Boekverslag J.R.R. Tolkien

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Geschreven door:	anoniem
Niveau:	5VWO
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Titels van J.R.R. Tolkien

• The Hobbit / De Hobbit (24)

  1937

• The lord of the rings / In de ban van de ring (20)

  1954

• The Lord of the Rings part II and III (2)

  1954

• The lord of the rings: Fellowship of the ring / In de ban van de ring: De reisgenoten (20)

  1954

• The lord of the rings: The return of the king / In de ban van de ring: De terugkeer van de koning (5)

  1955

• The lord of the rings: The two towers / In de ban van de ring: De twee torens (14)

  1954

• The Silmarillion (1)

  1977

The Hobbit
J.R.R. Tolkien
Illustrated by Alan Lee
First published in Great Britain by George Allen & Unwin, 1937
New edition published by HarperCollinsPublishers, 1997
Fantasy story/Fiction

Motivatie boekkeuze
In het begin was ik helemaal niet van plan om dit boek te gaan lezen. Mijn eerste keuze was het vervolg van dit boek te lezen; The lord of the rings. Daar had ik namelijk de films al van gezien en die waren me erg bevallen. Later bleek echter dat dit niet mogelijk was, omdat er van deze boeken vertalingen en films waren. En de sectie Engels had besloten dat deze boeken niet zouden worden toegestaan, omdat mensen dan de vertaalde boeken zouden gaan lezen of de films zouden gaan zien. Het kwam er dus op neer dat ik een ander boek moest gaan zoeken. Dat was niet heel moeilijk, want het boek dat ik voor mijn eerste keuze zou gaan lezen, zou ik lenen van mijn vriendin. Zij stelde voor om eerst het voorafgaande verhaal te lezen, The Hobbit. Dat boek had ze ook en ze was zo lief dat ook aan mij te willen uitlenen. (Dus bedankt!) Ik ben dus het boek gaan lezen, omdat zij me het aanraadde. En ik had er ook al wat over gehoord en het leek me wel een leuk boek. De motivatie die ik voor zowel mijn eerste als voor mijn tweede keus had, was bovendien dat mijn favoriete genre fantasy & science fiction is, waaronder beide boeken vallen. Dus het was duidelijk voor mij dat ik The Hobbit ging lezen.

Lezerverwachtingen
Omdat ik de films van The lord of the rings al gezien had, had ik de verwachting dat het boek zich in dezelfde sfeer, tijd en ruimte zou afspelen. De voorkant van het boek ziet er simpel uit: een donkergroene kaft met een goudkleurig draakje in de linkeronderhoek. Mijn verwachting was dus dat er in het boek een draak zou voorkomen. Verder had ik de verwachting dat het een goed boek zou worden, omdat mijn vriendin me dat gezegd had.

Summary
The story is about the hobbit Bilbo Baggins. At a certain day a wizard, named Gandalf, visits Bilbo. He knows the wizard from earlier years of his life. Gandalf and Bilbo talk a bit, until Gandalf says to Bilbo that he wants him to go with him on an adventure. Bilbo doesn’t want this at all and brushes Gandalf aside by inviting Gandalf for tea the next day. But the next day it isn’t Gandalf who stands in front of his door. It’s a dwarf. And not just one dwarf, more and more dwarves come popping in like they’ve been invited. (Which they actually were, but Gandalf didn’t tell Bilbo that.) After a while Bilbo finds out that the dwarves want him to go along with them on an adventure and after quite a while Bilbo gets persuaded. And that’s why the little hobbit joined the dwarves on their adventure. Their goal is to reach The Lonely Mountain, where the dragon Smaug lies upon the gold of the dwarves. Along the way they go through many adventures, from being catched by trolls, goblins and elves to meeting a man who can take the shape of a man as well as the shape of a bear. Bilbo also finds a ring, which plays a large role in the continuing stories. In the end everything turns out fine.

Construction
The story is told chronically and there are no flashbacks. The book has a closed end. The tension is present during the whole story. As I mentioned the characters go through many adventures. All those little adventures are excitening on their own. You begin to wonder whether someone is going to die or not and similar things. So there is no ‘normal’ plotline actually. It doesn’t rise very swiftly and ends on a climax. It runs rather fluctuary, because every adventure contains a climax, and so the plotline goes up and down.

Setting
At the beginning of the book there is a kind of introduction, in which a little is already told about the setting of the book. “This is a story of long ago. At that time the languages and letters were quite different from ours of today. English is used to represent the languages.”(ix) The story begins in The Hill, the place where Bilbo Baggins lives. Through the story they travel a lot and go almost everywhere. The story ends again at Bilbo Baggins’ house.

Point-of-view
The type of narrator which is used in the story is the all-knowing (or omniscient) narrator.

Theme
I think the theme (or rather themes) of the book are courage and believing in yourself. Because at the beginning the hobbit doesn’t think himself a burglar, but in the end he turns out to be a quite good one too. Bilbo believes in himself and at the end of the book, he does a very good thing. “’Well done! Mr Baggins!’ he said, clapping Bilbo on the back. ‘There is always more about you than anyone expects!’” (259)

Explanation of the title
The book is called The Hobbit, simply because it is about a hobbit. The under title of the book is OR THERE AND BACK AGAIN. That is the title of the book which the hobbit is writing in the end of the story. And I think the author was trying to make it look like the hobbit wrote the actual book.

