I got a free audio book from Audible and couldn't figure out what I wanted so I made an impulse selection of The Hobbit narrated by Rob Inglis. I read the The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings when I was a teen but had forgotten just how marvelous they are. Since then I've only seen the movies, with the short, fat, not-so-good-looking dwarves replaced by good looking thin men. So I listened to my new audio book over the last few nights. Man, what a great story.


“Good Morning!" said Bilbo, and he meant it. The sun was shining, and the grass was very green. But Gandalf looked at him from under long bushy eyebrows that stuck out further than the brim of his shady hat.

"What do you mean?" he said. "Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?"

"All of them at once," said Bilbo. "And a very fine morning for a pipe of tobacco out of doors, into the bargain."


LOL, what a great dialogue.

No now I am the owner of a new hardback copy of the The Hobbit with the original artwork, and a 75th anniversary boxed set of The Lord of the Rings. I'm supposed to be taking a class for a professional certification. Instead, I think I'll be reading about the mines of Moria.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Micropterus, December 08, 2018 09:30 PM

Fantastic books! The movies were decent, but when you go back and re-read the books, you remember just how much more there was to the story.

I read the books, but years later also listened to the Audible version. Listening to the LOR was awesome. The narrator read all the poems and sang the songs. This is one book where listening to it is a major plus over just reading it.

Buried somewhere around here I have the BBC radio production from many years ago. It's extremely well-done. I'll have to try to find it- it's been a long time since I last listened to it.

If any of you are inclined I highly recommend it.

My eldest sister gave me the four book set for Christmas one year (I think I was maybe 9 or 10 at the time). Didn't put them down until I was done.

The Internet Archive has the BBC production of the Hobbit https://archive.org/details/Th...Of8AnUnexpectedParty

Written between 1937 and 1949, and actually a continuation of his work begun in 1917. Significant dates, considering the theme, although Tolkien often denied any allegorical connection with either war.



2nd Lieutenant Tolkien, Lancashire Fusiliers, age 24, 1916.

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
I read the books, but years later also listened to the Audible version. Listening to the LOR was awesome. The narrator read all the poems and sang the songs. This is one book where listening to it is a major plus over just reading it.

Rob Inglis is an excellent narrator. he does the voices and sings the songs. And his voices are consistent throughout the book. Sample...

I think the most powerful passage of fiction I've ever encountered is from Return of the King, when Eowyn encounters the Witch King:



“Begone, foul dwimmerlaik, lord of carrion! Leave the dead in peace!"

A cold voice answered: 'Come not between the Nazgûl and his prey! Or he will not slay thee in thy turn. He will bear thee away to the houses of lamentation, beyond all darkness, where thy flesh shall be devoured, and thy shrivelled mind be left naked to the Lidless Eye."

A sword rang as it was drawn. "Do what you will; but I will hinder it, if I may."

“Hinder me? Thou fool. No living man may hinder me!"
Then Merry heard in all sounds of the hour the strangest. It seemed that Dernhelm laughed, and the clear voice was like the ring of steel.

"But no living man am I! You are looking upon a woman. Eowyn am I, Eomund's daughter. You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him."

The winged creature screamed at her, but then the Ringwraith was silent, as if in sudden doubt. Very amazement for a moment conquered Merry's fear. He opened his eyes and the blackness was lifted from them. There some paces from him sat the great beast, and all seemed dark about it, and above it loomed the Nazgul Lord like a shadow of despair. A little to the left facing them stood whom he had called Dernhelm. But the helm of her secrecy had fallen from her, and and her bright hair, released from its bonds, gleamed with pale gold upon her shoulders. Her eyes grey as the sea were hard and fell, and yet tears gleamed in them. A sword was in her hand, and she raised her shield against the horror of her enemy's eyes.”



The movie really disappointed me at this point. Of course, there are significant differences between book and film media. . .

I remember listening to this on my parents stereo when I was a preteen. Probably the very early 80s

quote:

Originally posted by AH.74:
Buried somewhere around here I have the BBC radio production from many years ago. It's extremely well-done. I'll have to try to find it- it's been a long time since I last listened to it.

