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

(openculture.com)

77 points | by bookofjoe 5 days ago ago

14 comments

  • wewewedxfgdf 4 minutes ago ago

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

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

  • krupan 2 hours ago ago

    This is so good. You can tell that Andy Serkis based his gollum voice off of this.

    • an hour ago ago
      [deleted]
  • Angostura 36 minutes ago ago

    Is there a version minus the music?

  • nubskr 29 minutes ago ago

    Tolkien discovering tape recording in 1952 and immediately reading The Hobbit into it for 30 minutes is the most author thing ever.

  • ParentiSoundSys 2 hours ago 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 an hour ago ago
      • ParentiSoundSys an hour ago ago

        Fascinating thank you. I was only aware of the surface level concern around the orcs.

    • usrnm an hour ago ago

      > The way that orcs are dehumanized

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

    • gambiting an hour ago 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?

      • Cthulhu_ 5 minutes ago 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 an hour ago ago

        There must be some pretty industrial strength compartmentalising going on.

      • avadodin an hour ago ago

        are we the baddies?