Being an Indian, I never got to read such amazing fantasy books as a child as I had no idea about books other than our ncerts. Though I watched the LOTR trilogy and The Hobbit movies. So, now that I have time to read all the books I actually want to, I decided to start with The Hobbit and LOTR series. So far, I think I made the right decision. I fall in love with this series with every page I read. So, here is a little book review of it.
The book starts on a very happy note in the Shire. I loved the way J.R. Tolkien explains the places, especially the Shire. The description of the hobbits that he writes makes me want to travel back in time and be a hobbit myself.
The dwarves, I found very bumbling and honorable. The story revolves around these dwarves and all of them (Fili, Kili, Oin, Gloin, Dwalin, Balin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Dori, Nori, Ori and the leader of the company Thorin Oakenshield) were given a proper identity and at the end of the book, it felt as if we knew each of them individually.
The elves, I found very lovable. They're my favorite. The way Tolkien has explained them would make anybody fall in love with them. Their love for music, their sweet voice, the shining like the starlight, everything that describes them, makes me want to visit Erebor.
All the other characters- the goblins, Beorn, Stone giants, Trolls, Gollum, the spiders, Bard, the eagles were just perfect. Gollum sent a chill down my spine.
Also, my favorite was when Tolkien captured the mercy shown by Bilbo Baggins on Gollum. It brought out a really special quality of the character of Bilbo Baggins.
There is one thing that I would like to point out here. Kili was my favorite dwarf of all. And I nearly shed a tear when I read that he died along with his brother Fili defending Thorin. And, though i wasn't happy with the ending of the book, i was more sad or, rather shocked when i saw the movie (Desolation of Smaug) because of the introduction of the female elf Tauriel. It was really weird watching a romantic-something blooming between Tauriel and Kili. I just never saw Kili as a romantic kind of dwarf. Also, there was no character of Tauriel in the book.
Although, I don't think the book and the movie should be compared as these are two different forms of arts. But, changing the story altogether in the movie was really heartbreaking for the book readers.
There are any things that I'm missing here like the description of Smaug, the bravery of Bilbo, Gandalf and many other things, but I'm gonna have to leave it here.
Feel free to comment your views on the book and my post.
Thanks :)
XO Jaya
