Customer Reviews

J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Considering the fact that Tolkien abhorred the idea of someone writing a biography on him, considering the fact he thought it ridiculous that someone should read a biography on a writer, and considering his sentiment that the best biography on an author is his works of fiction, calling this book the `authorized' account is pretty presumptuous.
Still, Carpenter manages the subject very well, chronicling Tolkien's life from his early years throughout his life, with a special amount of attention given to the period in which he was creating his `hobbit' stories. This is as much a look inside Tolkien's literary mind as a look at his life, and one of the most fascinating aspects of this work is that the reader is able to follow the development of Tolkien's creative genius and see the very elements that inspired him to write his masterpieces "The Hobbit," "The Lord of the Rings," and "The Silmarillion."
For his biography, Carpenter was able to meet personally with Tolkien before his death. He also had full access to all of Tolkien's papers and letters at Oxford. He was able to talk with many of Tolkien's friends and family. Because of this, Carpenter is able to present a very accurate, extremely reliable, and very personal biography. He is very fair with his subject, and treats Tolkien neither as a deity nor an eccentric old man. The man who created Middle Earth was human, and Carpenter captures this brilliantly.
This work on Tolkien is very highly recommended to any fan of his work who wants a peek inside the life of this remarkable man.

Tolkien readers who want to know more about the man behind The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings need look no further than Humphrey Carpenter's thorough biography. Carpenter dispells many myths concerning Tolkien's early life and values, but more importantly shows that the famous author lived a full life even though enduring loss and hardship through two world wars.

Some of Tolkien's private correspondence, shared by his family, is published only in this book, and it reveals how profoundly the man was affected by the people with whom he became close. He was literally robbed of an entire generation of friends by the first world war, and the experience resonated throughout the remainder of his life.

The most poignant moments in Tolkien's life bear a strong resemblance to the moments in his heroes' lives when they turned dark days around and moved out into the full sunlight. One almost gets the feeling that Tolkien's achievements overshadowed those of his characters. He was a magical man in many ways, and must have eaten a piece of cake with a star embedded in it when he was a child.

This book is the definitive biography of one of the 20th century's most beloved authors, JRR Tolkien. Humphrey Carpenter, Tolkien's official biographer was given unprecendeted access to Tolkien family members and family papers, and this clearly shows. Tolkien's early life, his love of Edith Bratt, his devout faith and his war-time experiences are all chronicled, giving new understanding to his life as not only the premier fantasy-genre author of his day (and of all time, for that matter), but also his academic career as a noted philologist, and his relationship with "The Inklings", especially CS Lewis.

No fan of Tolkien will want to be without this book.

Tolkien fans will also want to read "Letters of JRR Tolkien" also edited by Carpenter, and fans of the Inklings as a literary group will want to read Carpenter's "The Inklings".

5 solid stars for this biography.

REVIEW OF HUMPHREY CARPENTER, J. R. R. TOLKIEN, A BIOGRAPHY (Geo. Allen & Unwin, 1977)

This is a biography that is hard to fault. Especially for a Tolkien fan, it is a page-turner, and enormously helpful in understanding Tolkien. It is written with great sympathy and empathy. Appendices provide a genealogical chart (how right for Tolkien!), a chronology, a complete list of published writings up to 1998 (at least in the Houghton Mifflin edition of 2000), and a list of Carpenter's sources.

The central issue in the Tolkien story, as in so many literary biographies, is the strange and mysterious manner in which books like _The Lord of the Rings_ can come out of what to all appearances are humdrum lives. Tolkien didn't even like to travel! In Tolkien's case we have also the additional question of how the human imagination can flower in a modern academic setting. Perhaps these are the two central questions to keep in mind while reading Carpenter, who is clearly often at pains to make Tolkien's life interesting enough to support his image. C. S. Lewis, a close friend of Tolkien, may have partially answered these questions when he wrote that "there are no ordinary people."

