I loved reading this book. Duriez drew me along in through the journey of an incredible friendship. I learned so many details about what a friendship can look like, despite significant differences in opinion and worldview. The final chapter bound together their legacy and their story beautifully.

This is a great little book. It is a synopsis of both authors lives and there friendship. As one who has read several biographies of Lewis this is a great one to start with.

I should start by saying I'm a huge Tolkien and Lewis fan, so it should come as no surprise that I gave it five stars. Whether you will, too, depends largely on whether these two figures--who shouldn't be controversial in the least, given they both spent their lives teaching medieval literature at Oxford (and Cambridge, for Lewis, later). This is only different in that it focuses mainly on the interplay and friendship of the two writers. I found Duriez's prose to be enjoyable, informative, and a quick read. I don't remember gaining any revolutionary insights from it, but one could be forgiven for not knowing anything about their friendship, despite the fact that we probably wouldn't have the Lord of the Rings, at least in its current incarnation, if it weren't for Lewis' criticism and prodding--and Narnia probably wouldn't have happened, for the same reason. But I dearly love Inkling stories and this book is a serious attempt to understand the milieu and intellectual underpinnings of that brief but powerful literary encounter. I'd definitely recommend it.

I loved this book! It really showed how friendships between authors are a gift to them and their readers! I appreciated the insights into the lives of two authors I admire very much.

Excelente livro! Colin Duriez consegue nos mostrar de forma muito envolvente a bela amizade entre os grande Lewis e Tolkien, perceber a contribuição que um fez para vida e carreira do outro e nos fazer vislumbrar a beleza de uma amizade verdadeira. Sendo esta descrita por Lewis como algo que "Quem poderia merecer isso?"

Recomendo fortemente a leitura.

A relatively short comparative biography of the two most famous of the Oxford Inklings, told through the lens of their friendship. Those who have read individual biographies of Tolkien and Lewis, or read Carpenter’s The Inklings, will be on fairly familiar ground. For the less familiar this is an excellent introduction to them. For everyone it is a welcome addition to the growing literature on Tolkien and Lewis, not least because of the warmth of the authors style.

I hesitated to read this book because I've read a great deal about these men, but I wanted to know more about their relationship – more specifically, their friendship. This book is essentially a book about friendship and what it looked like involving two of the 20th century's most influential English authors. But it's also about story-telling and the role of fantasy in literature.

I loved this book about two men who have shaped my reading life more than any others.

Delightfully inspiring, and a wonderful reminder of the importance of those in our lives with which we can encourage and trust to provide honest, constructive criticism. Finding someone, or several close individuals, who share in your creative interests and pursuits is an invaluable gem.

最近讀的書都記不起來...
三年前讀過托爾金傳現在幾乎沒有印象了

這本書是了解托爾金和路易斯思想不錯的指南
可以看見兩位大師在各自作品中投入了多麼巨大的心力
把自己的理想傾注在奇幻文學中
很可惜的是在台灣
還是把納尼亞和魔戒當成兒童讀物看
沒什麼人重視作品想要傳達的意念
只把注意力放在情結上

其實沒看這本書之前我也只把重點放在小說的內容而已
會喜歡是因為這種用學術專長來寫故事
常常都可以寫的非常有真實感
至於背後的思想實在是不容易體會
也許翻譯還有文化的差異也是隔膜的主因吧

二十世紀初期的英國紳士社會
真是一群奇怪的團體
儀節好複雜啊
用今天流行的話來說
可能是一群怪咖的集合吧

這本書最大的缺點大概就是翻譯中土世界的專有名詞都亂來
尤其是精靈寶鑚裡面的名詞
這部分譯者實在太混
雖然我還能在短時間內轉換本書提到的地名角色
可是思緒卡住就是很不爽啊

本書中譯本2004年出版
那時魔戒早已出版多時
精靈寶鑽也出版兩年了
這兩本書書末都有附索引
又不是什麼冷門書
查查台灣讀者熟悉的名辭譯法有那麼困難嗎...

另外兩處錯誤不知道原文是怎麼寫的
中文版第156頁：安璐是和維拉類似的天使
安璐，原文Ainu，按精靈寶鑽的翻譯是埃努，意思是神聖的使者
維拉，原文Vala，這個又跟精靈寶鑽翻的一樣= =意思是大有力量者，中土世界的主神
Ainu是總集，Vala只是一個子集而已，不是對等的概念啊~

中文版第224頁：魔戒裡的莫格斯，希望具有上帝的創造神力，以遂行至尊之戒的統治權能
莫格斯魔戒與精靈寶鑽都翻做魔苟斯
就算只看電影也知道
至尊之戒是索倫造的
在精靈寶鑽的時代，魔戒還不知道在哪裡呢
那時索倫還是魔苟斯的部下而已

以上兩段應該不會是譯者出錯
顯然是作者搞錯了

結果我還是比較在意小說內容哈哈

Interesting read! Full of lots of information and interesting facts. I feel like I know both of them a lot better now. It took me a bit to get used to the writing format and the author's switch back and forth between Lewis and Tolkien. However, a very informative and fun book to read if you like these two brilliant men and want to have some interesting new facts about them!

Not a bad book, but it waxed a bit too philosophical for my tastes. It was also a bit hard to keep track of the many people introduced throughout the book. However, I did learn a lot of neat things about Lewis and Tolkien, so that was fun!

Although the author might have gone a little too far with some of the ideas that he believes Lewis and Tolkien held to (I am no expert on the matter), I greatly enjoyed this read. It has reinforced in my mind the importance of good fiction literature.