The Hobbit: or, There and Back Again, J. R. R. Tolkien (oversized TPB, 1994, $4)
"Roads go ever ever on
Under cloud and under star,
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sword have seen
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green
And trees and hills they long have known."
I was introduced to Tolkien at an early age. When I was ten, my neighbor came back from Oxford, carrying an autographed copy of The Hobbit for me. I didn't understand it, and my parents didn't try to read it to me. Was I surprised to find the above quoted poem in my fifth grade reader! Mind you, I still didn't like the book.I treasured it only because my "almost brother" had given it to me. Not till I was 17 did I read the trilogy and understand what all the fuss was about. Unfortunately, I did not live in a progressive part of NJ. When I did my senior project on LOTR, I felt I had to include a summary of the whole thing. I don't how I did it, but I managed to wrap it all together in 20 minutes, which left 40 for the presentation. I got a great grade on it, but no one, including even the teacher, had ever heard of Tolkien.
The Hobbit is written differently from The LOTR. The LOTR is dark and for adults. The Hobbit is scary, but in a children's way. The story has always been told that Tolkien wrote The Hobbit as a story to read to his children. Only lately has the information come out that his kids really weren't at all interested in it. (So much for that myth.) Still, this is a great yarn, and this edition has very easy to read print. It even has many, and I mean many, full page, or even two page spreads of drawings, not to mention the maps.
That reminds me- it's about time I got out my copy and re-read this wondrous tale. Look for this copy at the front desk, avail. 1/11.
PS: My almost brother was a progressive. In 1965 he actually called up Tolkien, praised his work, and was invited to come to tea. I wish my bro was still around to tell me about that tea party!
