{"id":2943,"date":"2016-06-04T20:07:11","date_gmt":"2016-06-04T18:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/?p=2943"},"modified":"2020-10-01T17:25:50","modified_gmt":"2020-10-01T15:25:50","slug":"der-hobbit-j-r-r-tolkien","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/2016\/06\/der-hobbit-j-r-r-tolkien\/","title":{"rendered":"The Hobbit \u2022 J. R. R. Tolkien"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Who doesn\u2019t know Tolkien\u2019s books? Since the lavishly produced films, even the last non-nerd will have realized that The Lord of the Rings<\/em> and its prequel, The Hobbit<\/em>, are very successful and beautiful fantasy stories. I read The Lord of the Rings<\/em> in my teenage years, though the book has only remained in my memory in broad strokes. That\u2019s primarily because, before reading it, I had already read Tad Williams\u2019s Osten Ard cycle\u2014Memory, Sorrow and Thorn<\/em>\u2014so the role of the first perfect, epic, and gripping fantasy story was already taken. Since that was some time ago and I\u2019ve pretty much forgotten the films as well, now is a good moment to pick up Tolkien\u2019s books again.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Of course I had little desire for a cheap mass-market edition and naturally treated myself to a sumptuous de luxe version again. As a limited edition, Klett-Cotta\u2014the publisher that has all of Tolkien\u2019s books on its list\u2014offers The Hobbit<\/em> as a handsome leather-bound edition with slipcase. At \u20ac99 it\u2019s not exactly a bargain, but together with the illustrations from the original 1937 edition and a tasteful, very coherent, old-fashioned design, the book is a real gem I just couldn\u2019t pass up. The book exudes something antiquated, and you feel transported back to Tolkien\u2019s time, when there were no glossy covers with elaborately designed fantasy illustrations.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"The<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The content of the story is hardly a secret anymore; the commercial success of these books and the accompanying films has seen to that. The hobbit Bilbo sets out with a few dwarves and the wizard Gandalf on a dangerous adventure to wrest from the evil dragon Smaug a lavish treasure\u2014including a kingdom. Along the way he stumbles upon an ornament that just about everyone knows by now: a magic ring that makes its wearer invisible and helps Bilbo out of a tight spot more than once. Beyond that, he experiences numerous adventures and dangers\u2014with Elves, Dwarves, and Orcs\u2014in a very appealing, Nordic-feeling world, and of course there\u2019s a proper battle.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"The<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I only remembered the Hobbit<\/em> films faintly, so the first two parts only limitedly influenced my imagination. For most descriptions, entirely my own images arose in\u2014and from\u2014my imagination. While the film felt rather drawn out, the book\u2019s brisk pace surprised me. Where in the movie battles seem to drag on forever, the situation in the book resolves fairly quickly and sometimes unspectacularly. But of course, if you want to stretch one book into three overlong films, you have to pad things wherever possible, and then the carnage takes a bit longer. Generally I\u2019d say the films\u2019 settings are highly polished. Lake-town, for example, isn\u2019t described and presented in the book with the depth it receives in the films. For me that was always the decisive reason to see the movies in the cinema after all: the landscapes and the nature of New Zealand are simply too beautiful.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"The<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I always associate Tolkien\u2019s books with beautiful illustrations as well. Ted Nasmith remains vivid in my mind as a painter. John Howe is another artist who worked as a concept designer on the films and rendered the scenes from the books quite masterfully. (My John Howe, incidentally, was Michael Whelan, who did the illustrations for Tad Williams\u2019s Osten Ard books\u2014Memory, Sorrow and Thorn<\/em>\u2014and is every bit Howe\u2019s equal.) If you\u2019re interested in the topic, I recommend the documentary \u201cOn the Trail of the Hobbits,\u201d which aired on Arte some time ago and can surely be found somewhere online (or someday as a repeat on Arte). The places from The Lord of the Rings<\/em> are wonderfully atmospheric, and, preloaded with those lovely paintings and the gorgeous shots of New Zealand from the films, I quickly rediscovered these beautiful settings while reading.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The book features the illustrations from the 1937 first edition, drawn by Tolkien himself and colored by H. E. Riddett in 1976. There are also two maps with English labels worked into the book: on one side Thror\u2019s Map, and on the other the Wilderland, which is the region the companions traverse in this story. As is typical of Tolkien\u2019s books, the sketch-like map with runes is highly atmospheric and serves as a useful guide.