A obra tem o mérito de destacar os altos e baixos da amizade entre Lewis e Tolkien. Porém, peca com a ênfase em alguns detalhes secundários, não acrescenta tanto quanto esperado à biografia de Tolkien escrita por Humphrey Carpenter, e, pior, ainda repete citações, causos, e sequências desta última obra. É um bom livro, mas poderia ter acrescentado mais à biografia autorizada de Tolkien.

Um bom livro que ajuda a entender a complexa relação entre CS Lewis e JRR Tolkien.

Very enjoyable read!

This book was very informative and interesting and covered the academic and literary lives of Lewis and Tolkien in great detail. It held my attention and I was able to read it in under two weeks, which is odd for me as I’m a slow reader. In this book I found lots of interesting facts, titles, names, and dates to do further reading on the influences of both authors and some of their lesser well known works. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of the writing of JRR Tolkien and or CS Lewis and wants a broader knowledge of their history, education, influences, and relationships. Great read.

Alas, all books about amazing people are not amazing themselves. This book read as a biography of both Tolkien and Lewis, though set side by side chronologically. I learned a few new things about Tolkien, and a bit about Lewis, though all of which I would rather read in a full biography, not one on the two men's friendship with one another. Lost in the book was any sense of them being friends, due to the sparsity of quotes from one about the other and also simply the patch-workness of the whole endevour. Luckily the last chapter was full of their collective ideas, though done rather speedily. I got a good bit of thinking done due to the book, and thinking I have not been able to approach for quite some time, though this is due not to the book, but to the brilliance that are Tolkien and Lewis.

I am used to reading about Lewis the theologian, philosopher, and apologist, but what I loved about this work was how Duriez reveals that the heart of Lewis (and Tolkien) is his love for telling the Christian story in mythology and fiction. Lewis and Tolkien differed on many things, but they fellowshipped over their primary joy and concern: symbolic, premodern literature.

#vtReadingChallange - A book with the image of a person on the cover.

i'm going to cry

Vencendo o truncado início do livro, os outros 2/3 da publicação são puro deleite informacional sobre os autores.

I enjoyed this book, however you definitely have to go into it thinking and knowing it reads much like a history book. I loved the parallel storylines and how much the author knew about each man and the quotes and pieces from each man’s work he wove in.

I am loving this book, though it is definitely not a quick read! I find that this is more of a Sunday-afternoon type book since I don't like reading it at bedtime.

The histories of these two remarkable authors are woven together beautifully from childhood. I love to see not only the parallels between these men, but also the influences that are apparent in their writings, particularly those of the fantasy genre. I am only now reading about their early friendship at Oxford and I look forward to delving further into thier unique and influential relationship.

In focusing on the friendship of Tolkien and Lewis the author assumes you know some things about both men. Good analysis of their friendship, but I would probably read a traditional biography of each author first then this one for greater clarity.

OK, but could be better :).