As you know, Mme Reclus has developed an obsession for all things Middle Earth, and has ordered dramatic readings on CD of LOTR and the Hobbit, these are recorded books, word-for-word, unabridged audio (masterfully read by English Shakespearean actor Rob Inglis) of the text.

I’ve been disappointed by books-on-CD before, but these are a wonderful complement to the text. I’ve just read the books, for the second time, and I was struck by how much material I couldn’t remember, (or perhaps I just missed altogether!). The contrast was so striking I had to constantly refer to the text to convince myself the reader just wasn’t making up new material. No, the adaptation is complete, faithful and accurate.

Its hard to escape the notion that this material was deliberately meant to be read aloud, like Homer or Beowulf. Tolkien was a master of languages, real and imaginary, but he seems to have been also a master of English.

Since then, Mme Reclus has also ordered CD books of The Silmarillion (read by Martin Shaw) and The Sons of Hurin (read by Christopher Lee).

I can’t wait.