[sindohte]

Discussion on the chapter - An Unexpected Party will officially begin on Monday 9/6.

Sindohte will begin the discussion of this chapter.

Anyone wandering by this thread should feel free to raise questions or make comments.

Please try to keep the comments on this thread strictly related to discussion of the Hobbit.

If you have not already done so, please post a message in the following thread so that I can keep track of everyone who is interested in taking part in the reading group. That way if I need to send out a PM, I can do it in a quick and easy manner.

http://www.openscrolls.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=15083#15083

[sindohte]

After spending the past couple of months reading the Silm, the Hobbit is a complete departure. The tone of the Silm was epic in nature and spanned many generations and various peoples of ME and covered the first two ages. The time period of the Hobbit focuses on a much smaller period, but can be viewed as an important transition for the events that took place in the Silm and what will later happen in LOTR. This is my second time reading through the Hobbit and I didn't come to this realization about how important this books was until I had read the Silm. The first time I read the Hobbit, my attitude was to just hurry my way through it so I could get to the "real action." I wonder if other people out there have felt the same way.

Now on to the action, the chapter opens with a description of Bilbo's home and gives us a bit of information about his history. Bilbo leads a comfortable life and into the middle of all of this serenity, Gandalf arrives to stir things up. Bilbo recognizes that the wizard is prone to do this because he says, "Bless me, life used to be quite inter - I mean, you used to upset things badly in these parts once upon a time." It seems that Hobbits believe that life should not be filled with excitement and adventure. Certainly there are some notable exceptions such as Bilbo, but as a general rule Hobbits are homebodies. That makes me wonder if this is why some people are more attracted to Elves because of their epic adventures.

Gandalf and Bilbo exchange greetings and then Bilbo tries to send the wizard on his way, because he does not want to get mixed up in an adventure. Yet Bilbo then makes the mistake of inviting Gandalf to tea the next day. The next morning the dwarves Dwalin, Balin, Kili, Fili, Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, and Thorin show up at Bilbo's house. Gandalf finally arrives and Bilbo is not a happy camper at this point. While the wizard and thirteen dwarves are sitting around his table eating and drinking the best that his pantry has to offer, poor Bilbo is sitting on a stool eating a biscuit.

At least his guests are kind enough to clean up after themselves and then we have the first of many songs scattered throughout the book. The first song is a silly little ditty about cleaning plates. Bilbo's desire for adventure is sparked when the dwarves start singing about treasure and the adventure they will be going on in the morning.

Thorin lays out the plan, while Gandalf tells a few white lies about Bilbo and describes him as a burglar in search of adventure We learn that Thorin's father was once King under the Mountain and that there was abundant treasures for all dwarves until Smaug the dragon appeared. The dragon then wreaks havoc in the Misty Mountain region. There is a map to a secret entrance into the mountain which was made by either Thorin's father or grandfather. Gandalf gained possession of the map and key when he found Thorin's father held in the prisons of the Necromancer.

Everyone gets ready for bed and poor Bilbo is still one unhappy Hobbit as the dwarves are bold enough to tell him what they expect to have for breakfast.

[NancyBrooke]

It has been some long time since I last read The Hobbit and, being much more familiar with the Trilogy there were a number of things I found surprising.

First, the very informal and conversational tone to the narrative; I can easily hear this beginning as a story for children with its almost comical descriptions of Hobbits, of Dwarves and Wizards. I had forgotten the many conversational asides Tolkien uses in the Hobbit - almost entirely absent from the Trilogy or at least much more formal ("Gandalf! If you had heard only a quarter of what I have heard of him, and I have only heard very little of what there is to hear, you would be prepared for any sort of remarkable tale.").

Second, how the story unfolds like a fairy tale - the placid Shire, the placid Bilbo with a streak of something else in him, the stranger at the door (Gandalf) heralding the arrival of the dwarves each with a cute names and particularly colored hood and, later, musical instrument. Then the darkness, the song and plan for adventure.

Also, how the Characters we meet differ from the characters as we get to know them. Initially, they seemed to me to be almost charicatures - fussy, provincial Bilbo so easily motivated by pride; gruff, taciturn Thorin; the other dwarves so jovial and almost interchangable; and the stern and abrupt Wizard - "I've chosen Mr. Baggins and that ought to be enough for all of you." Even how hobbits in general are described almost patronizingly. This is clearly an evolving story.

Lastly, how much we learn about Dwarves, their society, culture and history. This is really the resource for Dwarf 'studies', not the Trilogy. We learn more in this one chapter than in all of LOTR.

Like all good opening chapters the Professor has set a strong and and subtle foundation for all the chapters to come, including intimations of so many themes that will carry through most of his work: the juxtapositions of good and evil, the narrative of songs, Gandalf as the catalyst for events, the presence of a dark unnamable evil, the seperate existences of Hobbits, Men, Elves, and Dwarves.

Looking forward to more!

[SpaceWeavil]

Apart from checking a few details for fics, it’s been years since I sat down and read The Hobbit properly. To be honest, I think I’m enjoying it a lot more now, having read the Trilogy, the Silm, etc. As has been said before here, I like the way that, even though this is a complete adventure in its own right, things are already being set up for the events of Lord of the Rings. I’d forgotten though how funny The Hobbit is, what with the tongue-in-cheek narrative style and some of the interplay between Gandalf and Bilbo. I kind of prefer Hobbit!Gandalf to Trilogy!Gandalf – much more sneaky and manipulative – makes me laugh. I also like the description in this book – it seems to go into a lot more detail than the Trilogy, such as the opening paragraphs about the hobbit hole. I’d forgotten how enjoyable this is

Sorry I don’t have much more intelligent stuff to say as yet

[Aerin]

I have read the Hobbit before, but I swear that it has changed since the last time. It is possible that in my hurry to read it and The Fellowship in time to see the movies, that I completely missed the point of reading them in the first place. (BAD ON ME!)

I also enjoyed the way Gandalf was characterized and his gentle prompting of Bilbo to extend his adventure muscle. When we look at him in the Trillogy, we see a Bilbo that is very glad he was pushed out of his Hole and into the Wide World.

I saw this as an encouragement to me...similar to Nike's Just Do It. Just get out your door, and see what is out there to find, you may get roughed up, but you won't regret it!

Books are sometimes like mirrors, they reflect the reader through the eyes of the author. And sometimes, we see what we want to see.

Aerin

[Eyborg]

Sorry I'm posting in this particular thread a bit late (I've been out of town, plus sick), but there is one thing in this first chapter that has always interested me... It's mentioned that there were rumours going around in the Shire that some of the Tooks' ancestors had married a fairy wife - which makes me think of the Fallowhides (which blood the Tooks have a lot of) and their having more friendship with elves than the other hobbit races (Stoors & Harfoots). Also, how that explains how adventurous the Tooks tended to be... it's even hinted at that Bilbo's mother, Belladonna, had some adventures before she settled down with her Bungo Baggins. What do you think? Do you think it would be theoretically possible that the Fallowhides might have some elvish blood in them... that some of their ancestors might possibly have mixed with the elves at some point in the far past?
(Of course, this might be a material for a separate thread).