內容簡介
The definitive edition of this beloved children's classic, featuring a wealth of accompanying illustrations and notes which take the reader further into both the story, and the tale of how it was written. Seldom has any book been so widely read and loved as J.R.R. Tolkien's classic tale, The Hobbit. Since its first publication in 1937 it has remained in print to delight each new generation of readers all over the world, and its hero, Bilbo Baggins, has taken his place among the ranks of the immortals: Alice, Pooh, Toad...As with all classics, repeated readings continue to bring new detail and perspectives to the reader's mind, and Tolkien's Middle-earth is a vast mine of treasures and knowledge, its roots delving deep into folklore, mythology and language. The Hobbit is, therefore, an ideal book for annotation: as well as offering a marvellous and entrancing story, it introduces the reader to the richly imagined world of Middle-earth, a world more fully and complexly realised in The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. Douglas Anderson's annotations make fascinating reading. Additionally, many of Tolkien's own illustrations embellish the text, and numerous illustrations from foreign editions exhibit an extraordinary range of visual interpretation. In an appendix there are details of the revisions made by Tolkien at various times to the publsihed text, which provide an uncommon and privileged glimpse into the special concerns of an exceptional and painstaking writer.
作者簡介
J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) is the creator of Middle-earth and author of such classic and extraordinary works of fiction as The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. His books have been translated into more than fifty languages and have sold many millions of copies worldwide.
約翰·羅納德·瑞爾·托爾金(J.R.R. Tolkien)(1892-1973),英國文豪,天纔的語言學傢,牛津大學默頓學院英國語言與文學教授,1919—1920年牛津英語詞典(OED)的編委。他以瑰麗的想像和精深的語言,建立瞭一個英語世界的全新神話體係。托爾金的雄心壯誌不在於寫作一個傳奇故事,或一部史詩。在他所創作的一係列中洲史詩中,影響最為深遠的是《霍比特人》(The Hobbit: There and Back Again) 和《魔戒》(The Lord of the Rings)。這兩部巨作被譽為當代奇幻作品的鼻祖,至今已暢銷2.5億餘冊,被翻譯成60餘種語言。美國每年銷售的大約一億本平裝書中,就有四分之一可以追溯到托爾金的作品。《魔戒》被票選為“兩韆年以來最重要的書”。由托爾金小說改編的電影《指環王》、《霍比特人》掀起21世紀奇幻文藝的全麵復興,世界拜倒在他腳下。
內頁插圖
精彩書評
"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort." The hobbit-hole in question belongs to one Bilbo Baggins, an upstanding member of a "little people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded dwarves." He is, like most of his kind, well off, well fed, and best pleased when sitting by his own fire with a pipe, a glass of good beer, and a meal to look forward to. Certainly this particular hobbit is the last person one would expect to see set off on a hazardous journey; indeed, when Gandalf the Grey stops by one morning, "looking for someone to share in an adventure," Baggins fervently wishes the wizard elsewhere. No such luck, however; soon 13 fortune-seeking dwarves have arrived on the hobbit's doorstep in search of a burglar, and before he can even grab his hat or an umbrella, Bilbo Baggins is swept out his door and into a dangerous adventure. The dwarves' goal is to return to their ancestral home in the Lonely Mountains and reclaim a stolen fortune from the dragon Smaug. Along the way, they and their reluctant companion meet giant spiders, hostile elves, ravening wolves--and, most perilous of all, a subterranean creature named Gollum from whom Bilbo wins a magical ring in a riddling contest. It is from this life-or-death game in the dark that J.R.R. Tolkien's masterwork, The Lord of the Rings, would eventually spring. Though The Hobbit is lighter in tone than the trilogy that follows, it has, like Bilbo Baggins himself, unexpected iron at its core. Don't be fooled by its fairy-tale demeanor; this is very much a story for adults, though older children will enjoy it, too. By the time Bilbo returns to his comfortable hobbit-hole, he is a different person altogether, well primed for the bigger adventures to come--and so is the reader.
--Alix Wilber
‘One of the best loved characters in English fiction… a marvellous fantasy adventure.’
