This was a wonderful way to get to know the beautiful JRR Tolkien. Overall, the letters were very lovely but some were a bit dry (as to be expected).

The letters to his children through the years (especially during the war) were my favorite.

I enjoyed reading this with my friend Jamie.

I discovered The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien back in '96 when I moved to an LA suburb and was searching through the library for something interesting to read while I took advantage of their free A/C during the blistering summer heat.

This was definitely something interesting, but only because I was a Tolkien fanboy. Who else would find joy in pouring over mostly mundane letters to friends, family and publishers? Me, I pored over over them, so happy to read even the most minuscule detail of the man's life.

It's been a while, so my recollection of what's contained in the letters is not precise. I seem to recall a feeling of being let down that more personal information wasn't revealed. English reserve seemed to be at play here.

The correspondence with his book publisher and seeing how that portion of his work came together held just as much interest, and there is a good deal of that herein, if I recall. I was already aware that Tolkien had some trouble convincing them to publish Lord of the Rings, even after the success of The Hobbit. And after publishing went forward, there was still a struggle over issues that needed ironing out. None of which is terribly riveting reading unless you're a fan.

I was most surprised at some of the great tidbits of profound wisdom that showed up here and there in his letters describing parts of LOTR's specifically. It made the book mean even more.

Tolkien’s letters are at times tedious and repetitive – just as life can be – but for the most part compelling reading material.

For a fan of Tolkien’s works, it is very interesting to read about the process of how they came to be written and published. Moreover, reading about his writing process itself is both inspiring and motivational to a writer, although Tolkien might be turning in his grave if he knew that people find his writing struggles either. Equally inspiring and thought-provoking are Tolkien’s world-views and philosophies, both general and academic, even if I disagree with some of them (which were a product of his time.)

The language, style, and tone of his letters range from intellectual and strictly formal to warm, familiar, and humorous in places, with an occasional special brand of ‘saltiness’ shining through which I greatly appreciated, and show him not only as an author but as a nuanced personality.

Tolkien’s letters are probably best appreciated if read and digested little by little and not to be sped through, although I have done precisely that with the second half of the book because I got fed up with myself that it was taking me so long.

Overall, Tolkien’s letters are a highly interesting read and therefore I definitely intend to return to them in the future.

This review was originally published on my book blog, Beyond Strange New Words.

Well this is by far the longest relationship I’ve had with a book. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien have been sitting on my nightstand for two years and ten days. I’m not proud that it took me so long to get through, but I’m glad I tackled it.

The best thing about this compilation is the insight his letters provide into how he felt about his own writings. There’s not a ton of personal stuff, but there are endless letters to his publisher and fans who wrote him with questions about the books. He shredded (in a fairly polite and clever British way) anyone who was involved in publishing the books but treated them thoughtlessly - wildly inaccurate illustrations or lazy translations, for example. Those who bothered to read them and treat them with respect became lifelong friends (such as publisher Rayner Unwin). The average length of a letter to a reader is mind blowing and made me think that he must have absolutely loved discussing his books with fans.

I personally love that nearly every single letter to his editor began with apologies for how many months late he was on whatever deadline. The man was a perfectionist and could not be rushed. I don’t think Tolkien was really a professional author in the sense that his goal was to publish and sell books. He was a professor whose hobby became his obsession and the result just happened to be a literary world millions of fans wanted to obsess over as well, myself included.

If you’re not at the point of obsession, this book would probably be horribly tedious. The letters on language made my head spin. There are some great biographies (Humphrey Carpenter) that pull plenty of quotes from the Letters and I’d recommend those first.

Diese Zusammenstellung persönlicher und geschäftlicher Briefe von Tolkien hat mich sehr fasziniert! Wer den Hobbit, den Herrn der Ringe und bestenfalls auch das Silmarilion gelesen hat, und dazu auch noch an der Entstehung Mittelerdes, der dort gesprochenen Sprachen und letztenendes auch an Tolkien, dem Menschen selbst, interessiert ist, denen kann ich dieses Buch wärmstens empfehlen.

