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| The Hobbit | 
| List Price: $41.30
Buy New: $56.05
Buy New/Used from $48.23
Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 67 reviews)
Sales Rank: 985095
Category: Book
Author: J.r.r. Tolkien
Publisher: HarperCollins Audio
Studio: HarperCollins Audio
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Audio
Label: HarperCollins Audio
Format: Audiobook
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown)
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Items: 5
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.8 x 0.9
ISBN: 0007106777
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780007106776
ASIN: 0007106777
Publication Date: November 6, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
An enduring Tolkien classic now available for the first time on CD. Bilbo Baggins enjoys a quiet and contented life, with no desire to travel far from the comforts of home; then one day the wizard Gandalf and a band of dwarves arrive unexpectedly and enlist his services -- as a burglar -- on a dangerous expedition to raid the treasure-hoard of Smaug the dragon. Bilbo's life is never to be the same again. The Hobbit became an instant success when it was first published in 1937, and more than 60 years later Tolkien's epic tale of elves, dwarves, trolls, goblins, myth, magic and adventure, with its reluctant hero Bilbo Baggins, has lost none of its appeal.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 62 more reviews...
 The Hobbit: Or There and Back Again June 17, 2009
'The Hobbit, Or There and Back Again' is a fascinating fantasy/adventure book by the genius and well respected author J.R.R. Tolkien. The story gives you a gifted insight about what happened way before Frodo Baggins began his journey with the fellowship of nine companions to Mt. Doom in Mordor. Bilbo Baggins' journey to help reclaim hoarded treasure deep inside the Lonely Mountain is very interesting as it leads to events later discussed in 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy. In some ways this makes Bilbo's adventure with Gandalf the wizard and thirteen dwarves a little more interesting than his nephew's own perilous journey. Bilbo's finding of the One Ring of Power is revealed in this book when the hobbit unexpectedly stumbles into the creature Gollum's dark cave. The White Counsil's confrontation with Sauron in Mirkwood at Dol Guldor, though a little brief, is also revealed in this tale. Sauron is known in this book as "The Necromancer": a feared being who's evil and malice spreads all across Mirkwood Forest. My favorite heroic character in this book is Thorin Oakenshield who seeks revenge against the dragon Smaug. A little greedy: but what dwarf isn't, he is known to his race as a noble individual who seeks the lost arkenstone said to still be inside the Lonely Mountain amognst a large pile of hoarded treasure the ferocious dragon still lays upon. My favorite villain would definately have to be Smaug the Golden. The story describes him to be an almost invincible fire-breathing winged dragon who is feared by all who live close to the mountain he raided from the dwarves many years ago and kept for his own domain. The moral of this story is learning the consequences of what glittering gold and greed does. War and grief is the end result in this story. This reflects upon some of the regions in our own world today. 'The Hobbit, Or There and Back Again' is more than just a childrens fantasy tale. It is in fact a book for all ages and is a very exciting story for anyone who wants to read an adventure story that offers some suspense that will keep you reading for hours at a time. This prelude to the highly successful 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy is a must read for anyone wanting to read about fantasy characters such as: wizards, dwarves, elves, goblins, trolls, dragons, etc. If you like good fantasy/adventure stories then 'The Hobbit, Or There and Back Again' is just for you. It was one of my favorite books as a kid and still is to this day. If you are going to purchase this book then try and buy the Collector's Edition. It has a nice green leather cover and is equiped with some nice paintings/illustrations from author J.R.R. Tolkien himself. The book itself comes in a nice green leather case as well.
A great Adventure June 8, 2009
This story has non stop action in every chapter. It is a great adventure book, one of the best I've read. I recommend it to all those who seek the thrill of an adventure among the pages of a book.
 Wonderful story but AUDIOBOOK was difficult to listen to April 13, 2009
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
"The Hobbit" is one of my favorite books - probably top 5 if I were to try to rank them. I especially love the language Tolkien used and how "friendly" it sounds, and as I understand the history, it was originally written simply as a story for his own children - not even meant for publication! But we're all much luckier that it did get published. So, since my family has started listening to books while on driving vacations, I wanted to share this much-beloved story with my own children (and my review is of the *audiobook* rather than the actual book).