If any of you are inclined I highly recommend it.

quote:

Originally posted by Hound Dog:
I think the most powerful passage of fiction I've ever encountered is from Return of the King, when Eowyn encounters the Witch King:



“Begone, foul dwimmerlaik, lord of carrion! Leave the dead in peace!"

A cold voice answered: 'Come not between the Nazgûl and his prey! Or he will not slay thee in thy turn. He will bear thee away to the houses of lamentation, beyond all darkness, where thy flesh shall be devoured, and thy shrivelled mind be left naked to the Lidless Eye."

A sword rang as it was drawn. "Do what you will; but I will hinder it, if I may."

“Hinder me? Thou fool. No living man may hinder me!"
Then Merry heard in all sounds of the hour the strangest. It seemed that Dernhelm laughed, and the clear voice was like the ring of steel.

"But no living man am I! You are looking upon a woman. Eowyn am I, Eomund's daughter. You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him."

The winged creature screamed at her, but then the Ringwraith was silent, as if in sudden doubt. Very amazement for a moment conquered Merry's fear. He opened his eyes and the blackness was lifted from them. There some paces from him sat the great beast, and all seemed dark about it, and above it loomed the Nazgul Lord like a shadow of despair. A little to the left facing them stood whom he had called Dernhelm. But the helm of her secrecy had fallen from her, and and her bright hair, released from its bonds, gleamed with pale gold upon her shoulders. Her eyes grey as the sea were hard and fell, and yet tears gleamed in them. A sword was in her hand, and she raised her shield against the horror of her enemy's eyes.”

About 40+ years ago I was gifted a calendar that had that scene recreated by an artist on one of it's month's pages...I remember it to this day and I wish I had that calendar today...thank you for your post ...it's in my mind's eye...but we have the internet...brothers Hildebrandt outstanding Lord Of The Rings artwork...meld your quote with their artwork and the power is obvious!...

Just stay away from anything his son, Christopher, has written. It’s terrible.

I took a Tolkien literature class a couple semesters ago, and loved it. We read the Hobbit, the Silmarillion, and then finished by reading LOTR. it was quite an educational class on Tolkien, with a lot of other supporting texts. Very fun to get to discuss it in a "book-club" discussion type classroom setting, with a professor who guided the discussions onto some REALLY cool stuff (when we weren't derailing his lessons onto other interesting side notes and tangents.)

I love Tom Shippey's text "J.R.R. TOLKIEN: Author of the Century" and the compilation book "letters of JRR Tolkien." Those were of most insight and information in our class discussions, and led to a lot of other random discussions.

If you like the languages, Ruth Noel's "The Languages of Tolkien's Middle-Earth: A Complete Guide to All Fourteen of the Languages Tolkien Invented" is pretty cool. a very short book, but interesting as well - especially since the languages started it all.

The books are wonderful.
The most disappointing thing about the movies was they omission of the Battle of the Shire from Return of the King.
They quite literally missed the point of the Hobbits' adventures, experience, and growth. It greatly saddened me, to see that blown off.

Bruce

I will never read the Hobbit again and will not miss it.

LOTR, along with Dune, are masterpieces of the genre.

Although, to be honest, I skip the Tom Bombadil section when I reread. Can't stand that section.

I was forced to read The Hobit and one of the LOTR books in high school. Didn't care for either.

Glad you found something appreciable in them, but I don't think they are my flavor.

I read the trilogy (I think) in the late '60s and was immediately hooked. For a few decades I read it again every few years. Then the movie came out and I still look forward to watching it again occasionally.

I should dig out the books and try that again.

So you want your 9-year-old to start reading way above her grade level? Just leave a copy of The Fellowship of the Ring on the toilet tank.

I love the story but I hated Tolkien’s writing style. :-/

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Leemur, December 09, 2018 12:54 PM

quote:

Originally posted by clayflingythingy:
I will never read the Hobbit again and will not miss it.

LOTR, along with Dune, are masterpieces of the genre.

Although, to be honest, I skip the Tom Bombadil section when I reread. Can't stand that section.

This is kind of where I am. I love the books and the story, but I can avoid the singing, and I can dodge those sections where Tolkien seemed to get too wrapped up in detail rather than story. Elves or Dwarfs singing, Bombadil, and Crossing the Dead Marshes in Mordor.

Those bits kill me. At the same time, I would have liked a bit more history of Gondor.