Very very entertaining  read!

ALAN  LEE'S  ARTWORK  IS SUBLIME !!!!!  

Reviews..

'A finely written saga of dwarves and elves, fearsome goblins and trolls... an exciting epic of travel and magical adventure, all working up to a devastating climax'-   Observer 

A flawless masterpiece' -  The Times

QUALITY !!  ..... True quality is difficult to find: this is a rare book... enough said?... well, if you like LotR the you'll LOVE this. I, personally, believe this book to be better than it... but why take my word? Seriously, I you should buy this book... its great.

MASTERPIECE ......  The first master piece (but not his last) from one of the most breath-taking writers of the world of fantasie and fiction. where to begin with this wonderful book, it's orgrinal story, the supurb drawings and paintings, this book has it all. if you haven't read the hobbit, then you should do. no words can discribe how good this masterpiece is.

A Classic for the Tolkien collectorAnyone familiar with Tolkien will already know (and love) The Hobbit.But for the few that have not read any of Tolkiens books, The Hobbit is the perfect introduction to Middle-Earth, the world of Hobbits, Dwarves, Elves, Dragons, Wizards, Orcs..etc. The Hobbit has often been dismissed as a childrens book by some of the Lord of the Rings fanatics, yes, being less detailed and having less of the depth of The Lord of the Rings it is an easier book for children to read, but once it has caught their imagination most of those that read The Hobbit feel compelled to find out more about Middle-Earth and go on to read the Lord of the Rings, and the books that further expand on the folk-lore such as The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales..etc. Why buy this edition, because accompanying the wonderful tale by Tolkien are some beautiful illustrations by Alan Lee, making it the perfect book to be read to/by children and a classic purchase for the Tolkien collector. 

Tolkien and Lee - perfection  ......   Tolkien's Hobbit with Alan Lee's illustrations - absolutely superb. 

The cover is embossed with a golden title, and a border with elfish lettering inside the embossing. 

There are prints, pencil drawings and maps, all exquisitely drawn (as usual) by the renowned Tolkien artist Alan Lee. 

The Hobbit of the title is Bilbo Baggins, the story of his adventure and how he came to find the one ring. 

As with Lord of the Rings it is a true classic made all the more wonderful by the addition of Alan Lee's illustrations. 

The Hobbit is currently being made into a live action film, but I recommend anyone read the book first. As with Lord of the Rings I expect the time restraints to mean that certain sections and characters will be left out. 

Being such a Tolkien fan I have to admit that the Illustrated Hobbit is something that I could never be without. 

WHAT A  RIDE !! ....  Some books are almost impossible to review. If a book is bad, how easily can we dwell on its flaws! But if the book is good, how do you give any recommendation that is equal the book? Unless you are an author of equal worth to the one whose work you review, what powers of prose and observation are you likely to have to fitly adorn the work? 

'The Hobbit' is at one level simply a charming adventure story, perhaps one of the most charming and most adventurous ever told. There, see how simple that was? If you haven't read it, you should, because it is quite enjoyable. At some level, there is little more to say. Enjoy the story as the simple entertainment it was meant to be. Read it to your children and luxuriate in the excitement and joy that shines from their faces. That's enough. 

But if it was only simple entertainment, I do not think that it would be anything more than just a good book. Instead, this simple children's story resonates and fascinates. It teases and hints at something larger and grander, and it instructs and lectures as from one of the most subtle intellects without ever feeling like it has instructing, lecturing or being condescending. 

At it's heart, the complaint I opened the review with is just a variation on one of the many nuanced observations Tolkien makes in 'The Hobbit' when he complains that a story of a good time is always too quickly told, but a story of evil times often requires a great many words to cover the events thereof. How often has that idea fascinated me? 

Consider also how the story opens, with Bilbo's breezy unreflective manners which are polite in form but not in spirit, and Gandalf's continual meditation on the meaning of 'Good morning.’ How much insight is concealed within Gandalf's gentle humor! How often do we find ourselves, like Bilbo, saying something we don't really mean and using words to mean something very unlike their plain meaning! How often do we find ourselves saying, "I don't mean to be rude, but...", when in fact we mean, "I very much mean to be rude, and here it comes!" If we did not mean to be rude, surely we wouldn't say what we say. Instead we mean, "I'm going to be rude but I don't want you to think I'm someone who is normally rude...", or "I'm going to put myself forward, but I don't want you to think of me who is normally someone so arrogant...", or even, "I'm going to be rude, but I don't want to think of myself as someone who is rude, so I'm going to pretend I'm not being rude..." 