--Daily Mail
前言/序言
圖書簡介:中土世界的序章與榮耀 本冊精選的文學作品,帶您領略一個跨越時空的史詩篇章,探索比爾博·巴金斯那段改變瞭他一生的非凡旅程。這不是一個關於英雄的簡單故事,而是一部對勇氣、友誼、貪婪與失落進行深刻探討的寓言,其深度與廣度遠超錶麵上的奇幻冒險。 故事的核心:一個不情願的冒險傢 故事的主人公,比爾博·巴金斯,是一位生活在夏爾寜靜田園風光中的霍比特人。霍比特人,這個低調、熱愛美食、安逸且極度厭惡“意外事件”的種族,構成瞭故事初期的世界觀基石。他們的生活哲學是安穩、圓滿,對外界的紛擾不屑一顧。然而,這份平靜被一位充滿神秘色彩的巫師甘道夫和十三位來自遙遠山脈的矮人所打破。 矮人們的領袖索林·橡木盾,決心奪迴他們世代相傳的寶藏,那寶藏被邪惡的巨龍史矛革占據在孤獨山脈的深處。比爾博,這位被命運選中,卻對此毫無心理準備的霍比特人,被捲入瞭這場注定九死一生的遠徵。他從一個隻關心下午茶和壁爐的“紳士”,逐漸蛻變成一個有擔當、懂得犧牲和智慧的旅者。 旅途的考驗:從舒適到嚴酷的洗禮 這段旅程本身就是對人性(或者說,霍比特性)的極端考驗。他們穿過瞭陰森的迷霧山脈,在那裏,比爾博遭遇瞭他一生中最重要的轉摺點——遇到瞭咕嚕,並意外地獲得瞭那枚改變瞭中土世界命運的“至尊魔戒”。這個小小的發現,不僅為他後來的冒險奠定瞭基礎,也為未來更宏大的衝突埋下瞭伏筆。 他們麵對瞭凶殘的食人妖、幽靈般的半獸人、仁慈卻又高深莫測的巨鷹。在幽暗密林的黑暗中,他們與被囚禁的森林精靈國王周鏇,並在危急關頭依靠比爾博的急智(以及他的隱形能力)得以脫身。 每一次遭遇,無論是與強大的敵人交鋒,還是與奇特的種族交流,都迫使比爾博超越他自身設定的界限。他學會瞭如何隱藏、如何說謊、如何在絕望中找到一綫希望。他的成長並非通過武力,而是通過善良、同情心和一種根植於平凡之中的堅韌。 主題的深度:金錢、權力與迴歸 小說不僅僅描繪瞭宏大的戰鬥場麵,它更深入地探討瞭更微妙的主題。史矛革的寶藏,那堆積如山的黃金、珠寶和古老的器物,是故事衝突的直接誘因。但這份財富的真正力量,在於它對持有者的腐蝕性。我們看到索林·橡木盾,這位原本高貴的領袖,如何被“龍的病”——對財富的貪婪——所吞噬,變得偏執、易怒,甚至願意為瞭黃金與盟友反目。 比爾博在目睹瞭這份貪婪的力量後,做齣瞭一個極為關鍵的選擇:他寜願放棄自己應得的份額,甚至冒著生命危險去勸解昔日的夥伴,也要維護和平與公道。這突顯瞭故事最核心的道德信息:真正的價值不在於物質的積纍,而在於精神的純淨與人際關係的維係。 史詩的收尾:五軍之戰與最終的轉變 故事的高潮在孤獨山脈外爆發——五軍之戰。這是一場涉及矮人、人類、精靈、半獸人與座狼的混戰,其規模預示著未來更大規模的衝突。在這場混亂中,比爾博展現瞭他作為和平締造者的潛力,他不再是那個隻知道躲藏的懦夫,而是敢於直麵混亂,試圖彌閤裂痕的人。 戰後,比爾博帶著他應得的、但遠非他所奢求的財富迴到瞭夏爾。然而,他已經不再是齣發時的那個霍比特人瞭。他的迴歸不僅是地理上的,更是精神上的。他學會瞭欣賞那些他曾經認為理所當然的美好——寜靜的街道、友善的鄰居、溫暖的爐火。但現在,這些美好有瞭更深刻的意義,因為他知道,它們是值得為之奮鬥和犧牲的。 文學價值:一個時代的縮影 這部作品以其獨特的敘事風格著稱,它既有兒童文學的明快和想象力,又蘊含著成年人纔能完全理解的復雜主題和文化底蘊。敘述者以一種親切、略帶諷刺的口吻,引導讀者進入中土世界的設定,同時穿插著大量的民間傳說、歌麯和詩歌,極大地豐富瞭世界的紋理。 它不僅是一個獨立的故事,更是對後續宏大史詩的奠基之作。它巧妙地將中土世界的曆史、地理和種族背景熔於一爐,為後來的神話構建打下瞭堅實的基礎,讓讀者得以一窺那片廣袤、充滿古老魔法與未蔔先知的土地的最初風貌。閱讀它,就是踏上探索人類本性,體驗一次由平凡走嚮非凡的心靈旅程。