The road goes on forever

Seems to...
Finally got to the end of the audio version of Lord of the Rings. It must have a playing time of 50 hours or more. The reader was Rob Inglis. He did a fantastic job. The book is so much better than the films - though they always are aren't they? (but the film is brilliant).
At times the book seems a bit turgid but afterwards you realise that without all that seemingly unnecessary dialogue and detail and singing (Rob Inglis has a great voice) it would just be a so so fantasy tale.