Description of the characters
Main characters:
Bilbo Baggins:
The name of the main character in this book is Bilbo Baggins. Bilbo Baggins is an ordinary hobbit. He lives in a nice and tidy hole under the ground. Bagginses are well-respected hobbits because they are often rich and never do anything that is out of the ordinary or strange or anything like that. “This hobbit was a very well-to-do hobbit, and his name was Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected: you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him.” (2) Hobbits are often shy for us, the Big People, as they call us. They’re not really large, enjoy comfort and are fond of food. Hobbits walk on bare feet. “I suppose hobbits need some description nowadays, since they have become rare and shy of the Big People, as they call us. They are (or were) a little people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded dwarves. Hobbits have no beards. There is little or no magic about them, except the ordinary everyday sort which helps them to disappear quietly and quickly when large stupid folk like you and me come blundering along, making a noise like elephants which they can hear a mile off. They are inclined to be fat in the stomach; they dress in bright colours (chiefly green and yellow); wear no shoes, because their feet grow natural leathery soles and thick warm brown hair like the stuff on their heads (which is curly); have long clever brown fingers, good-natured faces, and laugh deep fruity laughs (especially after dinner, which they have twice a day when they can get it).”(2) “Hobbits can become quite grumpy if they don’t have their comfort to relay on. ’To think it will soon be June,’ grumbled Bilbo, as he splashed along behind the others in a very muddy track. It was after tea-time; it was pouring with rain, and had been all day; his hood was dripping into his eyes, his cloak was full of water; the pony was tired and stumbled on stones; the others were too grumpy to talk. ‘And I’m sure the rain has got into the dry clothes and into the food-bags,’ thought Bilbo. ‘Bother burgling and everything to do with it! I wish I was at home in my nice hole by the fire, with the kettle just beginning to sing!’ It was not the last time that he wished that!”(30) Wanneer alle avonturen afgelopen zijn, is Bilbo wel veranderd. Dat blijkt wel uit dit citaat: “As all things come to an end, even this story, a day came at last when they were in sight of the country where Bilbo had been born and bred, where the shapes of the land and of the trees were as well known to him as his hands and toes. Coming to a rise he could see his own Hill in the distance, and he stopped suddenly and said:
Roads go ever on,
Over rock and under tree,
By caves where never sun has shone,
By streams that never find the sea;
Over snow by winter sown,
And through the merry flowers of June,
Over grass and over stone,
And under mountains in the moon.

Roads go ever on
Under cloud and under star,
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sword have seen
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green
And trees and hills they long have known.
Gandalf looked at him. ‘My dear Bilbo!’ he said. ‘Something is the matter with you! You are not the hobbit that you were,’” (286,287) Maar hij blijft toch gewoon maar een hobbit. “’Of course!’ said Gandalf. ‘And why should not they prove true? Surely you don’t disbelieve the prophecies, because you had a hand in bringing them about yourself? You don’t really suppose, do you, that all your adventures and escapes were managed by mere luck, just for your sole benefit? You are a very fine person, Mr Baggins, and I am very fond of you; but you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!’
‘Thank goodness!’ said Bilbo laughing, and handed him the tobacco-jar.” (289)

Minor characters:
Gandalf:
Gandalf is a wizard whom Bilbo knows from the time when he was a small hobbit-boy. “Gandalf! If you had only heard only a quarter of what I have heard about him, and I have only heard very little of all there is to hear, you would be prepared for any sort of remarkable tale. Tales and adventures sprouted up all over the place wherever he went, in the most extraordinary fashion. He had not been down that way under The Hill for ages and ages, not since his friend the Old Took died, in fact, and the hobbit had almost forgotten what he looked like. He had been away over The Hill and across The Water on business of his own since they were all small hobbit-boys and hobbit-girls.”(3) Gandalf is looks like an old man and he is, of course, much taller than the hobbit. Gandalf is a smart person who likes to travel and seek things behind other things. For instance: “All that the unsuspecting Bilbo saw that morning was an old man with a staff. He had a tall pointed blue hat, a long grey cloak, a silver scarf over which his long white beard hung down below his waist, and immense black boots. ‘Good morning!’ said Bilbo, and he meant it. The sun was shining, and the grass was very green. But Gandalf looked at him from under long bushy eyebrows that stuck out further than the brim of his shady hat. ‘What do you mean?’ he said. ‘Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?’”(3/4) Gandalf is a very smart wizard. “Mr Baggins saw then how clever Gandalf had been.”(117)

The author
J.R.R. Tolkien was born on 3rd January 1892 in Bloemfontein (South Africa). After serving in the First World War, he embarked upon a distinguished academic career and was recognised as one of the finest philologists in the world. He is, however, best known for his extraordinary works of fiction The Hobbit, The lord of the rings and The Silmarillion. He died on 2nd September 1973 at the age of 81.

