I listened to The Hobbit a lot as a child. This audiobook (a German production from the year 2000, with different actors, atmospheric sounds and music) is near and dear to my heart, but beyond that, I can't really pinpoint anything in the book that I can hold on to as being thrilling or outstanding. It's just okay, and that's alright.

The pacing is too hurried for my tastes and it made it hard to build up relationships to any of the characters. I liked Gandalf because his voice actor made him sound like the quintessential old man, and because I know him from the movies (of course). The scenes I remember fondly from my childhood, especially seeking refuge at Beorn's, are gone in a blink - less than 10 minutes and the group were on their way again. I felt like I was missing out on a lot of parts of Middle Earth as a result of this and that's pretty dang disappointing.

Three stars for nostalgia reasons, for I fear I would have DNFed it had I read it.