The Hobbit: Or There and Back Again: 70th Anniversary Edition

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Product Description

Bilbo Baggins has taken his place among the ranks of the immortals of children’s fiction. Written by Professor Tolkien for his own children, The Hobbit met with
instant critical acclaim when published – it was the Harry Potter of its generation. With new Lord of the Rings movies, this special
edition is designed to put the book back where it belongs – at the top of everyones ‘must-read’ list.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #40154 in Books
• Published on: 2001-08-20
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

Daily Mail
‘One of the best loved characters in English fiction… a marvellous fantasy adventure’

Synopsis
Marking 70 years since publication, the definitive edition of JRR Tolkien's first book, sporting a facsimile of his original cover design and complete with fold-out maps and his own drawings and paintings. Bilbo Baggins enjoys a quiet and contented life, with no desire to travel far from the comforts of home; then one day the wizard Gandalf and a band of dwarves arrive unexpectedly and enlist his services -- as a burglar -- on a dangerous expedition to raid the treasure-hoard of Smaug the dragon. Bilbo's life is never to be the same again. Seldom has any book been so widely read and loved as J.R.R. Tolkien's classic tale, 'The Hobbit'. Since its first publication in 1937 it has remained in print to delight each new generation of readers all over the world, and its hero, Bilbo Baggins, has taken his place among the ranks of the immortals: Alice, Pooh, Toad!

From the Publisher
The most successful of all Tolkien titles, The Hobbit has been translated into over 30 languages, with estimated sales of nearly 100 million copies.

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Customer Reviews

This is a story that grows with the reader.
Calling this book children's book is like calling "Alice in Wonderland" [The Annotated Alice] children's book. Yes children can read this book and it is fun. How ever there is a lot more to this book than a cute story.
Many people look at this story as a prequel to [The Lord of the Rings]. Where in reality it is a stand-alone story with a perfectly good beginning, middle, and end. When you read "The Lord of the Rings" there is enough description to forgo "The Hobbit." Personally, I find that reading The Lord of the Rings first gave me the in-depth background to better appreciate The Hobbit.
Many of the creatures and adventures will put you on the edge of your seat. However you will recognize the personalities and grow along will Bilbo as he faces new challenges as he learns to deal with life.

Read it to your children or just before you start the Lord of the Rings
This book was a very ancient candidate on my "to read list" and I always planned to read it just before the Lord of the Rings. So far, things have worked out and I have started Lord of the Rings the same afternoon I finished the Hobbit.

I don't think I would enjoy Lord of the Rings as much as I do, had I not read the Hobbit just beforehand. The Hobbit really provides the reader with a lot of background information, which is an advantage when you get started with the trilogy.

Nevertheless, I still feel that, as a stand - alone story, the Hobbit is a book aimed at children. Tolkien's fluid writing style and the way in which he addresses his readers, often gave me the impression that the author was right next to me, lecturing about hobbits in a style suitable for primary school children. The Hobbit is thus the perfect book to read to your children before bedtime or even one of the first novels they might read themselves.

When evaluating the Hobbit as a prelude to Lord of the Rings, things look a little bit different. Currently reading Lord of the Rings, I am thankful to have followed the chronological path, as the Hobbit prepares the setting for Lord of the Rings, in which Tolkien has adapted his very scholarly writing style to an audience of grown ups.

Apart from the obvious highlights of the story, i.e. Bilbo's encounter with Gollum, The Hobbit, even though the plot was neat and perfectly paced, sometimes felt dragging as the story meanders from one perilous situation to another. However, the aspect I enjoyed most was the author's typically English humour, which often shines through when Bilbo interacts with the other characters.

Glued binding
I am giving 2 stars not to the treasured story, but to the quality of binding in this edition. I have purchased the 50th anniversary, 3 volume editions of The Lord of the Rings and love them. The same is true for 2006 hardback editions of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales. This edition of The Hobbit features the same beautiful dust jacket and high quality paper and typeset, but unfortunately has a glued binding instead of the stitched binding of the other books. It is already showing signs of wear just after leafing through to view the wonderful illustrations. I'm sorry to say the durability of this edition isn't up to the standard set by the others or worth the purchase price.