A review by mariebrunelm
The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien: Revised and Expanded edition by J.R.R. Tolkien, Humphrey Carpenter, Humphrey Carpenter, Christopher Tolkien

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Last year, The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, originally published in 1981, had a new and expanded edition. Some 150 additional letters were added to the book and give an even deeper insight into the life and work of the author. Many of them are from the correspondence with his son Christopher during the second world war, and a good number are from his exchanges with his publishers at Allen & Unwin. There are also a handful of letters written to Donald Swann who was composing music inspired by the legendarium.

I have already read the previous edition of the Letters for my PhD, and often refer to them in my studies. So of course I bought this volume as soon as it came out. The new material may not be groundbreaking, but there are many touching passages and a few interesting tidbits for my subject.

All in all, I’d recommend the Letters if you want a picture of the man behind the legendarium, in all his complexity and sometimes contradictions. He took time to answer lengthily to readers asking about obscure points of the history of Arda, or its philosophy, or its languages, and it’s really fascinating.