The Hobbit - J.R.R Tolkein

 "Read", an Audiobook of The Hobbit. In fact I listened to it twice, back to back, given that I lost the thread, here and there, when large sections of the book weren't interesting enough, to retain me in its audio format too.  I skimmed through certain parts of the e-book, later, and sure enough I may have enjoyed it better, due to its archaic method of certain dialogues etc., over the audiobook.  However, I listened to this as a time constrained 45 year old, who already has a ton of "must reads", in his limited time. So, such books as these can only win secondary reading slots - that of, while driving, in an audio format. My 14 year old son read the printed book about a year back, and he too wasn't as enthusiastic about it, in the way that he hogged down the seven volumes of Harry Potter ( which I followed upon him being impressed -  that too with Jim Dale, for company ).



In essence, I think I would've enjoyed this book in my mid-teens, when I would've still had time to fantasize about a magical world, with time to spare. Now, honestly, my conscience bothered me, even while going through the audiobook, thinking that maybe, Le Carre or Arthur C. Clarke should've earned that audiobook slot, over The Hobbit. At this point, am undecided whether I want to pursue with LotR. I still might.

On the book per se, for a keen reader, the latent traits that Bilbo discovered gives rise to meaning on how life works. However, am almost convinced that, that kind of insight would be over the head of an early teenager. The Battle of the Five Armies too, give rise to thought on how, once  the biggest threat has been  overcome (i.e. the dragon), people ( and elves, and dwarfs and Goblins, and Wargs)  would find cause to battle it out between themselves, unable to come to an agreement about the spoils, or any other reason. It is in this light how the food loving Bilbo needs to be appreciated.

Overall, am glad that I read what is considered as a classic, with no intrusion on my prime reading time. It is not a bad read at my age, and am sure I would've enjoyed it much more if I had read it at some stage in my teens.

Rating - ***1/2