by JRR Tolkien
audioCDs 11.25 hours Hennepin County Library
read by Rob Inglis
I'm glad I got this. It was nice that Louise and I could both enjoy it when we drove up to visit Morgan. This is "comfort food" of reading. Though Bilbo isn't my favorite character, I like the riddle game with Gollum, the scenes with trolls and spiders, Bard killing Smaug, and the role of the birds in this story. The dwarves' greed and stubbornness remind me of some in our society, too . . . so sad when people's desire for material possessions clouds their view of what is truly important.
<Above from 9.30.10. Below on 8.17.22>
I relistened to this exact version (Rob Inglis) on Libby recently. I enjoyed it but occasionally my brain was in LOTR instead . . . Louie and I rewatched Fellowship and Two Towers a few weeks ago . . . also, I listened while I was doing other things. It's nice sometimes to have a "comfort" read. I had forgotten how many songs were included! The dwarves singing about cracking Bilbo's plates I remembered, but there were SO MANY other songs - from elves, goblins, the men of Dale, . . . This is a lovely version to listen to.
<Below added 5.25.2023.>
I thought it had been a much longer time since I had listened to this! Less than a year . . . where was my brain last year? I got the audio on Libby because I spend so much time in my car and like having something to listen to, but also something I don't mind missing parts of if I'm focusing on something else (like safe driving).
Honestly, I much prefer reading the text even though Inglis does a fantastic job with the vocal work! As usual, I prefer the adventure, the riddles, the trolls and spiders over the character of Bilbo and the stubbornness and greed of Thorin. (I'm glad he and Bilbo reconcile before the end, though.) This time through, I actually fast-forwarded through many of the songs. My apologies to Tolkien and Tolkien purists.
