From the title, I'd thought this book would be a biography of J.R.R. Tolkien, so I was little disappointed when I sat down to read it and realized that it was more of a literary analysis of Tolkien's works.
Still, after I accepted it for what it was, I found it to be quite an enjoyable book. It reads rather like a series of seminar lectures - what you might hear from a (rather entertaining) professor if you signed up for a class on Tolkien. (The author was a professor, so this is not surprising).
As might be expected, some of the observations are rather obvious, but others are quite insightful, and indicative of well-done research. Kocher obviously loves and respects Tolkien's work, but not to the point of sounding 'fannish.'
The book was published in 1972, so some of Tokien's posthumously published works are not spoken of, but overall, I have to say this book is worthwhile for any Tolkien fan.

A fun compendium but I skipped whole chapters and didn't learn that much from it

According to my bookmark, I was a chapter from finishing this when I finished my essay and never looked at it again. Oops. And, for some reason, I don't recall referencing this book at all, even though actually it would have been useful -- it makes some handy links and the author understood Tolkien's work and aims very well. I think at the time I actually preferred this to Shippey's accounts, which is probably blasphemy in the world of Tolkien mania.

I love that Tolkien never wears thin under investigation, only yields more. I was tempted to reread LotR again straight after I finished my essay, and flicking through this book again makes me really want to do that. Hmm...

O John Ronald Reuel … how little did I know, when I fell in love with your Middle Earth long ago, what SACRED FIRE secretly inspired thee …

It is an open secret, of course, but all the world - the English-speaking world particularly - wishes to conceal it. Well, after all these years, I discovered your "secret" which I speak of here … http://corjesusacratissimum.org/2012/...

A very good guide to understanding the world and mythology of Middle-earth.
Impressive insight by the author, despite it being published before The Silmarillion.

Interesting critique of Tolkiens works. Deals with background and purposes of the author. Also deals with some of the philosophy delt with in the LOTR.

Kocher is clearly a big Tolkien fan. Quite adorable how much he gushes over every story the fantasy author has ever written. This book provides a good general analysis of Tolkien's oeuvre, in order to understand the why and how of the long list of LotR-related stories, before and after the trilogy, and the overall literary value of those stories. The only remark I would have is that I wished some of the analyses were a bit more thorough. It seems as if Kocher barely scratches the surface. But maybe the reason for that lies more in the inexhaustible source that is Tolkien's writing and less in Kocher's capability as a literary critic.

Very good biography

This book had many interesting themes, but overall, it just made me want to read The Lord of the Rings again. The chapter on Aragorn good, painting him as the hero, literally giving up his love and his life for all other races. Parts of the section on the good races made interesting points. The discussion of Leaf, By Niggle was the best of the seven summaries of other works by Tolkien.

Although published before The Silmarillion and the materials collected in Unfinished Tales and the History of Middle Earth became available, it is a testament to his excellent critical analysis of major themes and characters in Tolkien's lifetime published work that Paul Kocher's book even now remains one of the best secondary monographs on Tolkien available.

Not a run of the mill overview of the over examined genre

I always think about this book when I get into thinking about what it means to be a good person.