Lord of the Sounds?

I picked up the CD box set of Tolkien BBC Radio adaptations some time ago now, but have only just got round to listening to them. They came highly recommended to me, and they are a curious experience.

The Hobbit was made in 1968 and has a very progressive sound - with atonal music & songs and occasional Goonish voices (I checked the cast list and none of The Goons appear). What strikes me most about the show is the pronunciation - GanDALF, GollOOM, Thorin with a silent 'h'. Since J.R.R was still alive when this was made I thought perhaps he'd advised them and that this is how the character names should be pronounced. But then Peter Jackson et al took so much care over all aspects of the films that it seems unlikely they'd have messed up Gandalf and Gollum, and Ian McKellen mentions Thorin with his 'h' intact as they trudge the mines of Moria in The Fellowship of The Ring so I think these are eccentricities of this production (prodooction?) alone.

My main issue with The Hobbit is that I don't really like it very much. I've read the book a couple of times and despite my best attempts I find little of merit in its pages. This radio adaptation is a good listen, and I adore Bilbo's need to spell out his surname to all and sundry to avoid confusion (delivered impeccably for maximum comic effect by Paul Daneman), but overall I find the story too shallow and unevenly weighted to engage my enthusiasm. Yes, I know, I'm not an imaginative eleven year old and if I had been when I first read it maybe things would be different. But it's not the world of Middle Earth I have difficulty with since I adore The Silmarillion and The Lord of The Rings.

Speaking of which I am only a third of the way through the 1981 radio adapatation of LotR so this isn't a review, more an opinion on what I've heard thus far. Observations (auralvations?!) to note:

- Less treatment of character voices than in The Hobbit.

- Disappointing soundscape - there's not been much in the way of atmos effects so far, just occasional sound effects and music but it's mainly the words that are driving this forward. Brilliant as they are, the words on their own often lack the pace and drama needed to imprive the dynamic. It's a particular shame since this production post-dates The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, in which the almost constant atmos, music and effects holds the listener and allows us to engage far more easily with the fictional world created.

- Familiar voices / famous names! Now I'm fully aware that this is my own fault and I need to disassociate actors with certain roles but it's difficult! Ian Holm as Frodo sounds the same then as he did years later as Bilbo in the films. Not a problem, just something worth noting. Bill Nighy plays Sam. I'm not a fan of Bill Nighy - as far as I'm concerned he gives the same performance no matter what he's doing (except in Harry Potter where he destroys the Welsh nation). He's actually OK here, but the director should have got him to be more consistent with his rustic accent. Richard O'Callaghan plays Merry. He's also good, if not a little properly spoken for a country hobbit. But I can't help thinking of him getting all flustered over Jacki Piper in Carry On Loving and it's very off-putting! John le Mesurier is great as Bilbo and I can cope with him sounding like a character from Bod. Similarly Michael Hordern is wonderful as Galdalf (here pronounced in the usual way) and doesn't necessarily make you think you're in an episode of Paddington. The other actor I've had issues with so far, though, is Robert Stephens as Aragorn. Stephens has a great fruity voice, but he doesn't sound like I'd imagine a tough weather-beaten ranger to sound. He also conjures images of the villainous Abner Brown he played in The Box Of Delights which is no good for a hero - particularly when he's in the Prancing Pony talking to fellow Delights actor James Grout!
But like I said, I need to sort this out myself...

I recently re-watched The Fellowship of The Ring (extended version, of course!) for the first time in some years. It's my favourite film of the three, being the only one with its own beginning, middle and end. Although I love the films I don't think they unduly colour my appreciation of the story in other media. I am glad, however, that I read the book first. And curiously what the radio series is doing, but the films never do, is make me want to read the book again. Where the radio series and films can surpass the book(s) is that they are strategically edited. Not shortened, necessarily - but edited. I appreciate that Tolkien was creating a whole world, but he was also telling a story for the reading public and sometimes you need someone (a good literary editor) to focus you to that task and get you to leave all the meanderings and Tom Bombadils to your appendix or your Silmarillion.

I'll return to this once I've listened to the rest of it...