Thread: Who hasn't read The Hobbit?
Is there anyone on PT who hasn't read The Hobbit yet?
I haven't read it... so i'm eagerly awaiting the Hobbit-movie !!! Go PJ!! Go PJ!!!!
LOL Vir, I'm taking you to the doctors... 
I've read The Hobbit more then once. Great book! I've started reading it again to my wee ones and they love it, too.
I've read The Hobbit more then once. Great book! I've started reading it again to my wee ones and they love it, too.
Just finished reading it for the fourth time (I think)... Still great, really gets you hooked to Middle-earth.
*gives Vir a subscription to PJ fan-club* Go for it, mate! I've always known you like the man, but this...!!!
*gives Vir a subscription to PJ fan-club* Go for it, mate! I've always known you like the man, but this...!!!
I haven't 
Quote:
I haven't
I haven't
*Has a heart attack* I never would have believed that.
The answers to this thread's question are only to be expected. Had it been asked in the first month after PJ's LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring hit the screen, it might have received a few less frivolous answers. By now, I expect all our members have read The Hobbit at least once though maybe one or two are still in the middle of it for the first time. Of course I may be wrong. 
Seven times, mate, seven times.
Well, it is possible that with the interest the films generated that there are those who rushed out to read LotR but haven't yet read the Hobbit. I suppose it is possible that there are those here who have seen the films but haven't red LotR - yet.
Anyone want to admit to not having read The Hobbit OR LotR?
I promise we won't sacrifice you or boil you in oil........
Anyone want to admit to not having read The Hobbit OR LotR?
I promise we won't sacrifice you or boil you in oil........
Quote:
I promise we won't sacrifice you or boil you in oil........
That's correct for we do not wish to subject our members to cruel and unusual punishment; still we might tie you in a chair and force you to listen to Vee read The Hobbit to you. I promise we won't sacrifice you or boil you in oil........
Were you lucky, she might read from one of the illustrated versions and show you the pictures. I have one with all Tolkien's words, but also with illustrations from the Rankin-Bass cartoon. 
Since I am Vees Plan B, I should be happy no one admits not to have read the Hobbit.
Come on! Admit you haven't read it, nothing bad will happen, really!
Come on! Admit you haven't read it, nothing bad will happen, really!
Well, Hobbit was the first ever Tolkien book I'd read. Erm...but why are u asking all this?
Special opps, old boy, we're sniffing out traitors in our ranks, those unelflike folks that have committed sacrilege by not reading Tolkien's first book.
That was the reason wasn't it, Vee?
That was the reason wasn't it, Vee?
Er...... no.
It's as easy as smashing kittens, Stoney. Whenever a woman starts a thread, it's all about curiosity.
Er...... no, it wasn't.
I am curious what you meant by "curious", Virumor(typical woman, I suppose).
Good thread topic, Vee!
The Hobbit was first an assignment in English class, way back in tenth grade. I loved to read, but I did not love my teacher at the time, so I was not necessarily eager to read something she suggested. Then I read it, and I know it sounds really corny, but it was like my life kind of changed. No this is not a Tolkien Testimonials thread( though that would be both creepy and neat), but I think reading his work literally saved my life. By that I mean that I had a very rough childhood and was a very angry person until that time in my life. I really believe that Tolkien's appreciation and lust for life, which came through in his work, helped me to learn to do the same in the long run.
Cheers to those who have not read it(and perhaps have read other of his works), because they are in for a real treat!
Good thread topic, Vee!
The Hobbit was first an assignment in English class, way back in tenth grade. I loved to read, but I did not love my teacher at the time, so I was not necessarily eager to read something she suggested. Then I read it, and I know it sounds really corny, but it was like my life kind of changed. No this is not a Tolkien Testimonials thread( though that would be both creepy and neat), but I think reading his work literally saved my life. By that I mean that I had a very rough childhood and was a very angry person until that time in my life. I really believe that Tolkien's appreciation and lust for life, which came through in his work, helped me to learn to do the same in the long run.
Cheers to those who have not read it(and perhaps have read other of his works), because they are in for a real treat!
I have read the hobbit but have only just finished it. I found the battle with the dragon good but the man called Bard I thought was dead until the book said he wasn't dead. There must have been a smuge in the writing.
I read The Hobbit simply because my dad had all of the original books, it was a rainy day, and I had nothing to do. Actually, I started The Fellowship first, but found it way to difficult, so I tried the The Hobbit.
Quote:
I have read the hobbit but have only just finished it. I found the battle with the dragon good but the man called Bard I thought was dead until the book said he wasn't dead. There must have been a smuge in the writing.
Yes, it must have been a smudge, I have read the hobbit but have only just finished it. I found the battle with the dragon good but the man called Bard I thought was dead until the book said he wasn't dead. There must have been a smuge in the writing.
for Bard's Black Arrow didn't let him down. Quote:
And that was the end of Smaug and Esgaroth, but not of Bard.
