Tolkien, as popular as he is, is too often misunderstood. His works and world are wrongly interpreted and crazy assumptions are made about the man himself. Worst is when people use The Lord of the Rings to make a point that Tolkien himself would have disagreed with. For instance, after Obama was elected one political commentator happily declared, "The shadows are lifting from Mordor" — being apparently completely unaware that Tolkien was politically against big government and that Obama's moral worldview is about as far from Tolkien's as it is possible to get, so that if anything Tolkien would have considered the night over Mordor to be blacker than ever. If everyone who wanted to say something about Tolkien read his letters first, they would do the man and his works far better justice. Of particular interest in this book are the many moving references to Tolkien's deep Catholic Faith, particularly the long letter to one of his sons on the subject of marriage and the relationships between men and women.

It's not an accident this man wrote those books. The personality that emerges from the letters is remarkable and unforgettable. I particularly appreciated the remarks on moral and religious thought; they were quite foreign to me, but expanded the range of my thinking.

Even the man's letters are really good! surprised at how much I enjoyed this, though probably shouldn't have been, because any additional LotR info is always a win for me.

One thing that did amuse me was Tolkien's insitence that LotR would never make him or his publishers any money

This could be described as "the glory of Germanic culture without Naziism." Tolkien saw a number of items that are either not noticed in the world, or not harmonized: 1) Germanic literature has an austere cultural beauty about it; 2) Modernism has no beauty; 2) Hitler rightly reacted to the decadence of democracies; 3) Hitler's actions would destroy the beauty of Germanic culture; 4) There would be no winners in WW2.

Besides brilliant commentary and background on the LotR, we gain insight into JRR's cultural views. He was an Agrarian (and not a Green Hippie) who hated both socialism and godless capitalism. He believed in a distributist system like Chesterton and Belloc.

My favorite part was how he loved languages.

How do you review a book that is entirely based on personal-professional letters and then assign a score to it—something that was never intended to be published? Well, it is what it is. Firstly, let's break some misconceptions: “Tolkien never wanted anyone to write an autobiography of him” That’s misleading, to say the least. He just didn’t want someone completely unacquainted with him writing about his life (rather it be done by a friend), and most importantly, he just didn’t want people to read his life and apply that to his work (it being the secrets to analyse his work). As he repeats verbatim that he actively dislikes allegory, but doesn’t mind applicability. He inevitably knew someone would write an autobiography of him, so he dictated a lot of these letters himself.

I wish I kept track of all the most important letters that spoke to me in a profound way, but I didn’t. Nevertheless, there are gems littered throughout, from Tolkien's general worldview, philosophy and how he views his work. It’s not one of a writer (he views it almost like it’s entirely real), not one of a historian, he did say a term that words lost me as I've been typing this review, but I will settle for a recorder. One thing I should note, people often say the characters in Tolkien LOTR sound unrealistic, but after reading all these letters, you just realise Tolkien just talked in this manner, in particular the way of Bilbo with his cleverness, charm, and wit.

I think if you watch or read a lot about Tolkien, I don’t believe this will radically change your view of Middle Earth as a whole. The most important information about his works has been cited almost everywhere else. This is not to say you won’t learn anything about Middle Earth, you still learn a good deal. I particularly liked him talking about Frodo and his quest, however, this is, as you would expect, the personal life of Tolkien, the trouble he had publishing his works (and failing to publish many books within his lifetime), and his academic career. It’s saddening to hear how much money issues Tolkien had considering the wealth LOTR accumulated near the end of his life, but particularly after his death.

The letters near the end of his life were the most tragic to read. Especially the final letter written days before his death to his daughter. It’s the letters where he is old, reminiscing about life, that are the most tragic to read. He was burdened by so much, but never had the time to write. When he had some time to write, it became too much. After the death of his wife, he wrote:

”But the story has gone crooked, & I am left, and I cannot plead before the inexorable Mandos.”

I’m glad I waited till now to read The Letters of Tolkien, especially this new edition, which was Humphrey Carpenter's original vision of the book (like Stephen King's The Stand Uncut edition). It’s not exactly the most riveting read, but there’s a lot of fun, letters to reminisce, digest, and just take in. Obviously, philsophically, I differ from Tolkien in many respects. Not just in terms of faith, however, he’s a fun, witty, intelligent, and charming man who I would have loved to share a beer with if I were born in that era and visited Oxford. I should note, the notes that are littered throughout do provide important context that you would miss otherwise and are valuable.

In Conclusion, if you are just interested in Tolkien himself and want to read his letters, not just about Middle Earth, definitely give it a shot. It’s the closest thing to an to an autobiography we will get from the professor.

3,5*

A wonderful look at Tolkien’s life from the pen of the man himself. Useful notes throughout help set the context.

Tolkien’s work is often subject to interpretations which are foreign to the author’s thinking and intent, so it was very interesting to see how Tolkien himself dealt with these things and his growing fame as the books grew in success.

Where does one begin to review this collection of letters?

It is first and foremost a must read for anyone who desires to "study" Tolkien's work. The main recurring insights throughout the numerous letters on Tolkien's Middle-earth is that 1) it IS NOT (intentionally) ALLEGORICAL 2) The Silmarillion (despite being published posthumously and edited by his son) is vital to understanding LOTR fully 3) Death and immortality are the main themes of "The Jewels and Ring" 4) Almost every criticism since LOTR's publication and now Tolkien in some way form responded to.

