part of the foundation of who we are. Or, discovered late, can offer insight into the journey we have taken to date. Sometimes a book is just a book. But not The Hobbit. Not for me. In January, 2013, I pulled out my forty-year old copy in anticipation of seeing the recently released Peter Jackson film. It is a substantial book, heavy, not only with its inherent mass, but for the weight of associations, the sediment of time. The book itself is a special hard-cover edition published in 1973, leather bound, in a slipcase, the booty of new love from that era. The book, while victim to some internal binding cracks (aren't we all?) is still in decent shape, unlike that long-vanquished relationship. Not surprising. I had read the story six times and been there and back again with this particular volume five.
The Written Review :
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Bilbo Baggins, living comfortably in his hobbit-hole in Bag End, finds himself on the wrong end of an adventure.
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.
'I am looking for someone to share in an adventure...it's very difficult to find anyone.'Reluctantly (very reluctantly), Bilbo joins on this journey...and soon finds out that quests are not very friendly to hobbits.
'I should think so — in these parts! We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner!'
Is it nice, my preciousss? Is it juicy? Is it scrumptiously crunchable?And yet, despite the hardships, trials and tribulations...Bilbo finds himself eagerly plunging ahead.
Already he was a very different hobbit from the one that had run out without a pocket-handkerchief from Bag-End long ago. He had not had a pocket-handkerchief for ages.Absolutely. Love. This. Book.
Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?It just has such a wonderful feel - I want to read it over and over and over again.
But, even moreso, I adore how Bilbowcomes out of his shell and he grows into hismself.
Agatha, my turtle, for reference
You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after.And, above all, the world that J. R. R. Tolkien is absolutely magical.
Elvish singing is not a thing to miss, in June under the stars, not if you care for such things.Such an enchanting book - one that I truly, truly treasure.
May the hair on your toes never fall out!
So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their endings.