The Hobbit: Chapter. I

My best friend and I (in honor of the upcoming movie "The Hobbit") have decided to read The Hobbit together. We're going to read three chapters a week and then I said I would review each chapter here. Sounds like fun : )

The Hobbit

Chapter I. An Unexpected Party

     From the very beginning, we get incredible descriptions of Hobbiton, Bag-End, Bilbo Baggins and his family. Bilbo's mother, Belladonna Took, and her family were considered odd from the rest of the hobbits because they liked adventures.

"It was often said (in other families) that long ago one of the Took ancestors must have taken a fairy wife. That was, of course, absurd, but certainly there was still something not entirely hobbitlike about them. and once in a while members of the Took-clan would go and have adventures. They disappeared discreetly, and the family hushed it up; but the fact remained that the Tooks were not as respectable as the Bagginses, though they were undoubtedly richer.*

     The Bagginses come in when Belladonna married Bilbo's father, Bungo, and Belladonna settled down to raise her son. Bilbo has always had a little Took in him, but has never really known it. He's takes more after Baggin's side of the family and prefers to stay in his beautiful hobbit-hole home and stay as far away from adventure as possible.

      Then one day the great wizard Gandalf shows up at Bag End and says,

"I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it's very difficult to find anyone."

      So Gandalf voluntells Bilbo to go on this grand adventure and Bilbo says,

     "Sorry, I don't want any adventures, thank you."

      The next day Bilbo gets the shock of his life when Gandalf and thirteen dwarves arrive on his doorstep. The dwarves as they were introduced in the book.

Dwalin, Balin, Kili, Fili, Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur and Thorin

     This is when the story gets funny. The dwarves are loud, a little rude, and seem to have no clue what they put poor Bilbo through when he has to unexpectedly feed all fourteen guests. Afterwards Thorin (the leader of the company) explains why they are going on this adventure. To reclaim a lost treasure that was stolen from them by Smaug the dragon. Bilbo's role in this is the burglar, who is small, discreet, and able to get by without being seen.

     After some hefty persuasion (and some rather rude comments slung out by Thorin), Bilbo agrees to go.