6. The Hobbit

I have seen The Lord of The Rings trilogy and The Hobbit movies, so being asked to read the book of The Hobbit definitely made me get excited. What I found out about it was how similar it was to Grimm's fairy tales in terms of tone and narration. In class, I learned that J.R.R Tolkien was heavily inspired by European fairy tales, so it would make sense that The Hobbit feels so much like a fairy tale. But what really made me interested was how Tolkien wove different stories and arcs together within this larger adventure which was for the dwarfs to get back to their mountain home.

I found it interesting how this group went through some of the most traumatic things people could only imagine of, but the story still managed to keep a lighthearted tone and feel. The dwarfs joked around constantly, each one also having their own specific personality. It created a very childish and fun feeling to it. That isn't to say that the story didn't have depth to it. I found that there was a cool connection between the hobbit and the dwarfs. The hobbit lived in a hole in a hill and the dwarfs in a way used to live in a hole in a mountain. I thought this was an interesting symbol for class distinction and how sometimes the higher classes in society's needs help from the lower classes. Whether or not Tolkien meant to put these subtle details in his story doesn't matter. Because he created such an interesting, believable world, people can draw any interpretations they want from the story and make it help shape their lives. That's what makes some of the best fantasy stories in my opinion.