[chilmers]

If you’re a fan of LOTR but don’t fancy reading it aloud yourself, I’d really recommend the new audio versions read by Andy Serkis. While I don’t vibe with every facet of his performance, overall it’s a tour-de-force, and really makes the prose come to life. Especially in those descriptive sections that it’s possible to glaze over when reading the text. Having an actor of the calibre of Serkis reading them to you brings out the poetry and beauty of Tolkien’s language.

[loloquwowndueo]

Noooo. Audio books feed you the content at someone else’s pace, not at your (slow) pace, which is exactly what TFA advocates. Or, what are you going to do? Hit Pause after each sentence so you can fully digest and savor it?

[toyg]

Listening to someone talking is how humanity transmitted culture and stories for tens of thousands of years. The fact that "we" cannot tolerate it anymore, is a sign of how badly our brains are being reshaped (or maybe damaged) by screens.

[m463]

I think a long drive in the car is complemented exceptionally well by audiobooks.

and audiobooks with really good narrators? the miles will melt away.

(I like Wil Wheaton)

(don't know about lotr oudiobooks)

(currently part way through we are legion read by ray porter)

[Dylan16807]

An audiobook is bad if you want to go extra slow. I don't think I want to go that slow.

The article advocates not rushing. In general, that's a good fit for audiobooks.

[crazygringo]

The article literally says:

> limiting myself to mouth-speed

Audiobooks are mouth-speed.

The article suggests this is the right slow speed, at least for the author.

Maybe you yourself want even slower, but that's not what the article is suggesting.

[BloondAndDoom]

Not the OP, but to me audio generally x2 slower than I read, so I’m content with the speed, anything slower than that would be weird pace for many stuff.

Having said that yes I do indeed pause if I need to take a moment to think, and I roll back 15 seconds if I want to hear it again. Not a big deal, just part of the experience. -signed ex-hater of audiobooks

[baobun]

Not each sentence but I do regularly pause and sometimes skip back in audiobooks, yes.

[qwertytyyuu]

Use the playback speed settings, tough hitting pause every once in a while is also a good idea

[Zenbit_UX]

First of all, I don’t recommend going through life yucking someone else’s yum.

Second of all, I took TFA advice and read that article with the slowness and deliberate attention it recommended and found it to be trite and difficult to distinguish from AI slop… but if that’s what brings this person joy, good for them.

Who cares if the GP eats their cookies in one bite and listens to their audiobooks at 2.25x speed? Because one self help guru turned blogger said it’s a bad idea?

[UltraSane]

Audible and most audiobook player apps let you control the speed. I usually listen at 1.25 to 1.5

[satvikpendem]

Then just use 0.75 or 0.5x speed? I don't understand this question.

[sublinear]

I hate audiobooks because they're way too slow and full of moods/tones that often contradict how I would have read it. I can't be the only one who thinks they're overindulgent and annoying.

[zem]

for lotr in particular my last reread was slower paced because I kept this map[0] open and paused frequently to refer to it and see where everyone was. it was super enjoyable, I have literally read the book dozens of times before that and have never gotten so good a sense of the world's geography and the difficulty of various journeys.

[0] https://old.reddit.com/r/tolkienfans/comments/100n0y/maybe_t...

[xeonmc]

Is the entire thing narrated in Gollum’s voice?

[taberiand]

He does lots of different voices, it's very good

[sethammons]

> "Fly-ses you foool-ses", exclaimed stupid, dry tricksy one

[sgt]

I guess he gets the Gollum parts just perfectly.