JRR Tolkien reads from The Hobbit for 30 Minutes (1952)

(openculture.com)

78 points | by bookofjoe 4 days ago

5 comments

  • wewewedxfgdf 7 minutes ago
    This is the most magnificent audio version ever recorded of The Hobbit - by Nicol Williamson in the early 1970's.

    Zip file with mp3 in it:

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1b2aPKgVVguOKMOOqWskaliOviYr...

  • krupan 2 hours ago
    This is so good. You can tell that Andy Serkis based his gollum voice off of this.
  • Angostura 38 minutes ago
    Is there a version minus the music?
  • nubskr 32 minutes ago
    Tolkien discovering tape recording in 1952 and immediately reading The Hobbit into it for 30 minutes is the most author thing ever.
  • ParentiSoundSys 1 hour ago
    I wonder what Tolkien would say of so much of the symbolism from his novels being used to bootstrap a horrible dystopian control grid? Would he approve or disapprove? The way that orcs are dehumanized you have to wonder.
    • bananaflag 56 minutes ago
      • ParentiSoundSys 51 minutes ago
        Fascinating thank you. I was only aware of the surface level concern around the orcs.
    • usrnm 1 hour ago
      > The way that orcs are dehumanized

      Orcs aren't human, though. If anything, they were deelfized

    • gambiting 1 hour ago
      >>The way that orcs are dehumanized you have to wonder.

      If anything, it's their portrayal in the Rings of Power that is idiotic(trying to humanize them) - they aren't human, they don't have families or friends or internal lives and psychological doubts going through their heads - they are meant to be a force("force" like in "force of nature") of evil, not a misunderstood and exploited race of intelligent beings.

      For an actually interesting take on "hey what if the orcs are actually intelligent people" there is The Last Ringbearer by a Russian author, presenting LOTR from the perspective of Mordor(it's not a good book, but was an amusing read)

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Ringbearer

      I will however agree with you that it's truly insane how we have a global survailence company that is used to spy on citizens and destroy democracies worldwide that is literally called Palantir. Like, no one working there is seeing it?

      • Ntrails 1 minute ago
        > we have a global survailence company that is used to spy on citizens and destroy democracies worldwide that is literally called Palantir. Like, no one working there is seeing it?

        The Palantir are not evil creations in the book iirc. They were used by the great kings to see whatever they wished.

        Heck, even in the book Aragorn uses the Palantir to make a critical decision turning the tide of battle.

      • Cthulhu_ 7 minutes ago
        Palantir, Anduril, Istari, and there's even a home security one called Sauron, you can't make this shit up.

        Back in my day, LotR names were used for cool metal bands like Gorgoroth, Amon Amarth, Cirith Ungol, Carach Angren, Burzum, etc.

      • klondike_klive 48 minutes ago
        There must be some pretty industrial strength compartmentalising going on.
      • avadodin 1 hour ago
        are we the baddies?