The issue of the Lewis-Tolkien friendship provides the quibble I have with Carpenter; it concerns the manner in which the devout Catholicism of Tolkien played a role in the eventual cooling of the friendship between the two men. C. S. Lewis, who was led to convert to Christianity in large part by Tolkien himself, decided to remain Protestant after his conversion, and returned to the Church of England. Carpenter notes especially Tolkien's dislike of Lewis's _Pilgrim's Regress_, which appeared in 1933 and was, I believe, his first book after his conversion. But Carpenter gives no sign of having read _Pilgrim's Regress_, and indeed does not include it in his Appendix D, "Sources and Acknowledgements." Thus Carpenter missed something which might go far in accounting for Tolkien's dislike of that work. In _Pilgrim's Regress_, Book 6, Part ii, "Three Pale Men" we find this exchange (Mr. Neo-Angular is the Catholic):

[begin quote] John was too tired and Drudge too respectful to reply: but Vertue said to Mr. Neo-Angular, "You are very kind. You are saving our lives." "I am not kind at all," said Mr. Neo-Angular with some warmth. "I am doing my duty. My ethics are based on dogma, not feeling." "I understand you very well," said Vertue. "May I shake hands with you?" "Can it be," said the other, "that you are one of us? You are a Catholic? A scholastic?" "I know nothing about that," said Vertue, "but I know that the rule is to be obeyed because it is a rule and not because it appeals to my feelings at the moment." "I see you are not one of us," said Angular, "and you are undoubtedly damned. Virtutes paganorum spendida vitia. Now let us eat." [end quote]

Though Mr. Neo-Angular's (and Vertue's) point is valid for any Christian, this caricature of Catholicism would no doubt have been as much of a shock to Tolkien as it was for me, another confirmed admirer of Lewis, when I first saw it. And yet, literary critics who see Mary, the Blessed Virgin, in Tolkien's Galadriel can hardly fail (though I have never seen it mentioned) to see Mary also in Lewis's personification, Reason ("The Giant Slayer"). In Book 3 of _Pilgrim's Regress_ we find Reason portrayed as a woman "wound in a cloak of blue," a woman in the flower of her age, a sun-bright virgin" (Part ix) who in Book 4, Part ii, is portrayed as a mother figure, and in Part iv is referred to as "the Virgin." Lewis apparently even knew that one of Mary's titles is "Seat of Wisdom."

Well, C. S. Lewis's grasp of Catholicism is forever a mystery. But Carpenter's treatment of this issue would, I submit, have been improved by a reading of _Pilgrim's Regress_.

Tolkien fans, or people who would just like an excuse to re-read _The Lord of the Rings_, will like to have some maps handy (recall that Bilbo Baggins loved maps). I can speak highly for Barbara Strachey, _Journeys of Frodo: An Atlas of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings_ (Ballantine Books, NY, 1981; and Karen Wynn Fonstad, _The Atlas of Middle-Earth_ *revised edition* (Houghton Mifflin, 1991). Be sure to get the revised edition of Fonstad.

This very well written account of Tolkiens life as a boy, a husband, writer and professor takes you away from where you are into the heart of Tolkien's being. It covers his writtings in depth, the making of languages, of peoples, of maps. But also his academic life, Beowulf, the Islandic Saga, the inklings, his relationship with C.S. Lewis, his day-to-day habits, his children, his religion. It breathes a wonderful inspiring atmosphere. I've read is several times now, and it still enchants me.

This biography is a gem in its own right. You won't regret buying it.

After I completed "The Lord of the Rings" (the Fourth time though) I thought to myself, how can I possibly read anything after that? (Well anything with some merit.) So I took up the Biography of Tolkien by Humphrey Carpenter and I was very muched surprised by what I found. This biography tells it like it is of the author and his works. To be honest it dosen't read like it's non-fiction. No! It is a great pleasure read. It is a great read and I belive that it would make a wonderful gift to any one who loves the magic of "The Hobbit" and/or "The Lord of the Rings."

I bought this book many years ago but it never quite worked its way to the top of my reading list so it sat on my shelf unread all this time. I recently dusted it off and once I finally started, found I couldn't put it down.

The book is a truly complete biography starting before his birth and following through all the way through to his death. The author is fairly reverant toward his subject but does not shirk in pointing out Tolkien's character flaws and shortcomings. I personally like this as I wasn't looking for a hatchet job but I don't want to read a breathless hero worship piece either.

If you enjoy Tolkien's books, this is a must read. You'll learn where the ideas for the Shire came from, why LOTR is the only major novel he ever wrote, and so much more.

