The Hobbit

I read this once in elementary school, and now I've read it again, twenty years later. I have a different reaction now than as a child (back then, the riddles and the tricksy speaking was what I enjoyed).

I think my favorite part is what sets The Hobbit above others of a similar nature—the end is concerned with returning to one's old life after it has changed irretrievably.

Having had a lengthy year full of adventures in Japan and then returned to the US, I understand something of the feeling Bilbo has after all he's been through. Your friends back home have moved on and changed, and now your new friends from the year-long adventure hasten to do the same. Your two lives are going on without you, and it's a struggle to resume it all. A melancholy remains, diminishing but never disappearing. Only a few people who have shared your journey and your return share the understanding.

That is why The Hobbit means something to me.