The Unexpected Journey by Benjamin Preston

Throughout the centuries, people have been writing stories of all kinds. Whether it be fantasy or fiction, everyone has a favorite book. In this case, my favorite book is The Hobbit, a fictional story by J.R.R Tolkien. The book’s attention to details and plenty of suspense was a pleasant surprise for me. Because of this, The Hobbit is one of my favorite books of all time.

Details and pacing, like a foundation, are critical for a book. The attention to detail and speech makes it seem like you’re actually there. Joined by the pace and a good imagination, it feels like you’re there. To help with this, the characters have their own separate dialogue, personality, and sophistication to fit the character respectively. The action scenes are gripping and paced in their own separate ways to make them unique. For example, when Bilbo and the dwarves are in the spider-infested trees, it seems like an eternity of battle, verses Dale being destroyed by Smaug, which is quick and chaotic like it would be in real life.

The language of the book was another positive. And what surprised me the most about the book was the way the settings and characters were set up. In the first chapter, the author breaks the fourth wall to establish Bilbo’s bloodline and sophistication, instead of figuring it out as the reader. Another surprise was how the speech and narration still holds up to this day, since the book was published more than 75 years ago, I would have assumed that there would be obscure words that I wouldn’t understand, but, few to no words needed a dictionary in one hand, and the book in the other.

The best parts of a book is what usually defines it. One of my favorite parts were when Bilbo finds the ring in the goblin cave, and Gollum discovers this, also. The slow pace and almost silent atmosphere gave an eerie feeling overall. Another favorite part of mine is when the group finds the riches of the lonely mountain. It’s unimaginable to think of that much gold in one place. But, of course, it’s a fictional book, so it’s expected to have impossibilities.

In all, The Hobbit was an enlightening experience. The book is a great start to a series of books that were just as great. Overall, the details were specific, the pace was just right, and the suspense was breathtaking. The Hobbit stood up to the test of time and still continues to do so today. It have few flaws to the story, and the positives outweigh the negatives. For these reasons, The Hobbit is my favorite book.