Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
Loading... The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (original 1981; edition 2000)by J. R. R. TolkienDear Unwin, the Hobbit will be ready tomorrow, honest. Yours faithfully, Tolkien. Dear Unwin, I've been swamped by illness, work, exams, more work, more exams, lectures, more work and more exams. I can't possibly get it ready this decade. Yours faithfully, Tolkien. Dear Unwin, did you like it? Yours faithfully, Tolkien. Dear Unwin, glad you liked it. The illustrations will be ready tomorrow. Yours faithfully, Tolkien. ...this decade, etc. Dear Unwin, I may have no taste but the American cover art is appalling and did they even read the book? Yours faithfully, Tolkien. [Repeat all of the above w.r.t LoTR] Dear [Inkling] the other Inklings' work is mostly rubbish but I like it in parts and even though they are annoying I like them really. Yours, Tolkers. [repeat with every other Inkling] Dear [somebody acquainted with me] that critic is impertinent and did he even read the book? Yours, annoyed, JRRT Dear Christopher, you are the only one who understands me! I love you! Sob! Your Father. [Above written in Anglo-Saxon.] Dear Nazi scum, you, Apartheid supporters, Colonialists and other racist groups are all intellectually and morally defective. The Jews are a fine people and I would be proud to have Jewish ancestry but as far as I know I don't. Yours with no respect at all. Tolkien. Dear [any translator of LoTR] your translation is rubbish; why do you translate names that are not in English? Your translations are unnecessary and show a poor grasp of [your native language]. [Demonstrates a superior knowledge of the translator's language.] Here's a book I wrote about how to translate my book. Yours faithfully, Tolkien. Dear {Member of public] thank you for your interesting questions. Enclosed is a set of answers in obsessive detail that I worked out prior to my 5th birthday. It includes philological details unintelligible to any person lay in the subject. Yours faithfully, Tolkien. Dear {Critic I like] thank you for your encouraging, perceptive review. Yours faithfully, Tolkien. Dear [prospective interviewer] leave me alone. Yours faithfully, Tolkien. Dear [Reader who said something stupid] as any one with a modicum of understanding of [Old Ancient High Low North Western Indo-European Obscure Language], which is surely everybody, knows, you are completely wrong. Enclosed is a detailed explanation, incomprehensible to anyone lay in philology. And anyway it says you're wrong in the Appendices. Yours faithfully, Tolkien. Dear Christopher, the Roman Catholic Church is axiomatically right about everything even though most of its priests are idiotic, uneducated, corrupt, morally defective, politcally-minded perverts. Your Father. ---------------------------------------- That, if repeated many times over, is this book. It's interesting in parts and dull (because repetitive) in others. It shows a man jealously protective of his work, easily irritated (although by things that would probably wind up many an author) in search of an unmechanised rural idyll that never existed in the same way as [a:Thomas Hardy|15905|Thomas Hardy|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1189902685p2/15905.jpg]. Enormously erudite, he struggled to understand why other people might find Anglo-Saxon difficult - a common problem with people of enormous talent in any intellectual discipline being the inability to conceive of it being anything but simple to grasp. Worthwhile for anybody who wants to know more of what Tolkien the person was like. Well, an author like any other artist, is best experienced through the art they produce. Too close an acquaintance, as some of these letters reveal, may be disillusioning. One should not rely too heavily on one's mental picture of JRRT as the kind and loving father to anyone other than Christopher Tolkien. I was surprised to discover that he had other children, and his wife did not die sometime in the 1930's but was his lifelong companion. Perhaps the wife and other children didn't wish to expose any more of their lives to the gawping public, and that certainly is their right. But it does add a little depth to the figure presented by this selection of the letters. What a treasure trove this is. The collection begins with a handful of letters Tolkien wrote to his wife during his training for the army just before leaving for France in WWI and carries on through 354 letters ending with one he wrote his daughter a few days before his death in 1973. Along the way are letters to family members, friends, and colleagues; to his publisher (outlining nicely parts of the process of getting The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and a number of his shorter works ready for print); and to readers who asked questions about his works. The letters are full of glimpses into Tolkien's life, his religious views, the background of his works, and the workings of the languages he invented. I found the entire collection thoroughly engaging and at times very effecting. The last twenty or so letters made me particularly verklempt. These cover the last two years of his life and include a heart-wrenching letter to one of his sons in which Tolkien describes his despair at the loss of his wife. The very last letter, written just days before Tolkien died, almost undid me. He writes to his daughter of plans for his week away with friends and tells her how he spent his afternoon, wandering about town and getting a haircut. Just living his life, writing his letters, with no notion he was living his last few days. Gah. Recommended whole-heartedly to Tolkien enthusiasts. An interesting collection. I most enjoyed his ranty and snarky responses to bad adaptations of his work (particularly his comments on the cartoon of The Hobbit and the Swedish translation of LOTR). On the other hand, I found some of his most sermonising letters on Catholicism, love and war uncomfortable reading in places. Its good to read some of this now and again to remind oneself what an old coot the professor was. It should be required for "fans" who make bizarre assumptions about JRRT based on nothing except the fan's own views and preferences; e.g. that Tolkien meant Frodo and Sam to be gay, or that since Elves are "natural" they must perforce practice free love. |
Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)828.91209Literature English & Old English literatures English miscellaneous writings English miscellaneous writings 1900- English miscellaneous writings 1900-1999 English miscellaneous writings 1900-1945 Individual authorsLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |