Not written in story form, so kind of academic to read. But some nice insights into the friendship of these memorable men. An interesting book to peruse.

For me, this book's subtitle is misleading. The majority of the book has nothing to do with the friendship of Tolkien and Lewis. In fact, the information in the books indicates they were co-workers and writing at the same time/sounding boards at times for each other but not "friends" in that they weren't really involved in each other's lives outside of the college and writing.

So much of the book had nothing to do with the interactions between Lewis and Tolkien. There was back story on a bunch of other people - including what they thought and said and wrote about L & T and their writings. There were lengthy summaries of many of L & T's works (with spoilers included if you haven't read them). There was some philosophy and theology (and not just as related to their beliefs and/or works) thrown in.

The book's structure was lacking as well. It was confusingly organized at times, despite there being dates on the chapter headings. Some places there were a ton of dates and others none at all. Even within those dates, the author jumped back and forth and all around. It had a lot of redundancies as well.

You don't even get any "friendship" information unti around Chapter 5 (page count in the 80's). That in addition to all the randomness had me skimming pages at a time. So much skimming I almost feel bad marking it as "read."

If you're looking for a wonderful book covering the friendship between these two great authors, keep looking. And then come back and comment when you've found one so I can check it out. :)

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I am so glad I read this book. A truly delightful adventure into a history between two incredible men and insightful commentary on the stories they weaved for us to enjoy and refresh our hearts.

“Through stories like the Lord of the Rings, a renewed view of things is given, illuminating the homely, the spiritual, the physical and the moral dimensions of the world… in a sense, we are meant to be like children, who are normally not tired of familiar experiences. This behavior of children, the friends thought, is a true view of things, and by dipping into the world of story adults can restore such a sense of freshness and wonder about the world.”

A well-written history of Tolkien’s and Lewis’ lasting and interesting friendship. Duriez provides great coverage of such topics as their wartime service, their religious and disagreements, their influence on each others’ works, and Tolkien’s role in converting Lewis from atheism to Christianity. We see how CS Lewis came to love Tolkien’s works, while Tolkien’s opinion of Lewis’s work was decidedly mixed. We see how Tolkien was largely responsible for Lewis’s securing of a position at Cambridge (after being denied at Oxford).

Readable and interesting.

I loved this book.! If you're a J.R.R Tolkien AND a C.S. Lewis fan, you will love this book. Their impact and influence on one another was profound. Thank God for good friendships.

I have been reading on this book on and off for quite some time but have finished it today.

I am not a great fan of biography but am fooled once in a while and actually enjoy the read. And I enjoyed this book. Partly I suppose because I am a fan of both authors, partly because I am a fan of their intellects. And partly because Duriez weaves the friendship into a tale and I feel I got to know these two towering figures better.

Sem sombra de dúvidas esse livro é para aqueles reais admiradores das célebres personalidades que foram J. R. R. Tolkien e C. S. Lewis.
Eu confesso que esperava uma narrativa mais focada no na amizade entre os escritores, mas na verdade observamos um panorama geral de suas vidas, desde a infância até a morte, com maior ênfase em suas carreiras profissionais tanto como escritores quanto como integrantes do corpo docente das universidades onde lecionaram por anos.
Conforme os fatos são apresentados vemos também os pontos de interseção entre a vida de ambos os escritores, até o momento que se encontram em definitivo e daí desabrocha essa amizade cheia de altos e baixos mas indiscutivelmente preciosa e também mundialmente relevante, uma vez que Tolkien e Lewis incentivaram um ao outro em suas criações literárias.

O livro é quase que biográfico, o autor consegue dar uma boa resumida na história de vida de "Tollers" e "Jack", mas ao mesmo tempo apresentando detalhes importantes. É uma história bonita de se ler, observar o peso de uma amizade, os caminhos da vida, a resiliência dos relacionamentos mediante adversidades e a força de laços afetivos. Interessante também acompanhar os pormenores da criação de obras que impactaram a literatura mundial, o imaginário popular e a cultura pop. Gostei bastante também da abordagem da relação entre os escritores e suas respectivas caminhadas de fé. É uma construção gradativa e muito delicada que certamente é um deleite para aqueles que são fãs de Lewis, ou Tolkien, ou ambos.

Apesar disso achei o ritmo da leitura um pouco lento em certos pontos do livro, tornando-se mais fluído em sua segunda metade. De qualquer forma o livro é sem dúvida muito especial e acredito eu que seja uma boa leitura complementar das biografias de ambos os autores que são figuras centrais nesta obra.

Uma biografia que conta sobre dois grandes escritores. C. S. Lewis, o criador das Crônicas de Nárnia, fez grandes contribuições para a literatura cristã com vários sucessos lidos até os dias de hoje. Lewis foi ateu até seus quase 30 anos e, se converteu com a ajuda do seu grande amigo, J. R. R. Tolkien. Tolkien foi o criador de "O Senhor dos Anéis" que sem a ajuda de Lewis, jamais teria terminado. Esses escritores eram muito diferentes um do outro, porém foram grandes amigos.
O livro é fácil de ler, tem um pouco da história dos dois escritores e desperta um interesse em ler as obras desses escritores tão singulares.
Não havia uma inspiração para eles naquela época, criadores de fantasia e contos de fadas para jovens e adultos, e isso explica a dificuldade para escrever e a fascinante criação que eles fizeram desses mundos tão reais e com tantas histórias.

A wonderful biography for readers interested in these two authors' lives and thoughts as well as their works. Lewis and Tolkien were sufficiently entangled with one another's lives that it is difficult to tell the story of only one of them. And anyway the whole is more interesting than its halves taken separately. As with Shelley and Byron, or Wordsworth and Coleridge, the interplay between them is highly revealing of their natures.

Duriez makes his own voice pretty evident, for better or for worse. He begins each chapter with a few paragraphs of novelistic narrative, a reimagined scene from the lives of his subjects. It's at once tantalizing and graceless; Duriez is too obviously delighting in the chance to indulge his vision of the men he idolizes a bit too much to handle in this mode. He is a bit too circumspect at times, also, in a way that may relate to his own mildly stuffy Christianity: notably, he is delicate to the point of reluctance when mentioning the possibility that Lewis and the older woman with whom he lived for twenty-odd years may have been romantically involved. He dwells on Lewis' more theological writings and lectures sufficiently that the book feels a bit unbalanced, as though it is sixty percent a biography of Lewis.

But all of that is trivia. It's simply lovely to hear the generations-old gossip of what these two remarkable professors had to say to one another.

An excellent account of the friendship between C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien and how these two master storytellers inspired and challenged each other to grow in their writings, literary teaching work, Christian faith, critical thinking, and the quest for an understanding of how God writes an epic, classic story in the lives and hearts of men.

This is not the book to read at bedtime. I think I didn't get as much as I could out of it because I was always sleepy while reading it. But here's my take on it: It was basically two parallel biographies about two people whose lives happened to overlap. They taught at the same college and were members of the same writing club. The author kept saying, over and over, how important the friendship was, but he never showed it. Maybe because I was already familiar with the basics of their friendship, is why I felt dissatisfied with this book. I wanted it to go a lot deeper than it did. However, if you're a fan of both Tolkien and Lewis, but don't know about the Inklings, you would really like this book. It's a good introduction to their lives, views on fantasy literature, and their faith. For all the emphasis on their friendship, though, I thought the author almost made the opposite point. After reading this, it seemed like they were less close than I thought, even though I'm pretty sure the author didn't mean for me to get that impression.

I've also read another book co-written by Duriez, a coffee table book about the Inklings, and I LOVED it. Maybe I just need to read that again! Or read this one not when I'm half asleep.

This was a wonderful book that’s explore for many people a historic friendship that hasn’t been known to “lay readers” and not academics. Dr. Duriez has written a book that is both scholarly and approachable fir everyone. I have two small issues: the first is the attempted storytelling at the beginning of most chapters: I don’t think it fits with the book’s ethos. Second, I would like the notes and references in the text. There are many quotes passages that have no footnote to refer to, yet are referenced at the end of the book.

But, don’t let that spoil your reading: there were a few passages where I had to put it down because I could feel tears welling up. This is a wonderful book to enhance your knowledge of two men who helped shape 20th century literature in English, and from a decidedly Christian prospective.

If you love Lewis, or Tolkien, or both, then this is a book to read.