Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

My father introduced the late great Mr J.R.R. Tolkien to me when I was 8 years old, at a time when I had an insatiable appetite for literature of all kinds. From one night to the next I used to long to hear of events that - somehow - had been happening during my daily absence. "The Hobbit" only added to my impatience. The animated tones of my father's voice as he described Bilbo Baggins's journey into the middle earth, created images of green mist, rugged mountains and dark woods that only a childs mind can see so vividly. Yet I can remember the look on my father's face as he turned every page to rejoin the adventure. And I realised that this book - this fantasy land - had captured my fathers imagination as it had mine. For years after my father read me "The Hobbit", I longed to recapture the feelings that I first encountered in Bilbo's adventure - to learn more about Gandalf, and conjure up further images of dark, mysterious scenery. But maybe that time was too special. Maybe I'm never mean't to find another book with such magical power ..... because maybe I was lucky to be introduced to one in the first place. There are a lot of maybe's in life - questions that go along unanswered - as there are in this book...... that's the magic. In my adult wisdom (!?) I now know that I'll never truly recapture the feelings that I had as a little girl. But - when the time arises - I will strive to provide the same atmosphere in which my children can realise the magic of reading. And "The Hobbit" is the book that made me realise how important the magic is. So Mr Tolkien, wherever you are, I give you 5 stars.... for the thousands that you have already given me.