The Hobbit Audiobook CD – Unabridged, Audiobook Author: Visit Amazon's J.R.R. Tolkien Page | Language: English | ISBN:
0788789821 | Format: PDF
The Hobbit Audiobook CD – Unabridged, Audiobook Description
Amazon.com Review
"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort." The hobbit-hole in question belongs to one Bilbo Baggins, an upstanding member of a "little people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded dwarves." He is, like most of his kind, well off, well fed, and best pleased when sitting by his own fire with a pipe, a glass of good beer, and a meal to look forward to. Certainly this particular hobbit is the last person one would expect to see set off on a hazardous journey; indeed, when Gandalf the Grey stops by one morning, "looking for someone to share in an adventure," Baggins fervently wishes the wizard elsewhere. No such luck, however; soon 13 fortune-seeking dwarves have arrived on the hobbit's doorstep in search of a burglar, and before he can even grab his hat or an umbrella, Bilbo Baggins is swept out his door and into a dangerous adventure.
The dwarves' goal is to return to their ancestral home in the Lonely Mountains and reclaim a stolen fortune from the dragon Smaug. Along the way, they and their reluctant companion meet giant spiders, hostile elves, ravening wolves--and, most perilous of all, a subterranean creature named Gollum from whom Bilbo wins a magical ring in a riddling contest. It is from this life-or-death game in the dark that J.R.R. Tolkien's masterwork, The Lord of the Rings, would eventually spring. Though The Hobbit is lighter in tone than the trilogy that follows, it has, like Bilbo Baggins himself, unexpected iron at its core. Don't be fooled by its fairy-tale demeanor; this is very much a story for adults, though older children will enjoy it, too. By the time Bilbo returns to his comfortable hobbit-hole, he is a different person altogether, well primed for the bigger adventures to come--and so is the reader. --Alix Wilber --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Noted artist Hague provides 48 dazzling paintings for this first-ever version of the timeless fantasy classic. All ages.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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- Series: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
- Audio CD
- Publisher: Sci-Fi Audio; Unabridged edition (March 1, 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0788789821
- ISBN-13: 978-0788789823
- Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 5.3 x 1.5 inches
- Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
I bought this book because I wanted a hardcover illustrated fancy version of "The Hobbit".
I'm just going to pretend that everyone who reads this review has already read "The Hobbit" and knows what it's about. Like I suspect many others do, I have my own old sacred tattered and dog-eared paperback version on the Tolkien bookshelf.
This book (the physical object, not just the story) is beautiful. It's clothbound in dark green and embossed in gold, and the bottom corner of the front cover has a gold embossed dragon, tastefully rendered. The paper dustjacket/cover features a dragon as well (I'm guessing Smaug). Eye-catching.
There are many full-page color paintings, and many grayscale drawings (not full page) throughout. I'm not an art student, so I don't know what they're really called. Pencil-drawings or something. I call them grayscale because they're gray. Anyway, the Allen Lee illustrations are utterly charming, soft and colorful without being too bright. However, I wouldn't recommend this illustrated book for very young children; some of the goblins and trolls are frightening!
I was a bit disappointed that Alan Lee didn't include more illustrations of Elves. Most of the pictures dealt with Bilbo and the dwarves, with a few of goblins and Gollum (scary). Also, I pictured Bilbo Baggins to be somewhat on the "stout" side...the text *does* refer to Hobbits as being "inclined to be fat in the stomach" and liking two dinners a day, "when they can get it." The Bilbo Baggins in these illustrations is quite slender and looks as if he could use that second dinner right away! Maybe even a third and fourth! The balding, skinny Hobbit did surprise me. But then, I kind of expected the chubby halfling I saw on some old Tolkien calendars.
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