Amongst his letters are several comical responses, lengthy explanations on First and Second Age works, frustration at how foreign publications translated and/or edited his work, marriage and religious guidance (primarily to his son Michael), and the struggle he had in trying to produce "the sequel" to the Hobbit.

It is by no means the most interesting letter collected here, but seeing as how prevalent the PJ movies are it is interesting to note the Professor's criticism of an early film 'treatment' of the LOTR in Letter 210, specifically:
"If both the Ents and [Helm's Deep] cannot be treated at sufficient length to make sense, then one should go. It should be [Helm's Deep], which is incidental to the main story; & there would be this additional gain that we are going to have a big battle, but battles tend to be too similar: the big one [Pelennor Fields] would gain by having no competitor."

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which was a Christmas present from my sweet little Emily last year. I generally made a practice of reading a few letters per day, and I kept looking forward to finding more nuggets each day.

The letters discuss a variety of topics, such as the political environment during WWII, advice to his sons, his relationship with C. S. Lewis, interactions with his publishers, accounts of the development of the Hobbit and LOTR, and, of course, authoritative explanations of certain elements of LOTR.

A few highlights:

“Actually the presence (even if only on the borders) of the terrible is, I believe, what gives this imagined world its verisimilitude. A safe fairy-land is untrue to all worlds.” (24)

“At any minute it is what we are and are doing, not what we plan to be and do that counts.” (46)

“A new character has come on the scene (I am sure I did not invent him, I did not even want him, though I like him, but there he came walking into the woods of Ithilien): Faramir, the brother of Boromir—and he is holding up the ‘catastrophe’ by a lot of stuff about the history of Gondor and Rohan (with some very sound reflections no doubt on martial glory and true glory): but if he goes on much more a lot of him will have to be removed to the appendices.” (79)

“I coined the word ‘eucatastrophe’: the sudden happy turn in a story which pierces you with a joy that brings tears (which I argued is the highest function of fairy-stories to produce). . . . The resurrection was the greatest ‘eucatastrophe’ possible in the greatest Fairy Story—and produces that essential emotion: Christian joy which produces tears because it is qualitatively so like sorrow, because it comes from those places where Joy and Sorrow are one, reconciled, as selfishness and altruism are lost in Love. Of course I do not mean that the Gospels tell what is only a fairy-story; but I do mean very strongly that they do tell a fairy-story: the greatest.” (100)

“I believe that legends and myths are largely made of ‘truth’, and indeed present aspects of it that can only be received in this mode; and long ago certain truths and modes of this kind were discovered and must always reappear. There cannot be any ‘story’ without a fall—all stories are ultimately about the fall—at least not for human minds as we know them and have them.” (147)

“That there is no allegory does not, of course, say there is no applicability. There always is. . . . The tale is not really about Power and Dominion; that only sets the wheels going; it is about Death and the desire for deathlessness. Which is hardly more than to say it is a tale written by a Man!” (262)

“I was primarily writing an exciting story in an atmosphere and background such as I find personally attractive. But in such a process inevitably one’s own taste, ideas, and beliefs get taken up.” (267)

“So it may be said that the chief purpose of life, for any one of us, is to increase according to our capacity our knowledge of God by all the means we have, and to be moved by it to praise and thanks.” (400)

“I have a feeling (more near a certainty) that God, for some ineffable reason which to us may seem almost like humour, is so curiously ready to answer the prayers of the least worthy of his suppliants—if they pray for others.” (401)

And in case you didn't know...

“If Hobbiton and Rivendell are taken (as intended) to be at about the latitude of Oxford, then Minas Tirith, 600 miles south, is at about the latitude of Florence. The Mouths of Anduin and the ancient city of Pelargir are at about the latitude of ancient Troy. . . . The North was the seat of the fortresses of the Devil. The progress of the tale ends in what is far more like the re-establishment of an effective Holy Roman Empire with its seat in Rome than anything that would be devised by a Nordic.” (376)

OH MY GOODNESS I FINALLY FINISHED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ahem.

I enjoyed this in many places, as Tolkien's wit and humor are great, and he gave some interesting insight into the world of Middle Earth. It did get tedious in places, and he discussed Catholic doctrine (stuff I don't necessarily agree with as a Baptist) in detail several times. However, I did really love his palpable hatred of the tax offices that appeared in several of the last letters.

Before starting this book, one needs to be aware of this quote from Tolkien himself (letter no. 329):

[...] an investigation of an author's biography [...] is an entirely vain and false approach to his works - and especially to a work of narrative art, of which the object aimed at by the author was to be enjoyed as such: to be read with literary pleasure.

Bearing that in mind and we can simply regard Tolkien as an old friend and follow through snippets of his life, from his his political insights to some interesting daily trivia. And also like an old friend, I dozed off whenever he went on and on about his 'hobby' with words. Personally, I got quite emotional to 'hear' how much effort he had poured into his books, and how close the books were to never being published.

Took me long enough. This isn't a book for just anybody, not even people interested in LotR. This is for die-hard fanatics like myself, but also people interested in a intimate view into the mind of a man who invented the foundation for modern fantasy. Definitely an interesting read and gave me plenty to think about concerning my all-time favourite story.