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"The<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Wolfgang Krege\u2019s translation of The Lord of the Rings<\/em> has been strongly criticized by some readers. Apparently there was an attempt to modernize the language a bit, which many\u2014at least those who had already read Margaret Carroux\u2019s translation\u2014found off-putting. In this edition I only noticed that at very, very few points (e.g., on page 104: \u201c[…] then some giant will snatch us up and boot us into the clouds like footballs.\u201d). The book is pleasant to read. The language is simple and suits a children\u2019s book that can also be read with enjoyment by adults, without resorting to an overly plain style. The narrator also steps into view quite often, which reinforced the feeling of holding a children\u2019s book\u2014but that, too, is not unpleasant. The prose rhythm and sentence constructions, however, are not of a truly outstanding kind.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I really liked the story\u2019s pace. It\u2019s never boring, and there are no longueurs whatsoever. The descriptions of nature, places, and characters are nicely balanced and vivid, making it very easy to picture the scenes and the landscape. Somehow I kept waiting for it to become long-winded and was then surprised that the individual episodes were over so quickly (for example, when Bilbo and the dwarves encounter the trolls). That must have been my unconscious memory of the films. But of course Tolkien\u2019s books surpass the movies. Especially toward the end, the configuration and the makeup of the opposing sides shift relatively quickly, which gives the book fresh momentum and spice right at the end\u2014something I really liked here. It truly remains exciting until the last page.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"The<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The foreword\u2014which I read at the end out of habit\u2014was written by Tolkien\u2019s son, Christopher Tolkien, and offers a few background details on the book\u2019s creation and its illustrations. I found it only mildly informative and had the impression it\u2019s aimed more at Tolkien enthusiasts.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"The<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Conclusion:<\/strong> If you\u2019re looking for a fine fantasy adventure, I can only recommend this old yet peerlessly popular tale. Even with a fading memory of the films in the back of your mind, Tolkien manages\u2014through a brisk, entertaining, and pictorial narrative style\u2014to captivate the reader and conjure up a vivid personal vision of places and scenes. Both the translation and the handsome presentation of this de luxe edition, with its antiquated-looking illustrations, are impressive. I truly immersed myself in this beautiful world, in Bilbo\u2019s adventure, and in a thoroughly classic fantasy setting\u2014one that ultimately founded an entire genre and, after all these years, still stands up to contemporary works in every respect. Given the price-to-value ratio, the publisher is likely addressing bibliophiles and Tolkien fans first and foremost with this edition; fortunately there are enough different editions of the book that everyone can choose the style they prefer. A book I can recommend without reservation.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Book information:<\/strong> The Hobbit<\/em> \u2022 J. R. R. Tolkien \u2022 Klett-Cotta Verlag \u2022 400 pages \u2022 ISBN 9783608938401<\/p>\r\n\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Who doesn\u2019t know Tolkien\u2019s books? Since the lavishly produced films, even the last non-nerd will have realized that The Lord of the Rings and its prequel, The Hobbit, are very successful and beautiful fantasy stories. I read The Lord of the Rings in my teenage years, though the book has only remained in my memory … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The Hobbit \u2022 J. R. R. Tolkien”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7701,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"slim_seo":{"title":"Der Hobbit \u2022 J. R. R. Tolkien - lesestunden","description":"Wer kennt sie nicht, die B\u00fccher von Tolkien? Seit den aufwendig gemachten Filmen d\u00fcrfte beim letzten Nichtnerd angekommen sein, dass Der Herr der Ringe und sein"},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"_slim_seo_primary_term_category":0,"_slim_seo_primary_term_post_tag":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,83,10,20],"tags":[99],"class_list":["post-2943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fantasy","category-childrens-book","category-classics","category-reviews","tag-j-r-r-tolkien"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/der_hobbit_beitrag_2.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2943\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}