Reading the book

Hi guys! (and guyettes)
Yestarday i picked up TH and started reading. Yes, i read a bit of TH. (Don't fall over ) I definitely remember some of it, espcially the first parahgraph,(sorry, can't spell) but i think i may be remembering part of a film version where it narated (sorry - really can't spell) the parahgraph when it was showing the hobbit hole.
P.S mum can't be that drunk, she is just coordinated enough to knit and correct my spelling, but i ignored her not sure i trust a drunk!

Awesome! Keep us posted on how it goes, will you?

How far did you get? Don't worry if you didn't finish it; I also have the knack of being unable to finish books!

Ally wrote:How far did you get? Don't worry if you didn't finish it; I also have the knack of being unable to finish books!

I never knew, Squach. Please let us know. Hope you didn't end up piking it!

She probably didn't finish it. :/

{{ Sticking this here- a theatrical audiobook of TH, by the guy who did the Lotr's ones}}

Seeing the first entry here really makes me miss Squach.

Though I like the general atmosphere of that audiobook (who did they hire to keep a constant background of LotR musical themes spinning for 10 hours?) I was a bit put off by the delivery of the first line.

"In a hole in the ground there live....a hobbit."

No, there should be no special emphasis on "hobbit". It should feel a natural part of the world. The word itself should be enough to make us go "wait a minute..." while the storyteller blithely prattles on about mothers before realizing that perhaps the listener might not know what a hobbit was. Emphasizing the word 'hobbit' spoils the whole joke.

Indeed. His odd enunciations are not very good. He also doesn't sound conversational or theatrical, his voice has a schoolboy's reading cadence to it that lacks charm. So that it doesn't sound like I'm just kvetching over nothing, here's a comparison for the first opening lines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlIq06fZ5lA

When reading dramatically or well, you need to use pauses for emphasis. You need to make words sound like the thing they describe. From the example above, "immovably" is said with a finality, "green" is said with a hint of richness to it, as though the greenery is especially lush. The emotion in the reader's voice is absolutely vital: it enhances the story, informing the reader as to what the words mean. I find a mono-tone reading, and by that I mean, mono-emotional, completely unacceptable. Whether the performance is simply plodding and grey, or whether it is delivered in an overly sweet and light-hearted way, as my older sister and mother often read things. Perhaps that works for very small children, but is subpar for anyone over the age of... shall we say six.

Well, this guy isn't all bad, even if the work is over-edited.

Serkis's performance:


The most unsettling one yet. ASMR is torturously unpleasant.

Actually, except for the first line I rather prefer Petty's narrator.  I feel this American one is overdoing things a bit.  Plus it's horribly abridged - we never hear about Bilbo's mother!

Edit: Serkis' is the best, though like all of them I hear the lines a bit differently in my head and will always be a bit cross when they don't get it right.