Wäre es besser (oder einfacher) gewesen, vorher Tolkiens Biographie zu lesen? Vielleicht. Dazu kann ich mich erst äußern, wenn ich sie zum Lesen aus dem Regal genommen habe. Zu diesem Zeitpunkt kann ich allerdings schon sagen, dass es mir großen Spaß gemacht hat, Tolkiens Leben anhand seiner Briefe (und einzelner Suchanfragen im Internet zu Personen, Orten, Jahreszahlen etc.) zusammenzusetzen. Es war ein bisschen wie eine Schnitzeljagd. :D

Goodreads says I started reading this book in March 2021 and here I am a year and a month later finally finishing it. Whew! I’m glad to finally be able to check this one off my list.

Some of the letters were tedious to read, some were very easy and interesting to read. Most of them were just mundane letters to family, friends, and his publishers, but after finishing them I can say that I feel I have a better understanding of one of my favorite writers. These letters may even have given me better insight to his personality than his biography by Humphrey Carpenter!

I tabbed a lot of pages and highlighted a good bit of passages throughout this book. Parts that I found highly interesting and passages that explained or touched on certain details in his published works. For instance, one fan wrote a letter to Tolkien asking if the Ents ever found the Entwives, and I loved Tolkien’s commentary on that!

Some pages had me laughing out loud while others had me frowning a bit. Tolkien could be a bit harsh and brash to his critics. And even more so to those translators! He had very little patience with them, as well as those American cover art illustrators!

Es imposible ser objetivo con el Profesor y todo lo relacionado a él pero intentaré aunque sea algo.

Sin haber leído todavía la biografía de Carpenter este libro me ha dado una visión un poco más intimista de la vida en general de Tolkien, pero no es ahí donde destaca sino en los puntos de vista y perspectivas filosóficas, morales, críticas y creativas que el Profesor despliega en cartas formales e informales que -como toda correspondencia epistolar- presumen privacidad o al menos no masividad. Discusiones filológicas, lingüísticas y de su propio proceso creativo a lo que el legendarium refiere se mezclan con problemáticas mundanas como resfríos, falta de dinero y la preocupación por sus hijos. Las Cartas no son sólo una puerta de entrada al mundo de John sino un sillón para ponerse cómodo y disfrutar una fascinante mirada introspectiva a la obra de Tolkien y sus devenires autorales.

Post-data con spoiler: Las últimas cartas con la muerte de Edith harán llorar al más duro.

Look up CS Lewis in this book's index, as you were probably already thinking of doing. Tolkien's letters to his friend Lewis, as well as his incredibly frank remarks about Lewis in letters to others, are enough to make this collection very valuable. Tolkien states unequivocally that he detests volumes two and three of Lewis' Space Trilogy, and attributes the failure of "That Hideous Strength" in particular to Lewis' friendship with Charles Williams during its composition. (You will see also that Tolkien has very warm praise for the first volume, Out of the Silent Planet. It is hard not to notice the fact that he issues his compliments to that book at a time when his friendship with Lewis was still very active and congenial, and that his sharp criticism of the latter two comes after the notorious chill between the men.) Tolkien says in one letter that Lewis is unconsciously anti-papist in conversation, an insinuation that I find fascinating. Tolkien attributes it to Lewis' Irishness.

This is a difficult review to write. These letters are a collection of Tolkien’s faith, love for his family, and creativity. They’re all very heartfelt, even in the brief excerpts of a few letters. Would highly recommend this for every Tolkien fan and especially from those who love God’s creation and wish to be inspired by those who did not fall into despair after the travesty of the Great War.

En intressant läsning, trots att det tog mig ett tag att ta mig igenom hela boken.

Sick and tired of your pompous friends claiming they know and understand what Tolkien meant, only to shoot off at the mouth some bizarre, mid '90s goth kid trash about the real meanings of the metaphors used in Tolkien's work?

Then buy this book and put them in their place.

This book details Tolkien's real meanings in personal letters he wrote to the publishers and others.

Everything from stating that Elves are close biological cousins to man, through to real issue Elves had with Men (in comparisons which only seem to solidify the claims that they resemble the relationships of the USA with Europe between both world wars).

Sick and tired of videogame companies destroying your fantasy, while claiming they're right on with "source material"? Buy this book and quote passages where Tolkien berates various editors and producers for altering his work.

An amusing thing about these letters, is that Tolkien's letters suggest he would have approved of the recent movies. As a number of changes made in Jackson's movies were suggested by Tolkien himself when trying to communicate with the BBC production during the 50s what should be changed and what shouldn't be changed.

Buy this book, it's a great read