The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, Rob Inglis Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Hobbit
Book Review: Audio Book: Rob Inglis is Fantastic
Summary: 5 Stars
The audio book unabridged version by Rob Inglis is fantastic. I was not surprised, because I had listed to his unabridged version of Lord of the Rings before this. My expectations were high and I was not let down.The various voices are very well done and consistent. The voices of the animals (dragon, thrush, raven) are especially well done. The enunciation is very clear and the noise level is very low (i.e., a high quality recording).
Having short (e.g., three-minute) tracks is really helpful. The packaging is very good. All around a very professional package.
Book Review: Bilbo, the hero from Hobbiton
Summary: 5 Stars
Being an avid LOTR fan and Tolkeinphile, listening to the audio version of "The Hobbit" was delightful. I recommend this book to young and hold, you can never read or hear this story too many times!Book Review: Book Review - The Hobbit
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is the first book that J.R.R. Tolkien wrote in a series of related books about the history of the mythical world of "Middle Earth". It is the 2nd of the series viewed in chronological series:
- The Silmarilion
- The Hobbit
- The Fellowship of the Ring
- The Two Towers
- The Return of the King
It is the pivotal book in this series. The Silmarillion describes the ancient history of Middle Earth that provides the introduction.
The last three books present the consequences of the finding of The Ring of Power.
The Hobbit describes the events that led to the finding of this ring. It is tightly plotted and action flows smoothly and entertainingly. The book is full of wonderful poems and rhymes that everyone uses from the heroes to the villains. It is full of humor and, although reading like a children's tale at points, has more than enough serious content for any adult.
This is an audio book. Rob Inglis, the narrator, has produced wonderful vocal characterization of all characters and sings, where required, passably well.
Book Review: Classic Book Gets Classic Reading
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchashed the Hobbit on audio for use in my classroom. Most of my students find it easier to follow along with a person reading aloud than when reading on their own; the problem is that if I am the one reading my attentions are on the book, and the classes can sometimes take that as a cue to misbehave!
Enter the Hobbit on audio. This is an unabridged reading by classically trained actor Rob Inglis, who specializes in Shakespearean and Tolkien readings. His reading is consistent: his voice work stays the same for each character throughout the reading. A nice touch is the actual singing of the poetry Tolkien included. Music, songs, and poetry are an integral part of Tolkien's travel narratives, and the use of actual singing makes this reading a delight to listen to. Inglis's smooth voice is easy on the ears, and he performs this recording beautifully.
My only complaint, and that of my students, was that sometimes the pace of the reading was too slow, which made tedious parts of the book even more so. Other than that it was a huge asset to my classroom, and truly served its purpose. While I don't really use audio books for personal use, I would still recommend this item to people who do. If you want an introduction to Tokien's world but don't have the time or interest to sit down with the text, this may be for you.
Book Review: Disappointing! Stick with the Minds Eye or BBC versions.
Summary: 2 Stars
I found Mr. Inglis' voice characterizations to be poorly conceived and executed, and consequently this audiobook pales when compared to the two fully dramatized versions of The Hobbit by Minds Eye and the BBC, both beautifully realized. I grant that this is an unabridged reading, not a dramatization, but for an example of how the characterizations could have been accomplished, and for sheer listening pleasure you must compare this to the Harry Potter audio books read by Jim Dale. Jim Dale brings the characters to life in his reading with amazingly diverse voice characterizations, speech affectations, differing accents and pacing, such that the voices really suit the characters. In comparison, Mr. Inglis has a very narrow range of voice characterizations, and to my taste his characterizations were distinctly amateurish, flat and one-dimensional really, which was surprising in light of his Shakespearian credentials and disappointing after my experience with the triumph that Jim Dale brought us in the Potter series. In addition there are some rather horrible errors which should have been caught, and these now seem telling in the overall sparkless, indifferent and uninspired performance of this classic. An example of one such error: "Confusticate and bebother those dwarves!", which was flubbed by Inglis, saying "Confiscate" instead of "Confusticate". It is possible that Mr. Inglis thought to correct the text, as there is really no such word as Confusticate, nor "Eleventy-One" for that matter, but this may also underscore Mr. Inglis' ill-suited understanding of The Hobbit.