Francis Berger
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My Son Embarks on the Tolkien Journey

2/3/2021

4 Comments

 
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The Hungarian translation of the illustrated edition of The Hobbit featured above was among the gifts my wife and I gave our nine-year-old son this past Christmas. My son was happy to receive the book, but in the days and weeks that followed, he showed little interest in reading it. Every now and then I gently suggested he pick the book up and give it a try, but I went no further than that. My philosophy about books is they will be read when they need to be read. Forcing them upon people, especially children, often does more harm than good. 

I did not read The Hobbit until I was thirteen, which is rather late if you really stop to think about it. Nevertheless, reading Tolkien's classic at that point in my life proved to be exactly the right time for me. If I had read it earlier or later, I may not have been as engrossed in it as I had been then. I may not have appreciated it as much as I had at that point in time. I may not have gone on to read The Lord of Rings immediately afterward the way I had. 

Well, you can imagine my joy when I noticed my son had begun to read his Christmas gift this past Saturday. In the most nonchalant tone I could muster, I casually asked him if he was enjoying the story. His eyes remained glued to the page and the only response I received was a quick nod. He's up to Chapter Seven now. When we went for our evening walk tonight, my little guy kept badgering me to tell him exactly what kind of creature Beorn is. Is he a bear? Is he a man? Is he some kind of bear-man? Rarely have I felt it so difficult to keep something to myself. 

"Just keep reading; you'll find out."

As we continued our walk I did my best to remember the last time I had read The Hobbit. If memory serves me well, it was about twenty years ago. With the exception of some excerpt-reading here and there, I haven't touched any Tolkien in over a decade. After this realization, I immediately informed my son that I would start re-reading The Hobbit right away to better be able to discuss the book with him. 

"I'll join you on your journey," I said as we turned the corner and headed for home. 

I am immensely pleased that my little guy has embarked upon the Tolkien journey. After a long sojourn, I am continuing.

May our journey never end.    


Note added: My son has also expressed an interest in reading The Hobbit in the original English once he hones his English reading skills a little more. Something tells me this will happen by summer at the very latest. 
4 Comments
bruce charlton
2/4/2021 09:06:02

I read the Hobbit at twelve - which was clearly just the right time for me. LotR followed a few months later. My kids read it earlier, in the excellent comic book adaptation by Chuck Dixon (which uses only Tolkien's words); but neither have picked up on Tolkien to any significant degree. I find it bizarre that adults read aloud Lord of the Rings to their children when they are five or six - a bit young even for the Hobbit.

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Francis Berger
2/4/2021 10:30:11

@ Bruce - When I was growing up, I was one of the last kids in my circle to read the Hobbit. Most read it when they were between 10-12. In connection with that, I worried that my son might be too young for the Hobbit when we purchased the book, but I figured it was not a bad idea to make it accessible to him. That way he could pick it up whenever he felt the desire to do so.

I was pleasantly surprised to see he had taken it up. I think the illustrated edition helps. He appears to be enjoying it so far, though I wonder if he might be too young to really "get" some of the more subtle parts of the story. Time will tell.





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NLR link
2/4/2021 23:21:01

9 is a good age to read the Hobbit. The good thing about Tolkien's books is that they can be read on many levels. I read the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings at 10 and enjoyed them primarily as an adventure story and did not remember much beyond the major events. Then later on I became interested in Tolkien as a person from reading Humphrey Carpenter's Tolkien biography. One reason is because Tolkien's life, especially when he was growing up, is as fantastical as any fantasy story (even more so because many people refuse to believe it ever was like that). Then that led me back to the novels.

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Francis Berger
2/6/2021 07:56:16

@ NLR - Thanks for sharing that. I hope my son experiences something similar and returns to Tolkien time and time again.

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