The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien | Spoiler Free Book Chat

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[roeybason]

The Bilbo and Gollum and Bilbo and Smaug scenes are some of my favourite in all of literature.

[isabellarobinson]

As someone who has studied Tolkien at school and owns four copies of this book, I think this is finally a topic I can confidently comment on!! Basically, Tolkien started writing The Hobbit as a story in this world (Middle-earth) he had created based on his language (elvish). His publisher, Allen and Unwin, kept trying to get him to "dumb it down" for a younger audience because kids were the only ones reading fantasy at that point. So it was published originally as middle grade. Then his publishers asked for a sequel and he started writing The Lord of the Rings which went waaaay longer and more complicated than he expected, and they had to release it in adult fiction (this was not without years of negotiations of them trying to get him to shorten it). LotR opened up fantasy for adults, and the rest, as they say, is history 😊. No one needed this but I've got to do something with this knowledge 😂

[Sprite_]

My favourite parts were when it was written "Mr.Baggins was thinking about his hot boiling kettle and his warm hobbit hole NOT FOR THE LAST TIME" and the conversation with Gollum was really fun.

[isispersonal]

I agree 100%! The world building is AMAZING, especially for the amount of pages! Bilbo is so underhyped (in my opinion) and he deserves all the love for that character development 😍😍😍 Love, love, love this book!

[ubergusterfan]

I love this book. My dad has a beautiful edition of this book all in gold that he would read to me and my siblings as kids. It was the first fantasy story I ever heard.

[vilaxsta]

At 4:48 when she said that Gandalf & Bilbo made her laugh, it immediately brought me to their conversation at Beorns. I definitely laughed out loud at that part!

[Spafon]

The Silmarillion can be tough. Never managed to get through it until I picked up the audiobook which made it all so much clearer. I then went back to the book and found it much easier to read.

[BlueWingedRino]

I read the Hobbit in 1978 when I was 10 years old and I loved it.

[nohelanikh]

Im so glad you’re hosting this read along! I switched between physically reading The Hobbit and listening to the audiobook by Andy Serkis, and it was amazing!!! The world building and characters are fantastic, and the whole book is so quotable. I’m excited to read The Lord of the Rings for the first time.

[markcushen]

I'm so glad you loved it, The Hobbit is my all-time favourite book, I've read it so many times now. It even heavily inspired my own book.

[nalanit]

I use too many exclamations but that’s how I feel!! I’m also keeping my cry laughing emoji, my side part and my skinny jeans 😂 I just found the hobbit at a used booked store and excited to start it when I finish Fellowship of the Ring audio on Spotify.. or follow along with the audio bc it’s just so amazing :)

[sailinglin]

I read The Hobbit for the first time last month. An I really enjoyed it! An it is indeed a very funny and witty read.
I will definitely be reading LOTR.
I tried it when I was 16 an was really put of by the writing. And dnf-d it after 5 pages 😅 Now, about 20 years later expect I will enjoy it more!

[whateveryousay]

Brittany, always clutch with the in depth honest reviews, one of my favorite booktubers especially for recommendations and pushing you towards where the good literature is . 🔥🙏🏽

[xJillie]

Just a warning about reading Fellowship and then watching the movie.. the last 15-20 minutes or so of the Fellowship movie are from the beginning of The Two Towers, so you might want to read that (I think just the first chapter would be fine) before watching Fellowship. There are also other things that that movie spoils about the next books, but very minor especially in comparison.
I’m finishing up the Silmarillion now and then will read The Hobbit which I haven’t read in like 15 years, I’m excited! The Silmarillion is quite the experience and I’m really glad I stuck with it.

[lamegoldfish]

It was fun to read about Beorn again! I love Bears! 😃
'Silmarillion' in June? That is way Cool! June is gonna be fun. 😃

[oscarbautista]

I can't watch right now but I will for sure do later... woah so much love for my favorite book on the comments section.. Thank you so much for bringing it into the spotlight Britt!

[GuardianKnightoftheRealm]

No joke, it says the upload date for this video is Dec 31, 1969.

PS. Great video! I think The Hobbit is a top tier book! Glad to hear about your love for it!

[NinaCharlem]

The podcast is exactly what I needed to finally read The Hobbit, it's amazing! Thanks for sharing 💫🧙‍♂️✨

[EricMcLuen]

These books for many is that worn out teddy bear you still love with the fur is worn off and it might be missing an eye. Despite the flaws it holds a special place in your heart.
Before actually reading themnI can remember listening to them on NPR. Just one guy doing all the voices.
Had to chuckle about non spoilers. Even if you haven't read it, probably know the story. Kind of like yes, the boat sinks at the end of Titanic.
Good luck on the reread, the Sil might be a chore just from how it was cobbled together and a lot of new names and some familiar.
And yes, the movies were just bad and turned a wonderful book into a video game.

[danieljohnkirby]

I feel like the real story of whether "The Hobbit" is an adult novel or a children's book is kinda complex. At the time he was writing it there really wasn't such a genre as "adult fantasy", so it basically had to be written as a children's book. Tonally it works like a children's book (the narrator keeps making little asides as if talking to a child, the chapters are all bedtime-length, every chapter is an episodic slice of the adventure), but it's pretty clear that Tolkien didn't see it entirely as a children's book.

It also helps that Tolkien was writing "The Hobbit" when his son Chirstopher was a child and was writing "The Lord of the Rings" when Christopher was in his 20s. In that way the books kind of grew up with his own kids.

"The Hobbit" gained more of an adult following when "The Lord of the Rings" came out in paperback and became part of the hippie counterculture in the 60s/70s.