Each month Abington Library will feature a favorite book from a faculty, staff member, or student. They will give a brief synopsis of their chosen book.
April is a library technician who has worked for the library for 16 years.
Book review: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
By April Frost
The book that I chose for the book of the month is The Hobbit by J.R.R.Tolkien. Almost everybody who loves fantasy literature has read this book. I chose this book because it has been my absolute favorite book since I first read it as a young adult. I have read it many times and each time is as exciting and whimsical as the first time I read it. I love fantasy books, but more than that, I love books that plot good and evil against each other and the good wins out in the end. I also love books about adventure and the main character, Bilbo Baggins, has more than his share of adventures in this book. I was super excited when they made it into a movie. And, yes, I own both the book and the movie.
Baggins is a hobbit (a person who is about half of average human height) who lives in a hobbit hole, in Bag End. The wizard Gandalf turns up one day, accompanied by thirteen dwarves, who are on a mission to reclaim their gold, as well as their kingdom, from beneath the Lonely Mountain. This land, which was once theirs, has been taken over by a fearsome dragon named Smaug. Bilbo has been approached because they need a burglar. They need someone to break into Smaug’s cave so they can go in and defeat the dragon and recover their gold. Bilbo reluctantly agrees to accompany them. They travel to Rivendell, the home of the Elves, where Elrond gives them help with their map. But the gang are then caught by goblins while attempting to cross the Misty Mountains, and Gandalf has to rescue them. Bilbo, however, gets lost deep in the underground tunnels, and encounters Gollum, a mysterious creature whose magic ring Bilbo accidentally acquires. The ring confers invisibility upon whoever wears it, and – to escape Gollum, having played a game of riddles with him – Bilbo uses the ring and finds his way out of the tunnels. He rejoins the dwarves and they once again have to flee the pursuing goblins. They are assisted by eagles and find their way safely to the house of Beorn, who can transform into a fearsome bear. Nearing their destination, the gang are helped by the inhabitants of nearby Laketown, who want Smaug defeated as much as they do. Entering the mountain through a secret door, Bilbo finds Smaug’s lair and identifies a weakness in the dragon’s armor. When Smaug notices him, he flies into a rage, realizing that Laketown has helped Bilbo to find his cave; the dragon flies off to burn Laketown to the ground. Thanks to a thrush overhearing Bilbo’s account of Smaug’s weakness, and then flying to the town to tell them, a man named Bard is able to find Smaug’s weak spot and shoot and kill the dragon with an arrow, halting the destruction. The dwarves are now able to regain their mountain and their treasure. With the help of the eagles and Beorn, the dwarves win the Battle of Five Armies. Bilbo returns home to his hobbit-hole, with a small cut of the treasure.
