Tree and leaf and farmer Giles were interesting but couldn’t get into rest of it

Some good stuff, but mostly it felt pretty rambly and disjointed.

I have an old audio tape somewhere in the house with Tolkien reading parts of The Hobbit. As soon as I started reading his essays and stories I could hear his voice again.

The Tolkien Reader, by J.R.R. Tolkien****
I picked this up because it looked like a fun, easy read, and was some added information about Middle-Earth and the like. And it was…mostly.
This is a collaboration of some of Tolkien’s short stories, a play based on an ancient battle in Britain, and poems, as well as an essay on Fairy Stories. The main problem was that the essay was quite long, and began to lose my attention. I’m mostly a fiction kind of person, so maybe some people would be more rapt by the essay, but about halfway through, I lost steam and didn’t pick up the book very often. As essays go, it was a pretty good one and brought up some interesting points about the origin and purpose of fairy stories, but I just got bored. The play at the beginning was just a little boring, too, at least, the introduction was.
After some fast and hard reading sessions, I got into my favorite part of the book: Farmer Giles of Ham. This was a delightful short story, leaning heavily toward the comedic side of things, involving a dragon, a giant (the only part I didn’t really like), a rather selfish dog, and a fat farmer who becomes a hero, and eventually a king, in his little province, due to a heap of luck. It was a lot of fun to read, and I read that story in one day.
The other short story was a little strange and a bit sad, but interesting as well. I couldn’t really tell if it was about purgatory, or something like it, but it was a curious concept and I read that part pretty quick, too.
Last part of the book was poetry, and easy enough to breeze through. The Tom Bombadil ones were kinda of weird and funny, which is to be expected, but I enjoyed the hobbit-ness of all of them. The last two were a melancholy, especially The Sea-Bell, but the atmosphere and imagery were good enough that I enjoyed them overall as well.
If it weren’t for the long, boring essay, I would definitely have given this book five stars, because that Farmer Giles one made me laugh.

I liked this book for a number of reasons. It's kind of unusual these days to mix up scholarly articles and short stories, poetry and prose, but this is what this book brings together. Different times in 1966 I guess. When you read through all the pieces in this book (beautifully illustrated by Tolkien's favourite illustrater Pauline Baynes), I think you have the chance to catch a glimpse of Tolkien's thinking as writer and philologist. Plus, you get to know a dragon with three legs...

I really just read On Fairy Stories, but I also had already read Farmer Giles of Ham, so honestly I feel like I read most of this… and one day actually will, but for now…

On Fairy Stories.
I don’t really know what to say other than my love of, respect for, awe at, and inspiration from this man has somehow (???) increased. Oddly I’ve never fully read a letter/essay by him and thus have not engaged with his non-fiction, day-to-day mannerisms, sarcasms, and snarky critique of the fellow thinkers of his day (though in his way, he probably would grimace at their categorization of “thinker” lol so snarky).
Anyways.
I am just so fascinated and amazed at this man’s mental, emotional, and spiritual capacity. The way he drives a point in the midst of rambling and long-windedness is honestly so affirming - I’ve always thought my long-winded nature to be immature or a sign of me lacking deeper conviction (not really sure where this comes from; maybe fear of man) but to see my favorite person to pretty much ever live ramble on and on and yet write so eloquently and beautifully and nail his point at the same time… that just really felt validating lol

All that to say, I absolutely loved it. One of my favorite things I have ever read, and ends on SUCH a powerful commentary on the Gospel. Plz read

Pure delight.
On Fairy Stories is the most "important" part of this collection, but all of the stories and poems are delightful. I especially loved The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth: the poem/drama itself was highly amusing and his commentary on the poem, Beowulf, Sir Gawain, and honor and chivalry was fascinating.
The kids enjoyed some of the poems, and I'm looking forward to reading them Leaf by Niggle and the Farmer of Giles Ham soon.

Out of all the writings I really enjoyed Leaf by Niggel the most because I understood the story. The language used in the story was easy for me to understand and it was easy for me to picture the events that took place. Everyone has that author that they want to collect all their works and for me that author is J. R. R. Tolkien.

There are several good pieces in this collection, but I reread it for one in particular. Leaf by Niggle is one of my favorite stories of all time. Consistent with a significant theme in the Lord of the Rings, greatness is not always for the rich and famous, it is often achieved by the small and insignificant who toil away in the small piece of the world God allots to them. Leaf by Niggle always makes me emotional.

If you've never read any of Tolkien's works outside of Middle-Earth, this little volume the best introduction to his scholarly work, his shorter prose, and his wonderful poetry.

Read some of these stories for my Literature Class on Tolkien and Lewis. This was a pleasant read and very informative as to the way Tolkien writes his books. "On Fairy Stories" is an absolute must read in this book.

I think that my favorite story was Leaf by Niggle.

Good story, great metaphors, and of course Tolkien's classic descriptions. A great book!