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fallingletters's review
5.0
Brief thoughts originally published 1 February 2018 at Falling Letters.
I don’t have much to add to the book description above. I can say that it’s quite accurate! I recommend it for readers whose appetite for biographical information about Tolkien’s early years cannot be satisfied.
I particularly enjoyed the anecdotes about the shenanigans Tolkien got up to as a undergrad. In one, Tolkien recounts how he and a friend ‘captured’ a bus and drove it around town, filling it up with other students. (Apparently this story is documented in Carpenter’s Biography, but I did not remember it. Placing details like this one within the grander context of Tolkien’s undergraduate years gives them room to be noticed). In some ways, Tolkien’s undergraduate experience is vastly different from anything I experienced (I marvel at his involvement in literary clubs), and yet in other ways, not so much…
Garth writes, “Already revealing a fluent grasp of vivid detail, an ability to crank up dramatic tension, and an interest in the clash of order and chaos, Tolkien’s mini-epic is his earliest known prose narrative” (27). To which mini-epic is Garth referring? Tolkien’s report of an university club meeting. A sample: “When Mr. Trevor Oliphant arose with the white face of bitter determination and demanded that the House go back to Private Business for the discussion of the shelved constitutional question, all bounds, all order, and all else was forgotten; and in one long riot of raucous hubbub; of hoarse cries, brandished bottles, flying match-stands, gowns wildly flourished, cups smashed, and lights extinguished, the House declared its determination to have its will and override the constitution” (27).
The book contains a variety of images, including sketches by and photos of Tolkien, some of which have not been published before. The booklet is worth it for the images alone, but I also recommend it for the in-depth and illuminating look at Tolkien’s undergraduate years. If nothing else, you might have some fun comparing your own university experience to Tolkien’s…
You can purchase this booklet directly from Garth’s website (approx. $15 including shipping).
I don’t have much to add to the book description above. I can say that it’s quite accurate! I recommend it for readers whose appetite for biographical information about Tolkien’s early years cannot be satisfied.
I particularly enjoyed the anecdotes about the shenanigans Tolkien got up to as a undergrad. In one, Tolkien recounts how he and a friend ‘captured’ a bus and drove it around town, filling it up with other students. (Apparently this story is documented in Carpenter’s Biography, but I did not remember it. Placing details like this one within the grander context of Tolkien’s undergraduate years gives them room to be noticed). In some ways, Tolkien’s undergraduate experience is vastly different from anything I experienced (I marvel at his involvement in literary clubs), and yet in other ways, not so much…
Garth writes, “Already revealing a fluent grasp of vivid detail, an ability to crank up dramatic tension, and an interest in the clash of order and chaos, Tolkien’s mini-epic is his earliest known prose narrative” (27). To which mini-epic is Garth referring? Tolkien’s report of an university club meeting. A sample: “When Mr. Trevor Oliphant arose with the white face of bitter determination and demanded that the House go back to Private Business for the discussion of the shelved constitutional question, all bounds, all order, and all else was forgotten; and in one long riot of raucous hubbub; of hoarse cries, brandished bottles, flying match-stands, gowns wildly flourished, cups smashed, and lights extinguished, the House declared its determination to have its will and override the constitution” (27).
The book contains a variety of images, including sketches by and photos of Tolkien, some of which have not been published before. The booklet is worth it for the images alone, but I also recommend it for the in-depth and illuminating look at Tolkien’s undergraduate years. If nothing else, you might have some fun comparing your own university experience to Tolkien’s…
You can purchase this booklet directly from Garth’s website (approx. $15 including shipping).
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