Consider This Classic: Brenna Recommends

Consider This Classic: Brenna Recommends

• Dec 12, 2013

Consider This Classic is a monthly feature where bloggers highlight and recommend their favorite classic. They'll tell you when they first read it, why they love it and where to go from there. If you'd like to participate in Consider This Classic, click here to sign up.

This month, I have Brenna from I Have Lived A Thousand Lives here sharing one of her favorite classics. Brenna is a blogger that I found after she left a long and wonderful comment on my post about collecting copies of Pride and Prejudice. Not only did we share a love for that wonderful book, but I was thrilled to discover that we have very similar reading taste! I was so excited when she wanted to participate because I knew this feature was right up her alley.

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Publication Date: 1937
Originally Published In: United Kingdom
Amazon | Goodreads

Summary (from Amazon)

A great modern classic and the prelude to The Lord of the Rings.

Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely traveling any farther than his pantry or cellar. But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard Gandalf and a company of dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day to whisk him away on an adventure. They have launched a plot to raid the treasure hoard guarded by Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon. Bilbo reluctantly joins their quest, unaware that on his journey to the Lonely Mountain he will encounter by a magic ring and a frightening creature known as Gollum.

"A glorious account of a magnificent adventure, filled with suspense and seasoned with a quiet humor that is irresistible... All those, young or old, who love a fine adventurous tale, beautifully told, will take The Hobbit to their hearts." - New York Times Book Review

I don't remember when I first read this book. I was a kid and I remember listening to the audio version with my mom and brother multiple times before reading it for myself. It was left on the shelf for years before I decided to pick it up and I fell in love all over again. I wasn't allowed to read Harry Potter growing up (I love them now), but The Hobbit was my childhood. It had magic, excitement, strange creatures, and let's face it: Gandalf is Dumbledore, and when he is not with the hobbits, he is at Hogwarts.

The writing style in phenomenal. Very few writers can compare to Tolkien in my opinion. Truthfully I think only Jane Austen is on the same level as Tolkien - and they are not comparable to one another! They have completely different writing styles. I think Tolkien's writing style is very appealing for the childhood "read before bedtime" story.

The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling is the best comparable "children's book style" story.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien is of course the more famous story by him. It has many of the same characters as The Hobbit but is a more mature story.

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis is something similar that I loved! Tolkien and Lewis write similar about Middle Earth and Narnia (and were good friends!).

The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini is probably not the best chunk of literature out there, but I think most can agree that this is basically a story about Middle Earth with dragons.