The Hobbit
JRR Tolkien
Light-hearted Middle Earth
I re-read The Hobbit most recently ten years ago (21-Oct-2012), not long after the enhanced 75th anniversary version came out. I first read it, I am guessing, at the age of 12-13, in 1968. The four-star rating reflects what I thought of it on first reading. I think that probably represents a more accurate read of my objective opinion than my current feelings would. The Lord of the Rings had not in 1968 become the historic phenomenon it is now. Of course, the books were known and becoming known. My aunt in New York City, who always knew what were the hot new books, gave me The Hobbit and later the Lord of the Rings as gifts. Although The Hobbit was not a new book in 1968, it was becoming newly known in the 60s. (As I understand it, we have the Hippies to thank for that. Yay, Hippies!)
I enjoyed The Hobbit, but it didn't grab me the way The Lord of the Rings later did. Being written in Bilbo's voice, The Hobbit is a fun light-hearted adventure. One doesn't get the sense of a huge backstory and issues of world-shaking importance that The Lord of the Rings produces. That is more an observation than a criticism. Sometimes a bit of light-hearted fluff is just what one wants. Indeed, my sister prefers The Hobbit to The Lord of the Rings. I probably do, too, in the right mood. But standing alone, i.e., if it were not the prolog to The Lord of the Rings, I can't imagine that The Hobbit would have the place in literary imagination that it does today.