Tag: lordoftherings

My father’s office always fascinated me; it was a strange room with black wood paneling and reddish yellow shag carpeting from the 70’s, plus an old electric fireplace in the back of the room that I used to turn on from time to time and see fake, flickering “fire.”

In this office stood piles of magazines and newspaper clippings that my father kept as future references that he never used. I ignored these stockpiles, as news bored 10-year-old me. However, A bookshelf with its rows and rows of classic novels did pique my interest. Here, I often scanned the spines of books (like Treasure Island or Journey to the Centre of the Earth) and pulled them out to read while sitting near the electric fireplace.

One day, I pulled out a book that caught my eye because of its unusual shape and its enigmatic title The Hobbit, by JRR Tolkien.

“What is a Hobbit?” I asked myself.

I hadn’t heard about this book before or seen a movie about it, but this “deluxe version” of the book drew my eyes instantly. The book was beautifully illustrated, which was important to a child my age. So, I took it down and began to read.

The book started with what, I did not know at the time, was possibly one of the most famous lines in fantasy literature:

            “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit…”

From there, the story weaved its way through the many adventures of Bilbo, the wizard Gandalf, and his Dwarfish friends – evading goblins, riddling with Gollum, and escaping from an Elvish prison – until they faced the mighty dragon, Smaug.

In the end, a great battle of five armies was fought to decide the fate of the dragon’s golden horde. Luckily, Bilbo survived, but he was never the same again.

The story was very simple, which makes sense, since Tolkien intended it for a younger audience, and is said to have read it to his own children. Nonetheless, The Hobbit did teach valuable, universal lessons about good vs. evil, the overwhelming power of greed, and the importance of enjoying a simple life back in one’s own “hobbit hole.”

Entranced, I kept reading it while enjoying the drawings and colorful character designs that made the imaginary world of Middle Earth come to life.

It wasn’t long before I had read the whole book, which was about 200 pages or so. I was happy with myself because I didn’t often read books that long (I mostly flipped through comic books). Right way though, something about this story grabbed my attention. Perhaps it was the main character Bilbo, who seemed so relatable, and, like many of us, are so accustomed to our home comforts, never daring to go out into the great, big world until inspired by an adventure that comes knocking on our door:

“…and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees and the waterfalls, and explore caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking-stick.”

My love of reading continued as I enjoyed other books from my father’s library, but I often went back to reading The Hobbit again and again. This was rare for me, as I often didn’t read the same book more than once. In fact, I read The Hobbit so much that I wore out the spine of the book and had to have my parents replace it with one of those back plastic ring spines you see use for work reports.

The Hobbit inspired me to explore fantasy even further. Right way, I noticeable that the pictures in the book I read was from a cartoon movie or tv show. So, I searched high and low for this film, until I found a VHS copy in a local store. I watched with zeal; it was great to see characters like the fiery wizard Gandalf come to life. From there, I began to read other fantasy books, like the Dragonlance series and Conan books.

Eventually, as I got older, I felt bold enough to tackle The Lord of the Rings, a sequel of sorts to The Hobbit. This book massive. It was composed of three books totalling 1,200 pages or so. Typically, I wouldn’t even think of reading such a lengthy tome, but my childish interest in The Hobbit pushed me forward. I finished The Lord of the Rings quickly, and it became one of my other favourite books of all time. However, The Hobbit will always have a special place in my heart, as it was the book that catapulted me into the world of fantasy writing.

I no longer have the old book with me, but I do have the money to buy a nice, new version of the book.

Nowadays, people often speak about other fantasy works; but, in my head I always think the same thing…