“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.”

Thus begins perhaps my favorite adventure novel of all time. We meet Bilbo, a hobbit who likes things just the way they are, who sets out on an adventure that shapes not only the trajectory of several natures and cultures, but also transforms himself. Bilbo encounters goblins and wild animals of many varieties. It’s a journey filled with elvish magic, trolls, thunderstorms, and riddles in the dark. Oh, and a dragon. Let’s not forget the dragon.

I will warn you, dear modern reader, this book was not written for you. It was written nearly a century ago now, and as such, many stylistic choices have changed. So you may be surprised to have an omniscient narrator and occasional bits of “telling” characterization that are taboo in today’s novels. But that doesn’t mean you will not enjoy this novel, and I highly recommend giving it a try.

Thinking of this book always brings up pangs of nostalgia. Its longer title is “There and Back Again,” which beautifully encapsulates this story. It reminds us that everything must come to an end. All journeys, all adventures, end. And often, we wind up back where we started, but we are not the same.

I’ll conclude with a poem from near the end of the book, one of my favorites. I don’t really consider it a spoiler, but if you dislike any hints of a spoiler, this is your cue to turn away.

Roads go ever ever on,

Over rock and under tree,

By caves where never sun has shone,

By streams that never find the sea;

Over snow by winter sown,

And through the merry flowers of June,

Over grass and over stone,

And under mountains in the moon.

Roads go ever ever on,

Under cloud and under star.

Yet feet that wandering have gone

Turn at last to home afar.

Eyes that fire and sword have seen,

And horror in the halls of stone

Look at last on meadows green,

And trees and hills they long have known.