The reader, Rob Inglis, has a wonderful English accent that highlights how "English" the story really is, and he gets very theatrical in the many different voices he uses for the many different characters. But that's where the problems began. Most of the voices he used for the dwarves (13 different voices!) we found difficult to understand and not especially pleasant to listen to. His voice for Gollum was worst of all (very screechy - which is entirely appropriate to Gollum - but not at all nice to hear on a long drive in the car). Plus he reads it very slowly, which didn't engage the kids and made it very hard for them to tolerate. Unfortunately, and no matter how many times I tried, we only made it about halfway before my wife insisted I turn it off and not start it again (and none of the kids protested in the least). Sadly it made a very long drive "there and back again" even longer and I wish I'd have had a backup book.
Excellent Performance by Martin Shaw!! October 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have both audio cd versions of THE HOBBIT. Of the two, the unabridged version (narrated by Rob Inglis) is far more widely available than Mr. Shaw's abridged verison. I also have the unabridged version of LOTR narrated by Mr. Inglis and, on an overall basis, he does a fairly decent job. However, one major drawback (at least for me) is that his narrative style seems to be focused more towards a younger audience and it takes some getting used to. Frankly, it can be annoying at times. However, this abridged version by Martin Shaw is clearly geared towards an adult audience and he does a fantastic job! I truly wish that Mr. Shaw had been given a chance to record the unabridged version. He is just a pleasure to listen to. His narrative style is fantastic. He manages to take a light-hearted tale and bring far more depth and scope to it than I thought possible. I always viewed the writing style of THE HOBBIT as a little too childish to really sink my teeth into, but it really matures in this reading. I would have to rank Martin Shaw in my top two favorite narrators of all time. I instantly became a fan of his when I heard his unabridged performance of THE SILMARILLION, which was already one of my favorite books. His performance in that reading is absolutely flawless. When I discovered that he had recorded another a version of THE HOBBIT on audio CD, I was really interested in his take on it. Believe me, if you enjoy Tolkien's work, you will NOT regret picking up this audio cd or Mr. Shaw's verison of THE SILMARILLION!!!! If only they could get him to do an unabridged version of LOTR....
 The Hobbit-definitely a must-read classic! September 21, 2008
Mr. Bilbo Baggins is a respectable hobbit from a respectable family, always polite, always hospitable. He'd prefer to stay in his clean hobbit-hole all day and night instead of going outside to the Hill. He dressed well, was fairly smart, and didn't mind company, but prefered his home to himself.
Then, one day, an unexpected party forms in Bilbo's home. It included 13 dwarves and one wizard-Thorin Oakenshield, the leader, Balin, Dwalin, Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Fili, and Kili, and the wise wizard Gandalf. They had a merry feast, Bilbo still quite confused about the whole predicament, and began to sing in one of the many rooms of Bilbo's hobbit-hole. Bilbo was then given the shocking news that he would go on the dwarves' treacherous trek to the Desolation of Smaug as their burglar. Bilbo, being the respectable hobit he is, had never done any thieving, but Gandalf said he would satisfy them. They battled first the goblins going across the Misty Mountains, Gandalf saving all of them but Bilbo from the goblins' clubs and weapons. Bilbo had fallen, and in their rush, they had forgotten all about the little hobbit. When he regained conciousness, he stumbled around in the darkness until he tripped over something-a ring. He put the ring in his pocket and continued to stumble down the damp cave. His feet touched the edge of an underground lake later, and met a strange character by the name of Gollum. Gollum lost a riddle game to Bilbo, then realized that his "magic ring" had gone missing. Bilbo put on the ring in his pocket, and descovered that he became invisible when he wore the ring. Gollum began searching around the cave, leading Bilbo unknowingly to the exit of the cave. Bilbo escaped and met up with the dwarves and Gandalf, and they continued into the forest-until they met up with a wolf pack! They nearly didn't escape. After that little adventure, they quickly visited Beorn, a bear of a man, then traveled into Mirkwood-then taken captive by giant spiders! Again they escaped, and were taken captive again by the elvenking, and escaped there by floating down the river by barrels. After visiting Lake Town, they traveled onto the Lonely Mountain-the Desolation of Smaug. Later, Smaug is killed, and the treasure that was sought for so long was divided between the remaining-everyone but Thorin, Fili, and Kili-after the Battle of Five Armies. In the end, Bilbo returns to his little hobbit-hole, suddenly taking a liking to poetry.
The main conflict is that Bilbo and Thorin and Co. are searching for Smaug's stolen treasure, and encounter many problems along the way. The resolution? They work together. They may fight along the way, but they get out alive.
I guess the theme of the story could be that if you work together and think things through, you can get through anything.
I reccomend this book to anyone who loves fantasy, sci fi, and adventure!It really is an enchanting tale, and I can't wait to continue the Lord of the Rings!
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