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Title: Lousy rendition.
Review: 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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