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linneak2002's review against another edition
5.0
2023: This was not a typical biography narrating the author's life. It was a Literary Biography going through all of Tolkein's works and some of his writings about his works. I would highly recommend this book, but I'd suggest having read at least The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings first, and maybe some of his short stories as well.
I loved how Shippey went into the history of certain words that Tolkien used. Language is a beautiful thing.
I loved how Shippey went into the history of certain words that Tolkien used. Language is a beautiful thing.
suebrownreads's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed some of this book, but I don't think it was written for the typical Tolkien fan. It reads more like it was written for the philologist or linguist who also happens to be a Tolkien fan.
fallingletters's review against another edition
4.0
Review originally published November 2012 at Falling Letters.
I found much of the book to have a fresh perspective, particularly as I haven’t read too much analysis of Tolkien’s work (primarily just [b: The History of the Hobbit|1081560|The History of the Hobbit, Part One Mr. Baggins|John D. Rateliff|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388670262s/1081560.jpg|1068303]). For example, the passage about Baggins as bourgeois and the comparison between that word and burglar, and the description of the ‘modern business’ aspects of Bilbo and the dwarves’ deal, provided a perspective on those aspects of the stories I never really considered before. I also enjoyed the afterwards of the book, in which Shippey considers Tolkien’s imitators but also considers what they don’t imitate, such as language-building and the interlacing storylines. it’s easy to pick out what gets most often imitated (such as races) but I had never thought about imitators in terms of what they don’t imitate, and I think that’s a great thing to think about because it goes to show just how unique and skilled Tolkien was.
I did find the segment ‘The Ironies of Interlace’ about LotR very interesting. Because I had seen the movies before the books, I was familiar with the general plot and wasn’t too surprised my any of the major events while reading the books. However, Shippey examines how the different threads of the story are carefully interlaced and presented to the reader, so that, for example, the reader does not know if Frodo and Sam are alright when reading about Aragorn and co. approaching Mordor. There are even more subtle examples of this careful intertwining, where the characters do not know something but the reader does or one timeline is five days behind another timeline. I’m not doing a very good job at describing this, but Shippey does a great job at explaining this and how there is likely no author today who could pull off such grand scheming. I thought it interesting to consider – what would it have been like to read the books and not know how the plot went? It’s unfortunate that I missed that opportunity, but they still make for a great read! 😛
All in all, a good little read, especially for someone like me, who has enjoyed Tolkien’s works and wants to learn more.
I found much of the book to have a fresh perspective, particularly as I haven’t read too much analysis of Tolkien’s work (primarily just [b: The History of the Hobbit|1081560|The History of the Hobbit, Part One Mr. Baggins|John D. Rateliff|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388670262s/1081560.jpg|1068303]). For example, the passage about Baggins as bourgeois and the comparison between that word and burglar, and the description of the ‘modern business’ aspects of Bilbo and the dwarves’ deal, provided a perspective on those aspects of the stories I never really considered before. I also enjoyed the afterwards of the book, in which Shippey considers Tolkien’s imitators but also considers what they don’t imitate, such as language-building and the interlacing storylines. it’s easy to pick out what gets most often imitated (such as races) but I had never thought about imitators in terms of what they don’t imitate, and I think that’s a great thing to think about because it goes to show just how unique and skilled Tolkien was.
I did find the segment ‘The Ironies of Interlace’ about LotR very interesting. Because I had seen the movies before the books, I was familiar with the general plot and wasn’t too surprised my any of the major events while reading the books. However, Shippey examines how the different threads of the story are carefully interlaced and presented to the reader, so that, for example, the reader does not know if Frodo and Sam are alright when reading about Aragorn and co. approaching Mordor. There are even more subtle examples of this careful intertwining, where the characters do not know something but the reader does or one timeline is five days behind another timeline. I’m not doing a very good job at describing this, but Shippey does a great job at explaining this and how there is likely no author today who could pull off such grand scheming. I thought it interesting to consider – what would it have been like to read the books and not know how the plot went? It’s unfortunate that I missed that opportunity, but they still make for a great read! 😛
All in all, a good little read, especially for someone like me, who has enjoyed Tolkien’s works and wants to learn more.
soupcocoon's review against another edition
4.0
i was not expecting to love this so much but it's very very interesting and eye opening
stephen_on_a_jet_plane's review against another edition
informative
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
teganlt's review against another edition
5.0
Extension of the argument in The Road to Middle-Earth, with the addition of comparative analysis of Tolkien as one of the war-traumatized writers of the 20th century. Read both Shippey's books (The Road to Middle-Earth, Author of the Century) back to back, in that order, and treat them as one text.
davehershey's review against another edition
4.0
Shippey had written another book on Tolkien, which I have no plans to read (I am done with Tolkien for a while). In this one his goal is to show that Tolkien deserves a place among the most well-respected and admired authors of the 20th century. Many academics and critics have disparaged his work as lesser since it is of the fantasy genre. Shippey’s study of Tolkien’s work reveals just how brilliant and well-read Tolkien was and how much depth there is in Tolkien’s work. If you are a fan of Tolkien, check this one out too