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Lord of the Rings
 
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Lord of the Rings [ABRIDGED] [AUDIOBOOK] (Audio CD)

~ J. R. R. Tolkien (Author)
2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)

List Price: $59.95
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Frequently Bought Together

Lord of the Rings + The Hobbit (BBC Dramatization) + The Lord of the Rings
Price For All Three: $104.35

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  • This item: Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien

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  • The Hobbit (BBC Dramatization) by J. R. R. Tolkien

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  • The Lord of the Rings by Alan Lee

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Editorial Reviews

Review

. . . spirited productions . . . stirring music . . . (The Washington Post )

This collection . . . is a masterpiece.


Product Description

The original American dramatization as broadcast on National Public Radio.

From the wonderful landscapes of the Shire and Lothlorien, to the stark and sunless land of Mordor, the courageous Hobbits pursue their quest, bearing the awesome Ring of Sauron, the Dark Lord! This epic trilogy takes up where The Hobbit leaves off, tracing the legend of the One Ring, found by Bilbo in the Goblin's cave, to its final destruction in the Crack of Doom.

Packaged in attractive wooden gift box.


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Customer Reviews

21 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
4 star:
 (5)
3 star:
 (4)
2 star:
 (5)
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Average Customer Review
2.9 out of 5 stars (21 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Lousy rendition., February 3, 2002
By A Customer
Despite the fact that this is shown as being published in 2001, the copyright dates first from 1954. There is a reason that other versions have come out since this one: this one isn't good.

There are different readers for different characters, and some of the voices are really jarring. Frodo, to my ear, is completely wrong. In addition, it is poorly abridged. One of the most remarkable things about Middle Earth is how wonderfully imagined it is; all of the details are described so lovingly. Not in this version. Here, almost everything is dialog, so you are given little idea of what anything looks like. Some of the most cherished quotations (for me, at least) are mangled. In all, very disappointing. I remember hearing the BBC's dramatization years ago on radio and thinking it was wonderful job on very difficult material. I certainly wouldn't say that of this version.

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23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Despite being panned; this is a great rendition, October 9, 2002
By Michelle Cook (Worcester, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I think it is worth buying. Your personal preference will affect how you like this version as opposed to the newer one done by the BBC. This is the first rendition I ever heard of the Lord of the Rings. I own both copies and I don't regret owning either one because each Version is good for different reasons.
The voices are different in this version. BBC sounded more like grown men. The voices sounded more elfish in this version. I think that it reminded me of the Ralph Bashki version of the Hobbit. I did feel that this was more concise and less was edited out. Gollum seemed less psycho and scary in this version. There was less music in this version and less of a romantic sideline. I liked that it didn't edit out the part of Tom Bombadil; as BBC's version did. I felt like more was cut out on the BBC version even though it was four cds longer. It was disappointing.
I know that one person found this edition hard to follow. I find all the audio I listen to has to be listened to repeatedly to understand the plot. I will admit that this is the kind of story that one has to listen to to understand all that was going on. With repeated listenings; one hears new things or notices new things. I actually found the narration and actors voices sounded clearer in this version than the later one.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful memories - nice to have on CD, August 21, 2004
By Amanda Miller (Las Vegas, NV) - See all my reviews
Back in the late 1970's, in an era when radio drama was disappearing from public radio, the American prodcution of "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" were created with a full cast of voice actors along with music and sound effects. Reminiscent of the radio dramas of the 1940's and 50's, these productions were usually aired on Sunday afternoons, when a family could listen and enjoy the week's story. Released on Jabberwocky Audio on cassette tapes, I remember the Christmas when I received the entire collection of Jabberwocky's stories on tape. From "The Hobbit" to "Alice in Wonderland" to "The Red Badge of Courage," all were classic tales. They even re-released on cassette some of the original radio productions, such as "War of the Worlds" and "The Gift of the Magi." These stories were designed to get the listener interested and promote reading the books the productions were based on. They were not designed for an adult audience, but rather for children and families to share. Wonderfully edited and masterfully performed, many modern audiences find these old productions a little silly or even perhaps dated, but play it for a child, and they will listen in rapture, just as I did 25 years ago when they were new. Of all my collection of the Jabberwocky tapes, "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" are the only ones that I have trouble playing today, because they have been played so many times over the years that they are worn out. We would play them in the car on road trips, I would play them in my room while putting together a puzzle, and I played them for my friends, who enjoyed them as much as I did. I am delighted to have it on CD to listen to over and over again. At seven years of age, I had not yet read the books when I first listened to the tapes. But the tapes were perfect for a small girl just getting interested in reading. If only all the rest of the old radio dramas were also on CD! I would buy them all. It was unfortunate to come to this website and see the poor reviews written by people who have no understanding of the history of the production or what demographic it was originally intended for. I look forward to the day when I can play these CD's for my own children and see the wonder and delight in their faces when they hear the same stories that I grew up with.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Not at all what I expected
For some reason, when I first looked at this product, I thought it was recorded in the 1990's. I was wrong though. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Towani

4.0 out of 5 stars Overall the Better Edition
I've listened to both version at this point the BBC and this version (Mind's Eye or American) and think that this version is overall the better version. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Julia Freewoman

2.0 out of 5 stars Most serious Tolkien fans will find this disappointing.
I don't really like this production. To me the characters are all wrong. They way that elves are depicted seem very childish as opposed to being noble. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Jeff E. Dumas

3.0 out of 5 stars I'll always have a soft spot for this program, but it could still have been done much better.
I was first exposed to the wonderful world of Middle_Earth largely at the insistance of my fourth-grade teacher. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Bryan J. Peterson

1.0 out of 5 stars Not what I wanted at all
I wasn't paying attention when I purchased this set. I meant to get the unabridged reading of the books and couldn't listen to more than a few chapters of this. Read more
Published on August 18, 2007 by Heggy

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Audio Production I've Yet Heard
In my line of work, I have to drive a lot from school to school with trips taking anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour and a half. Read more
Published on March 29, 2007 by Romulus

5.0 out of 5 stars More Complete Dramatization For Fans of the Book
I own both radio dramatizations (Minds Eye and BBC). On the whole I prefer the Minds Eye one. Both have their pros and cons, but as a fan of the book this one was more accurate... Read more
Published on June 24, 2005 by Robert M. Mancuso

3.0 out of 5 stars okay
I'm a HUGE Tolkein fan. This CD way OKAY, here's why.

Up's,
-differnt voices so you know who's talking
-labeld CD's so you don't have to go looking for a... Read more
Published on January 24, 2005 by Marsha J. Rooney

1.0 out of 5 stars Not wort your time.
As I fan of Lord of the Rings (the books and the movies) I was quite excited to recieve this for CHristmas. My excitement died within minutes of placing it in my CD player. Read more
Published on January 13, 2004 by dakotahsdaddy

2.0 out of 5 stars Get the right one
While this is a very sincere effort at reducing LOTR into digestible audio episodes, it simply cannot compete with the BBC's version. Read more
Published on December 23, 2003 by Derek Lelash

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