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A review by julicke95
The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien by J.R.R. Tolkien
4.0
For those who (like me) wished to have been able to ask Tolkien himself about the Entwives, the Blue Wizards, Tom Bombadil, where Elves go after they die in battle, the major themes of LOTR, the particularities of Quenya and Sindarin, or so many other questions, this is the book for you. Letter 131 alone is extremely informative and quotable in that regard.
But aside from being a dragon-hoard full of lore, these letters also tell the story of a man with the simple wish to write legends (initially) for his own amusement, who finds himself continually restricted in this endeavour by endless work and other hardships. Even after a storied academic carreer and surprising literary success, the story ends rather tragically and suddenly when Tolkien passes away without having been able to publish the story that was the core of the entire legendarium and the most personally important to him: The Silmarillion.
After reading an incredible story, one can't really help becoming interested in the mind from which it originated, a fact that Tolkien resented most bitterly, because it distracted from the story. Nevertheless, I quite enjoyed getting to know him a bit through his letters, which ranged from scathing remarks to publishers who dared to misspell "dwarves" as "dwarfs" to grateful and elaborate responses to reader's enquiries about Hobbit customs. You can't help but develop a fondness for this incredibly erudite, humble, particular, peculiar, hobbit-like, and outspokenly Catholic man.
But aside from being a dragon-hoard full of lore, these letters also tell the story of a man with the simple wish to write legends (initially) for his own amusement, who finds himself continually restricted in this endeavour by endless work and other hardships. Even after a storied academic carreer and surprising literary success, the story ends rather tragically and suddenly when Tolkien passes away without having been able to publish the story that was the core of the entire legendarium and the most personally important to him: The Silmarillion.
After reading an incredible story, one can't really help becoming interested in the mind from which it originated, a fact that Tolkien resented most bitterly, because it distracted from the story. Nevertheless, I quite enjoyed getting to know him a bit through his letters, which ranged from scathing remarks to publishers who dared to misspell "dwarves" as "dwarfs" to grateful and elaborate responses to reader's enquiries about Hobbit customs. You can't help but develop a fondness for this incredibly erudite, humble, particular, peculiar, hobbit-like, and outspokenly Catholic man.