I think that is what makes this more than just a good book, but a great one. Tolkien is able to gently skewer us for our all too human failings, and he does so without adopting any of the cynicism or self-loathing so common with those that seek out to skewer humanity for its so evident failings. 

We fantasize about heroes which are strong and comely of form, and we have for as long as we've had recorded literature. Our comic books are filled with those neo-pagan mythic heroes whose exaggerated human virtues always amounts to, whatever else may be true of them, 'beats people up good'. These modern Ajaxs, Helens and Achilles dominate the box office, and I would imagine dominate our internal most private fantasy lives as well. Oh sure, the superhero of our fantasy might have superhuman ethics to go along with his superhuman ability to kick butt, attract the opposite sex, and enforce their will upon others, but it is always attached to and ultimately secondary to our fantasy of power and virility. How different is Tolkien's protagonist from Heracles, Lancelot, Beowulf, or Batman - short, small, mundane, and weak. Of all the principal characters of the story, he possesses probably the least of that quintessential heroic attribute - martial prowess. 

And yet, he is not actually merely an 'average Joe'. Bilbo is just as much an exaggerated idealized hero as Heracles, it's just that those attributes in which Bilbo is almost transcendently inhuman isn't the sort of attributes we normally fantasize about having ourselves. Bilbo is gentle. He is simple. He is humble. Power and wealth have little attraction for him. He is kind. He takes less than his share, and that that he takes he gives away. He is a peacemaker. Though wrongly imprisoned, he bears no grudge and desires no vengeance for the wrongs done to him. Rather he apologizes for stealing food, and offers to repay in recompense far more than he took. Though mistreated, he harbors no enmity. He never puts himself forward, but he never shirks when others do. 

How often do we fantasize about being this different sort of hero, and yet how much better we would be if we did? How much better off would we be if we, like Thorin could declare in our hearts, "There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West. Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." How often is it that we hunger after all the wrong things? What profit would we really have if we had in great measure the power to 'beat people up good'? What real use could we put it too? How much better off would we be individually and as a people if we most desired to be graced with Bilbo's virtues, rather than Achilles speed, strength, and skill with arms? How much less mature does this mere children's book of a well lit-world cause our darker fantasies to seem? 

Now, I admit I am biased in my review. I read this book 36 times before the age of 16. I broke the spines of three copies of it with continual reading. Yet in my defense I will say that I'm considered only a moderate fan of the book by many. I've known several devotees of the book who, like the protagonist of Bradbury's 'Fahrenheit 451', can recite whole chapters from memory - ensuring that this would be one of the few books that would survive the sudden destruction of all the world's technology if only the world's story teller's survived. If you are inclined to think no book can be that good, and that my review overhypes it, so much the better. Go in with low expectations so as to be certain that they will be met or exceeded. Forget all I have said save that, "If you haven't read it, you should, because it is quite enjoyable." 

AWESOME   .....  This book took me on a great adventure, one that took me through a great range of emotions, and I have to say, it must be the cutest adventure I've ever been on. How can you not adore Bilbo and his hobbit friends with thier furry feet and quaint past-times?

Of course, by the same Tolkien (pun intended), how can you not be afraid for Bilbo as he faces trolls, gobblins, men, and numerous other dangers? I for one don't know how you couldn't, not with J.R.R.'s gift for character development. I quickly came to identify with Bilbo and realized that he and I share a fondness for many of the same things, such as: food, music, and pipe weed, just to name a few. 
And I could easily see myself in his furry lack of shoes, as he finds himself in way over his head.
When I finally got around to reading this book I had allready read the 
Lord of the Rings trilogy and felt like this was the low calorie version, but that was exactly what I needed in my life. After the great epic of the trilogy it would be years before I could watch Middle earth go through that kind of upheaval again, yet I just could'nt get enough of J.R.R.'s fascinating creation.
Or did he create it? Middle earth seems so ancient, so grand, and so complete I sometimes suspect that Tolkein didn't in fact make it up at all, but that somehow, somewhere, middle earth is out there and as real as we are. It's as if Tolkein saw it all himself and simply wrote it down.
If you haven't read this book, do so, and share it with everyone you love. Read it to people who will listen, or at least make shure that they can get a copy. No one should miss out on the the beutifull and mystical place that is middle earth, after all 
who doesn't want to escape every now and then, if just for a little while? 

VERY S-C-A-R-C-E !!          VERY S-C-A-R-C-E !!          VERY S-C-A-R-C-E  !!           VERY S-C-A-R-C-E  !!

Marvellous Reading!

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My PHOTOS/ slideshow is of the ACTUAL copy I'm selling  AND FORMS PART OF MY DESCRIPTION