And that was the end of Smaug and Esgaroth, but not of Bard.
Quote:
Yes, it must have been a smudge, for Bard's Black Arrow didn't let him down.
Yes, it must have been a smudge, for Bard's Black Arrow didn't let him down.
I didn't realise until now but I had read about how bard beat the dragon in another book so it was ceartinly a smuge
I read it over 5 times, thats for sure. Maybe more. But i suuuuure did read it, and i loved it! 
Yes the Hobbit is one of the greatest book i've have ever read and i hope that Peter Jackson won't misuse it for a movie!
I take a grave risk here, but...
wasn't Bard initially thought to have been killed in the Wreck of the Dragon and turned up alive to the surpirse of the stunned Dalesmen (Esgarothians; whatever?) And no, I can't check, because I got the Trilogy along with the Hobbit in the mid-eighties paperback boxset from Ballantine, and it likes to shed pages now. I really need a hardcover edition, but then I'd be torn between wanting to preserve the hardcover and wanting to preserve the "original" for sentimental reasons. That I've read the series, including "enchanting prelude" nine times despite the fact my TT started shedding before I got through Book III and the Hobbit on the third pass is proof of some level of dedication, right (still have all those pages, too?)
wasn't Bard initially thought to have been killed in the Wreck of the Dragon and turned up alive to the surpirse of the stunned Dalesmen (Esgarothians; whatever?) And no, I can't check, because I got the Trilogy along with the Hobbit in the mid-eighties paperback boxset from Ballantine, and it likes to shed pages now. I really need a hardcover edition, but then I'd be torn between wanting to preserve the hardcover and wanting to preserve the "original" for sentimental reasons. That I've read the series, including "enchanting prelude" nine times despite the fact my TT started shedding before I got through Book III and the Hobbit on the third pass is proof of some level of dedication, right (still have all those pages, too?)
I didn't hear before, that Bard has been killed by the dragon Smaug, for he killed him with his an arrow (in my edition 'paperback by HarperCollins).
In the paragraph the Bard killed Smaug fell on the town, Tolkien wrote, 'And that was the end of Smaug and Esgaroth, but not of Bard."
Three paragraphs later, he tells us the townspeople were angry with the Master for running away and said "If only he (Bard) had not been killed ... we would make him a king. Bard the Dragon-shooter of the line of Girion! Alas that he is lost!" In the next paragraph the drenched archer showed himself, and in the following, he announced who he was, that he was still alive because he had dived into the lake after slaying the dragon.
Therefore, Morambar is correct in that the townspeople thought Bard was killed; however, we the readers knew better.
Three paragraphs later, he tells us the townspeople were angry with the Master for running away and said "If only he (Bard) had not been killed ... we would make him a king. Bard the Dragon-shooter of the line of Girion! Alas that he is lost!" In the next paragraph the drenched archer showed himself, and in the following, he announced who he was, that he was still alive because he had dived into the lake after slaying the dragon.
Therefore, Morambar is correct in that the townspeople thought Bard was killed; however, we the readers knew better.
Yes you're right, but i didn't remeber as well as i should have!
My sister hasn't read it, but she isn't a member here to say the least. I have been working on her though. Sneaking the book under her pillow, in her purse, and bookcase.
I've read it twice...needless to say I loved it more than I can say...
and don't tar and feather me, but I am interested in seeing The Hobbit the movie if it ever comes out. I think PJ won't slaughter it as bad as he did the LOTR. There isn't really anything that would be hard to depict. Except for Beorn. Let's just hope he doesn't cut him out, if he does make the movie.
I've read it twice...needless to say I loved it more than I can say...
and don't tar and feather me, but I am interested in seeing The Hobbit the movie if it ever comes out. I think PJ won't slaughter it as bad as he did the LOTR. There isn't really anything that would be hard to depict. Except for Beorn. Let's just hope he doesn't cut him out, if he does make the movie.
Quote:
I think PJ won't slaughter it as bad as he did the LOTR.
I think PJ won't slaughter it as bad as he did the LOTR.
Hope springs eternal. Even false hope does.
I've read the Hobbit twice now. But as im ashamed to admit...it took me the whole summer to get through it when i read it for the first time in 3rd grade. But when i read it again, i read it in one day. so maybe that would make up for not being able to read it quickly the first time! Well, at least ive read it twice! 
