Jo Walton makes a case for rereading books in order to get
the essence of the story. His essays are about his favorite books and what he
gains by rereading them. His 2010 entry on The
Hobbit describes his fascination with this children’s novel. Firstly, the
story can be read aloud because of the names (Bilbo Baggins rolls right off the
tongue) and the protagonist, though an adult, is very childlike. He has all the
freedom of an adult, and absolutely none of the responsibilities. Because he’s
of a race of small-statured people, he’s never been under any pressure to be
tough. Unlike most fairy tales written for kids, the adult Bilbo has no
servants, and if anyone ever noticed, no love interest either. Come to think of
it, the characters are all male, and neither Bilbo, nor Gandalf, nor the
dwarves encounter any female characters. Bilbo never marries, not in The Hobbit nor the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
There’s only one problem I have with this book. Most of the
books he mentions are ones I’ve never heard of!
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