content: I read "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy before the movies came out in anticipation of them, having always put them off for one reason or another. Naturally I was drawn to this book afterwards as a way of looking for some of the background to the story. Honestly, I don't know what it is and hate myself for saying this, but I simply did not like this book. I'm not sure if it's the style of the narration or what it is, but I found it a struggle to read. I normally read until the end of a chapter and then stop for the time being, but with The Hobbit I found I could barely get through one chapter in a sitting. I know that many are going to hammer me as "not helpful" for knocking the book, but I just want readers to understand that this book, much like LOTR, is not for everyone. The LOTR is a much better read than this one, and in my opinion The Hobbit is really only a necessary read for those diehard fans who really need to know where it all began.