‘Lord Of The Rings’ Audiobooks Will Be Read By Gollum Himself, Andy Serkis
Add the nameAndy Serkisto the growing list of actors turned audiobook narrators. This September, the actor who portrayed Gollum via motion capture in Peter Jackson’sLord of the Ringsmovie trilogy is lending his voice to a new recording ofJ. R. R. Tolkien’s original book trilogy forHarperCollins.
Revisit Middle-Earth with Andy Serkis
The Booksellerreports that Serkis is recording an unabridged audiobook version ofThe Lord of the Rings. No doubt, this release is designed to capitalize on Amazon’s upcomingLord of the RingsTV series, which will surely have many readers and listeners looking to revisit Middle-earth offscreen as well. You can already hear Serkis reading a10-hour version ofTheHobbit. Here’s what he had to say about the recording process forThe Lord of the Rings:
“I actually feel like I have lived through Tolkien’s saga, and felt his profound understanding of and connection to nature, love, war, truth, hatred and altruism. Each day I genuinely went through ups and downs, often coinciding with the progress of the ring-bearer and his companions. On more than one occasion I was sure I wasn’t going to make it to the Crack of Doom! Having now completed the quest and been ‘There and back again… again’, so to speak, I realise what a phenomenal privilege it has been to have had the opportunity to read this sublime work once more. My only hope, now, is that I have done it justice, and that the listening experience conveys the power and beauty of J R R Tolkien’s masterpiece.”
The Wide World of Audiobooks
Audiobooks are a boon for those of us who don’t have time to sit down and read as much as we’d like. They’re good for listening to while you’re on the go: driving, jogging, swinging your arms and aggressively power-walking, or even just doing things around the house (in a gothic maid skirt, or maybe that’s just me). For cinephiles, audiobooks come with the added bonus of letting you sometimes have your favorite actors read you novels. Just recently,we reviewedQuentin Tarantino’sOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood: A Novel, read byJennifer Jason Leigh.
As an on-again, off-again member of Amazon’s Audible service, I can tell you that my own listening library is already stacked with a good number of audiobooks narrated by famous actors:Ruby Dee(Their Eyes Were Watching Godby Zora Neale Hurston),Michael C. Hall(Pet Semataryby Stephen King),Jeremy Irons(Lolitaby Vladimir Nabokov),Stephen Lang(Heart-Shaped Boxby Joe Hill),Joe Morton(Invisible Manby Ralph Ellison),Will Patton(The Outsiderby Stephen King),Ron Perlman(City of Thievesby David Benioff),Bronson Pinchot(Authorityby Jeff Vandermeer),Sissy Spacek(Carrieby Stephen King),Mare Winningham(Lisey’s Storyby Stephen King), andMichael York(The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobeby C.S. Lewis).
These are just some of the many examples that are out there of audiobooks read by film and television actors. Let’s face it: we don’t all have time to crack open a leather-bound tome by the fireplace anymore. Listening to Andy Serkis readThe Lord of the Ringsmight be the next best thing.
