I've been wanting to read "The Hobbit" since my early high school days but, for some reason, never got around to doing it until I saw it as the reading for this week. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I can definitely see the appeal to the Lord of the Rings series. Reading "The Hobbit" gave me flashbacks to books like the Septimus Heap series and the Eragon series of my middle school days with its fantasy epic nature and a very distinct "hero's journey" plot line. I particularly liked the episodic nature of "The Hobbit", where the gang encounters dangers one after another but always makes it out in the end. Bilbo Baggins is also a classic, but reluctant, hero, and repeatedly saves the group from each situation. Ironically, despite his attempts to live a normal life, Bilbo is the most exceptional of them all, using his wits and light of step to save all the dwarves on countless occasions. "The Hobbit" follows the hero's journey storyline fairly well, with Gandalf calling Bilbo to adventure, and eventually leading him to cross the first threshold with the troll and goblin fight. The enemies they face grow stronger as the story progresses and peaks when the dragon Smaug is defeated and the dwarves achieve their goal. Bilbo then reaches his apotheosis when he finds the Arkenstone, and then proceeds to negotiates peace between the dwarves and the elves and band them together to defeat the goblin army. Of course, Bilbo returns to his old home with some treasure and is able to continue with his life, now with a few experiences and accomplishments under his belt.
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