In parts like the unexpected party, I beleive Gandalf tested an individual in a few short words, thereby being able to understand and read what that person was like in a few short words.

I LOVE the little "good morning" exchange, especially the part at the end where Bilbo gets annoyed and tells Gandalf "good morning" again, and Gandalf says, "what a lot of things you use good morning for" or something like that (can't quote exactly becuase I don't have the book with me). Great to have you back, Debbie!!!

I've also just finished the first chapter. I read The Hobbit sometime in the late 60's and remembered just enough to say I remembered. I don't have anything particularly profound to say about the chapter but must comment on your previous LOTR reading adventure. I re-read LOTR (again read orginally in the 60') this summer and found your site on the very day I finished. (I was crying quite a bit, I must say, that week) I loved reading every entry and was sorry I hadn't been part of the group. I almost e-mailed you and Alison and one of the posters that I especially loved reading to tell you how much the discussion meant to me. I didn't. chicken I guess... but here I am and whether I post or not, I'll be tagging along.

I'm sorry you didn't write back then, Marilynn, but I'm glad you shared that you enjoyed the discussion now! Thank you and welcome!

My favorite quote from this chapter is and always has been, "We are a plain quiet folk and I have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner!".

Jon: Gandalf does seem to be a very good judge of character, I've noticed.

Eowyn & Marilynn: Thanks for the welcome back. :-)

Worth mentioning, too, Deb, that if you're interested in more of the background of why Gandalf chose Bilbo for this adventure there's a chapter in a book called "Unfinished Tales" (bet Jeff has it on his shelf :)) called "The Road to Erebor" (I -think- that's right, I hate not having my references here!) that's actually a chapter cut from Book 6 of LOTR where Gandalf tells Frodo and others about some of the events leading up to the events in "The Hobbit". I read it for the first time last summer and I thought it was a lot of fun.

You're right, Jeff does have that. Is it easier to get through than The Silmarion? (sp?) :-)

Well, that one chapter (which is actually called "The Quest of Erebor") will likely be fine to get through since it was originally written to be part of Book 6 of LOTR. It's essentially Gandalf in Minas Tirith telling stories to Frodo, Pippin, Merry and Gimli. Most of "Unfinished Tales" won't make sense to you, though, unless you've read "The Silmarillion". In some ways, though, I enjoyed "Unfinished Tales" more than "The Silmarillion" since it adds a lot of background and details to stories in TH, LOTR and The Sil. John's reading it right now (having finished The Sil and being hopelessly lost in Middle-earth :)) and he likes it a lot.

Regarding "Unfinished Tales".... I find that the order you read The Silmarillion, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings is more or less arbitrary. However, you DEFINITELY want to read Unfinished Tales last.

That book is exactly what it's title suggests: a bunch of stories which were incomplete, or hadn't reached a final stage of editing, or in some cases just didn't fit anywhere else in the primary canon. You absolutely want to have the surrounding background material under your belt before you read these stories. There are a few bits of it, whose scope is limited to the third age tales, that would make sense to you now, most notably the already mentioned "Quest of Erebor", but most of it would be difficult to digest without having read the Silmarillion first.

is it just me, or does both the Hobbit and LOTR begin with a party?