The Lord of the Rings Audiobook Is Fantastic
Just the other day, I learned that Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in the LoTR movies, did an unabridged audiobook version of the original trilogy, as well as one of The Hobbit:
The Hobbit (Libro.fm, Amazon, Audible)
The Fellowship of the Ring (Libro.fm, Amazon, Audible)
The Two Towers (Libro.fm, Amazon, Audible)
The Return of the King (Libro.fm, Amazon, Audible)
I’ve listened to about three hours of Fellowship so far; it’s very good. Serkis is an exceptional voice actor who doesn’t so much narrate as perform the book. The whole trilogy clocks in at around 65 hours1 but I’m immersed already so it can go on as long as it wants for all I care.
And if you’re super hardcore, there’s also a Serkis-narrated version of The Silmarillion that clocks in at more than 19 hours. That is a lot of Middle Earth.
- 75 hours if you include The Hobbit. You can shorten your listening time if you skip over the singing like I’ve been doing.↩
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Co-signed; these are phenomenal listens!
These are so great! I’ve listened to all of them but the Silmarillion (which I will do soon). They are amazing performances of the books.
I’ve read the books many times, but these recordings have done two things for me:
1. Given me a new appreciation for the Tom Bombadil section of the story, which I always found a tough read. Turns out his sing-songy nature is much better performed than read, in my opinion.
2. Brought the songs to the forefront. I always just skimmed the songs in the books, but hearing them brought them to life for me. There is some important stuff in the songs!
also don’t forget to check with ur public library, they have lots of audiobooks
I'm 95% through the Fellowship audiobook and it's interesting how Serkis seems to have incorporated the voices of the movie actors into his performance. I was initially unsure how I felt regarding that, but found that having seen the movies first means that those images are inescapably what comes to mind while listening to the audiobook so it ultimately helps the immersive experience for me personally, rather than what could have been a distraction. (Despite highly respecting him as an actor and performer, I did not particularly care for his voice at the outset of the audiobook, however that opinion has mostly waned over time.)
Also, I am in complete awe at Tolkien's worldbuilding but holy geez the sheer quantity of dialogue is... something. I was really happy once the story left The Shire! :)
I'm just finishing up my second listen through all three Lord of the Rings audiobooks. Love his reading, love how he brings the world to life. Being able to hear the languages of Middle Earth spoken has been an unexpected delight.
Somewhat similar, I can highly recommend Stephen Fry's reading of Sherlock Holmes stories (apologies for the Audible link, it's an exclusive). I'm a huge fan of both, so getting to hear these adventures from a beloved voice is all the better.
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