I haven't even held the hobbit in my hands before O.o
but I'm planning on buying and reading it, actually I plan on buying all of tolkien's books, but right now I'm having some funding problems to do so
but I'm planning on buying and reading it, actually I plan on buying all of tolkien's books, but right now I'm having some funding problems to do so
by now I have actually read the hobbit only once in english, (I've got a most beautiful german volume of the book on my shelf, but somehow I ain't got any time to read it....) but I had a book report about it last year, and therefore I went over the plot, quotes, details, characters, etc. again and again... I was prepared very well, I should say, but it was sooo much fun working it out. 
I do love this story very much.
I do love this story very much.Well i can safely say that i have read the hobbit, itz so beautuifully written itz just one adventure after another!!
Quote:
I had a book report about it last year
I had a book report about it last year
Ithil, you want to say that you study Tolkien at school literature lessons?
That's great! We never did. Our program was always made up of such literature which often made kids refuse reading till the end of days
Is that a common thing - studying Tolkien at school?
Anyone tell me how the things are all over the world with that?
sorry to disappoint you - I could choose a book I liked for the report. and I chose the hobbit, and my teacher -stupid teacher- in fact wasn't quite happy about it... even wanted to convince me to take something by austen (!!! I hate EMMA!!! how can someone write such a boring book?), but I stayed true to tolkien and took the hobbit. and my classmates - most of whom haven't read it - liked it very much! I'm glad I took it.
I'm glad I took it.When i was in school, we weren't allowed to choose what books to read. We received a list of titles to choose from.
Lucky there were always some fun books included, like Day of the Triffids, to compensate for the Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice, and Moll Flanders.
Lucky there were always some fun books included, like Day of the Triffids, to compensate for the Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice, and Moll Flanders.
Since children are in school to be educated, it would be rather simplistic to ask the students to choose all their own literature from what they "want" to read. Kids will never choose what they will really need in order to advance in their knowledge, not only of literature, but of life and culture which the literature transmits to them. This is why a certain number of the classics are a must, and why I make them mandatory on my reading lists. But there are Tolkien and C.S. Lewis books on those lists, too.
And, by the way, I read The Hobbit in 9th grade and LOTR shortly thereafter.
And, by the way, I read The Hobbit in 9th grade and LOTR shortly thereafter.
I think now a days, teachers who were introduced the Tolkien in their youth, find it easy to include him in the reading list for their pupils.
When I went to school we didn't have Cliff's Notes to help us through those heavy books: we had to rely on Classics Illustrated, the comic book abridgments. If we liked the story in the comic book, we usually read the book after we made our report on it.
I don't recommend this method, for it means you will miss the flavor of the author's writing style; though it is certainly a much faster way of getting through War and Peace.
When I went to school we didn't have Cliff's Notes to help us through those heavy books: we had to rely on Classics Illustrated, the comic book abridgments. If we liked the story in the comic book, we usually read the book after we made our report on it.
I don't recommend this method, for it means you will miss the flavor of the author's writing style; though it is certainly a much faster way of getting through War and Peace.
Oh, yeah, War and Peace...
I remember myself reading it..Those who read it already told me just skip the war and read about the heroes,it's more easy. In fact I liked pieces about war much more than 'peace' as I didn't like a single hero there maybe except Andrey Bolkonski (I don't know how was this name spelled in an english version, so smth approximate).
Tolstoy was very boring to me, although we studied War and Peace at the 10th form (being 15-16), almost grown-ups, it was still boring.
It's a pity many people think there are only Tolstoy and Dostoevsky in russian literature. They are a must, but they are not the best.
I remember myself reading it..Those who read it already told me just skip the war and read about the heroes,it's more easy. In fact I liked pieces about war much more than 'peace' as I didn't like a single hero there maybe except Andrey Bolkonski (I don't know how was this name spelled in an english version, so smth approximate).
Tolstoy was very boring to me, although we studied War and Peace at the 10th form (being 15-16), almost grown-ups, it was still boring.
It's a pity many people think there are only Tolstoy and Dostoevsky in russian literature. They are a must, but they are not the best.
Ive read it before but this time I bougth a new one (first published in 1937 - my copy was made in 2002 ) with illustrations by Alan Lee...its very nice and this time I will read it for my children as well
Quote:
When i was in school, we weren't allowed to choose what books to read. We received a list of titles to choose from.
yea, that's how our german teacher handles the thing (and there's certainly no tolkien or lewis on those lists - only german authors), but in english we may choose books. the thing is, if you choose a book the teacher doesn't approve of you don't get a good mark anyway, so you better collaborate... When i was in school, we weren't allowed to choose what books to read. We received a list of titles to choose from.
still I think it's not too bad for students to choose the books they like. if you take a book you're really interested in the whole work is much more fun and the book report is certainly better than it would be if you took a book you just can't stand.
as we are free to choose the books for the reports our teacher can choose the books we are to read in class, so she's not completely powerless.
and I do agree that some certain classics are to be read at school. f.i.: almost any german teacher reads Goethe's Faust in class. that's a really cool book.
