FINISHED: The Hobbit

I finished 'The Hobbit' about two weeks ago, and still don't know entirely what I think of it.

I enjoyed the read, the process of reading it reminded me a bit of reading a Pratchett book in that I laughed out loud despite it not necessarily being a comical book. I loved the way Tolkien wrote little side notes to the reader, stating when he was going off track, or that such things were stories for other times. He reminded me of Gandalf (or should that be the other way around) in that he was very frank in his storytelling. It felt very much like an aural experience rather than a read experience.

I enjoyed the story, although like Lord of the Rings it had a few false endings I could have done without. Especially with children's fiction (which this is) I like my stories to have a defined ending point, one that matches the goal at the outset of the story. That didn't happen here, but that is more of a personal quibble than a fault with Tolkien's storytelling.

I have surprisingly little to say about such a popular work, but I enjoyed it, I will tell others to read it if they like fantasy and will probably read it to my children if I ever have them.

I look forward to the film!

8/10