Monday, January 7, 2013

Finding God in the Hobbit by Jim Ware

Yes I have been reading a lot of books about The Hobbit. Yes, it is because of the Movie. I must thank all the publishers for putting out books to catch the Movie wave.

Finding God in the Hobbit reads like a devotional. It does cover several deep topics at times, but each chapter was too short to do some of the topics justice.

Each chapter follows this structure: First an extensive (a few pages) quoting from The Hobbit. Then, an explanation of whatever that passage is supposed to signify, with lots of additional material cited as and when needed. If you haven't read The Hobbit, all this quoting is going to disorientate you.

The topics covered in this book are actually quite interesting. I would have preferred it if the author narrowed  down the number of topics, and instead, chose to go in depth in a few of them. It would have made it much richer reading, instead of fleeing bites.

Otherwise, there's not much to differentiate it from the other Hobbit Devotionals I've reviewed. They're all good, and it really just depends on which one you pick up first.

My favourite quote from this book is:

"For to laugh in desperate circumstances and sing in the face of disaster is nothing less than an act of bold and daring faith. It's a sign of salvation to the watching world, evidence of hope that lies just beyong the fringes of the darkness."
 Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book courtesy of Tyndale Blog Network in exchange for a free and honest review

6 comments :

  1. Sounds interesting. I've seen a few of these devotionals, but every one I've picked up as had the "problem" of being too short when it comes to delving into what the chapter is about, or is supposed to focus on.

    I like that they've written about this, though. There is a lot you can discover from reading Tolkien, relating to God.

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    1. Yes there is! I think almost all the devotions related to the Hobbit are great though(:

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  2. I have this book, but I've never managed to get very far in it because, as you mention, a large percentage of it is just summarizing/rewriting The Hobbit. I find it difficult to believe this doesn't count as plagiarism, and I'd prefer to read The Hobbit instead of Ware's version in any case.

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    1. Hmm.... I guess the author just wanted to refresh the memory in case you've forgotten I guess. I started taking it like a separate Bible study mid-way through.

      But if you don't like it, perhaps you can check out other books? Quite a lot came out thanks to the movie ^^

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    2. I do have a lot of Tolkien literary criticism type books. I particularly enjoyed The History of the Hobbit by John D. Rateliff, but I haven't yet checked out some of the newer books released because of the movie.

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    3. The History of the Hobbit sounds interesting, I'll have to check it out(:

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