Listening to the Lord of the Rings Audio Book

Listening to the Lord of the Rings Audio Book

Unless you have lived in a black hole for the past few years you have surely heard of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Once made famous by JRR Tolkien many, many years ago the trilogy has received significant renewed interest thanks to the brilliant cinematic work of Peter Jackson. Jackson's film adaptations brilliantly captured the flair of the novels and led to tremendous renewed interest in the series bringing an entirely new legion of fans into the fold. (In fairness, legendary animator Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated film version of the novel also kept the fan base of the trilogy alive although his film was no where near as popular as Jackson's version)

Now, while the film version of the novel and, of course, the original novel itself have proven quite popular, it would be unfair to ignore the excellently produced Lord of the Rings audio book that has also gained quite a fan following as well. Sadly, while there are many devotees to the excellent Lord of the Rings audio book, there are many who may not even be aware that a Lord of the Rings audio book even exists. This is unfortunate because those die hard fans of the series would greatly benefit from purchasing and listening to the classic text read and acted out loud for the listener's entertainment pleasure.

Different Versions of the Lord of the Rings Audio Book

Keep in mind, there are more than one version of an audio recording of the Lord of the Rings audio book. Probably the most well known of the audio book variations would be actor Robert Inglis' version which is COMPLETELY UNCUT and runs a total of 46 CDs. Yes, 46! This is enough listening material to last an entire year! It is also a brilliant recording and Inglis deserves a ton of credit for the work that he has done. The other popular Lord of the Rings audio book would be the BBC version. Keep in mind; BBC audio books are not so much readings of the book as much as they are produced in the style of classic radio theater. They are also quite entertaining and fun to listen to.

The Issue of Cost

46 compact discs do not come cheap. Well, let's amend that statement to read 46 brand new compact discs do not come cheap and the audio book version of Lord of the Rings can cost upwards of $100 if purchased brand new off the store shelves. However, thanks to the glory of the internet, there are a number of services that can provide discounted used copies of the series. As such, if cost is a concern these are the sites to check out for great deals.