Mening
In het boek gebeuren er, zoals ik al zei, veel dingen. Ik vind dat persoonlijk toch wel een beetje jammer, want ik had nu het idee allemaal losse verhaaltjes te lezen, in plaats van een verhaal. De samenhang tussen de stukjes was soms moeilijk te vinden. Het ene verhaal was nog niet gebeurd, of het volgende gebeurde alweer. Dat maakte het erg verwarrend. Ik vind de verhouding in het boek tussen de gebeurtenissen en de gedachten en gevoelens in het boek goed. Van beide zijn ongeveer evenveel elementen aanwezig. Dat leest wel fijn. Als een boek soms te veel gebeurtenissen bevat, zonder afwisseling van andere dingen, kan dat heel saai zijn. Maar ook te veel gevoelens of gedachten is niet altijd leuk, dat kan een verhaal heel langdradig maken. Niet alle gebeurtenissen vond ik even leuk. Het stuk waarin Bilbo bij Gollum zit, vind ik erg langdradig en ik had moeite om er door te komen.
De personages in het boek zijn goed, duidelijk en herkenbaar geschreven. Ik kan me goed inleven in de hoofdpersoon. Zijn standpunt wordt goed duidelijk uitgelegd, zodat je de manier snapt waarop de hobbit denkt. Ook kunt je vanuit het standpunt van andere personages zien, zodat je ook snapt hoe zij bij hun reactie komen.
Dit boek boeide me al vanaf het begin. Dat vind ik belangrijk bij een boek. Het moet een leuk begin hebben. Als ik een boek snel moet beoordelen lees ook eerst even het begin, om te kijken of ik het leuk vind. Dit boek had dus een leuk begin en had meteen mijn aandacht. De opbouw van het boek had ik misschien zelf op bepaalde punten toch anders gedaan. De verhalen liepen niet altijd even mooi in elkaar over. Het ene verhaal was nog niet gebeurd, of het volgende gebeurde alweer. En het ene moment beschreef de schrijver een stuk veel te lang naar mijn mening en het andere moment veel te kort, dan waren er ineens een paar weken voorbij gegaan in een zin. Bijvoorbeeld: “In two days going they rowed right up the Long Lake and passed out into the River Running, and now they could all see the Lonely Mountain towering grim and tall before them.” (189) Dat had ik misschien anders gedaan. Het eind was gesloten, dus ik bleef niet met vragen zitten. Dat vond ik wel heel fijn, ik heb het niet zo op boeken met een open eind. Ik wil graag weten hoe iets afloopt.
In sommige stukken van het verhaal viel het mij op dat de taal van de personages anders was. Bijvoorbeeld in het stuk met de trollen praten de trollen heel plat. Dat past wel bij de trollen, omdat de auteur over het algemeen een dom beeld schetst van de trollen, waar het taalgebruik wel bij past. “’Ere, ‘oo are you?’ …” (35) “’Blimey, Bert, look what I’ve copped!’ said William. ‘What is it?’ said the others coming up. “Lumme, if I knows! What are yer?’”(35) ”’Two to one, so shut yer mouth!’ said Bert. “Who are you a-talkin’ to?’ said William.”(39) En in het stuk met Gollum, wordt ook heel duidelijk gewerkt met de uitspraak van de woorden. Het schepsel Gollum praat precies zo als hij is: slijmerig. “ ‘Sssss’ said Gollum, and became quite polite. ‘Praps we sits here and chats wit hit a bitsy, my preciousss. It likes riddles, praps it does, does it?’” (69) Uit dit citaat blijkt ook wel dat Gollum een beetje in zichzelf praat. Ik vind de gedichten en liedjes die in het boek voorkomen ook heel leuk als afwisseling. Ik vind dat de schrijver dat heel goed heeft gedaan, het effect is erg grappig. Een voorbeeld daarvan is het gesprek tussen Bilbo en Gollum als ze elkaar raadsels aan het vragen zijn. Dit is een van de raadsels die Gollum aan Bilbo vraagt als hij honger begint te krijgen:
“It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,
Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt.
It lies behind stars and under hills,
And empty holes it fills.
It comes first and follows after,
Ends life, kills laughter.
Unfortunately for Gollum Bilbo had heard that sort of thing before; and the answer was all round him any way. ‘Dark!’ he said without even scratching his head or putting on his thinking cap.”(71)
Een ander voorbeeld staat op bladzijde 170 en is wanneer de elven een liedje zingen als ze tonnen in het water aan het gooien zijn:
“Roll – roll – roll – roll,
roll-roll-rolling down the hole!
Heave ho! Splash plump!
Down they go, down they bump!”
Of wanneer de mensen uit Lake-town een lied zingen, omdat Thorin is teruggekeerd op bladzijde 185:
“The King beneath the mountains,
The King of carven stone,
The lord of silver fountains
Shall come into his own!

His crown shall be upholden,
His harp shall be restrung,
His halls shall echo golden
To songs of yore re-sung.

The woods shall wave on mountains
And grass beneath the sun;
His wealth shall flow in fountains
And the rivers golden run.

The streams shall run in gladness,
The lakes shall shines and burn,
All sorrow fail and sadness
At the Mountain-king’s return!