The Hobbit, Part 1

Ok fistly I'd like to say that the book is really enjoyable and the narrator is very good and I even enjoyed the singing parts. But I have to say that it is a cheek of audible to split this book into two seperate purchases as has been done with the lord of the rings. The physical books are not split as neither should these. It is a poor attempt at getting more money out of their customers. I have has the lord of the rings on my wish list for a long time but am annoyed I have to use two of my credits for one book!!! Audible sort it out!

This is a great tale and well read in this version. It can be a little monotonous in parts. My biggest grievance is the fact that the tale last around 11 hours in total, yet is still split into TWO books. On that basis, Stephen King would be very expensive!!

To summarise, it's ok, but I can't justify the price and won't be getting the LOTR "trilogy" (6 books!) to follow.

I am a fan huge of Tolkien and have read The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings and Similarion on many occasions. I purchased this to gain a new experience of the work. I was however, left feeling disappointed. The narration was dreadful. Rob Inglis does attempt to 'play' the different characters and he even does some of them well but aaah the monotony! I did finish the book, it did not improve and I shan't bother with the rest of the series as it's the same narrator. Also, most importantly WHY IS THIS BOOK SOLD IN TWO VOLUMES??!!. I have books in my library over 40 hrs long that are sold as one volume. I noticed this also applies to The Lord of the Rings. I do love audible but I'm quite disappointed with this two volume nonsense, 8 credits for 4 books, rip off anyone....

"The Hobbit" is one of the treasures of English fiction: a rattling tale told by Tolkein with wit and unique imagination.Given the status of this book and the spectacular attention given to the sequels, it is all the more surprising that this audioadaptation is so lacklustre and pedestrian. The narrator lacks any true range in his animation of the characters; relying on degrees of pomposity alone to voice Gandalf, Thorin and the dwarves. This is in stark contrast to the vivacious, varied and comedic audio interpretations that we have grown accustomed to with modern classics (e.g. Stephen Fry's sparkling rendition of the Harry Potter series). In my view, the poverty of this production of the Hobbit is a greater crime than the insouciance of making us pay double for the book by splitting it unneccessarily into two parts. Audible should be careful not to repeat either of these transgressions in future.

Much more expensive because it is sold as two books instead of one, this recording of The Hobbit is much better than the abridged version available on Audible. Tolkien’s prose is more than half the fun, and the abridged version loses the sparkle and colour of it.
Rob Inglis has done a great job again in narrating Tolkien, although his pronunciation of the word ‘eyrie’ is continually irritating in episodes featuring the eagles. Some of the Dwark names are a bit odd to my ear too, but I can live with those, unlike eyrie.
As an postscript observation on a great many titles in the Audible catalogue, why don’t audiobook editors and producers actually do their job and ensure narrators pronounce words correctly? Some books are desecrated by bad editing and Audible surely has enough influence in the market to insist that their providers up their game on pronunciations – especially non-English words.

I have no problem with Tolkien's text, but the fact that a 300-page book is split into two volumes is just too cynical and speculative, Audible!



Furthermore, this reading is frightfully slow and dull. Surely, there must be other versions available which don't draaaaaag out the beautiful descriptions so that the listener completely loses track of where we are, who is present, and what we are dealing with...

I absolutely loved this book as a child and even more so a few years later... :)) It is written with a lovely sense of humour with none of the somewhat oppressing seriousness of The Lord of the Rings. It is light-hearted, with a captivating style and story line.



The narration is only adds enjoyment to this audiobook. It is a shame that it has been split into two books, as there is no need for that. Nevertheless, I would highly recommend it.

Although the books were good,I think that the presentation of the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings(all parts), could easily have been done in one part instead of two,(which everybody knows is a money making ploy.)By this I I mean that each book could have been in one part per book..Although this is the grievance I wished to make ,I think that all the books are BRILLIANT.

Rob Inglis brings a new lease of life to the much loved tale, 'The Hobbit'. His voice is thoroughly engaging and allows the listener to be transported into Tolkien's magical world. The different characters are very clear and the story comes alive in a way I have not experienced before. I could listen to it over and over again.

This book is very entertaining and I could not stop until I had read the whole book. I loved the mix of characters and the plot of the book. You can listen to the book whilst basking in the sun in the park or whilst taking a walk. Absolutely beautiful.