(1) Tremendous skill as a biographer. (2) Almost unlimited access to primary source material. (3) Actually meeting the man, J.R.R. Tolkien. These three points combine to make Humphrey Carpenter's work a benchmark in the ever growing sea of books about Tolkien. The third point, (meeting Tolkien) actually makes for a very amusing first four pages... Carpenter describing exactly what it was like to find himself standing before this Ent-like genius of a man... "Again I struggle to think of an intelligent remark, and again he resumes before I can find one."

I picked up Carpenter's book directly after my second reading of The Lord Of The Rings (reading Tolkien is definitely hobbit-forming), and I was not disappointed. It spans a timeframe of around 82 years, and we learn all about Tolkien's ancestry, early years, his life-long love of languages, his lengthy courtship and marriage to Edith Bratt (both were lengthy), his service as soldier in WWI, his devoted fathering of four children,the development of his mythology and struggles with procrastination, the creation and publication of his stories and subsequent fame, the accolades, and the quiet return to Oxford after the death of his wife. Never does this book falter, and never will the thought "oh, get on with it already" enter the mind of the reader.

I've just finished the book tonight, and I am now convinced that Tolkien was a hobbit. At one point he confesses, "I am in fact a hobbit in all but size. I like gardens, trees, and unmechanized farmlands; I smoke a pipe, and like good plain food (unrefrigerated), but detest French cooking; I like, and even dare to wear in these dull days, ornamental waistcoats. I am fond of mushrooms (out of a field); have a very simple sense of humour (which even my appreciative critics find tiresome); I go to bed late and get up late (when possible). I do not travel much."

Tolkien was profoundly acquainted with his subject matter. He only wrote about things he "knew". This biography shows that Carpenter follows in that tradition. Perfectly.

It is very rare that modern biography truly does justice to the life of its subject. All too often, the subject material is overshadowed by the vain attempts of the author to sensationalize the events in the individual's life without providing much true knowledge about the subject. However, such sensationalistic biography was not undertaken by Humphrey Carpenter, and because of that, we have this most excellent resource on the life and times of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Perhaps the most prominent trait of Carpenter's work is the insight into the effects of various events in Tolkiens life on his literary and scholarly development. Since J.R.R. Tolkien was defined by his Catholic faith, his scholarship, and his writing, this is an important consideration for a biographer. Having been influenced by many sources, it is only appropriate that these be considered for understanding the development of Tolkien's many works throughout his carreer. The effects of his family, schooling, World War I service, his friendships, and his marriage are carefully considered and explained. Furthermore, Carpenter often shows the precise events which inspired the beginning of many of Tolkien's languages and literary works. It is awe-inspiring to feel as though you are there, beside the great scholar, as he discovers these ideas and begins to shape them.

Indeed, for anyone interested in the developments of a great mind, this biography is highly recommended. I believe that one who hasn't even read the works of Tolkien would find this most fulfilling. However, for those who have indeed read Tolkien's works, this biography is nearly a necessary read for beginning to understand how this grand scholar developed.

I'm fairly sure that I first read THE HOBBIT in 1977, the year this first biography of it's author was published. I was eleven; Tolkien had been dead for four years, but his works were gaining new life even in that year, as THE SILMARILLION was published in the fall, becoming the biggest bestseller of the Christmas season on both sides of the Atlantic. Thirty-three years later, Tolkien is as big as ever, with the films of THE LORD OF THE RINGS having grossed billions, and his influence on popular literature still, unbelievably, growing year by year. And now this first book about his life has been joined by several others, most notable among them being Tom Shippey's J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century - a more specificially literary biography than Carpenter's, and quite well regarded.

How then does this first book hold up? Quite well I'd say as a general look at the man, from birth until death; at his everyday life, his passions for philology, nature and good companionship; his loving but often problematic marriage to his beloved Edith; and at the strange, incredible creation of Middle-Earth and it's peoples which gave him fame and, towards the end of his life, fortune. It is as I say a "general" biography, aiming to cover all the bases but not stopping for too long a moment at each one. Carpenter describes the early years fairly quickly but with feeling - the brief moment of South African prosperity followed by a childhood of near-poverty, early losses of both parents, the religious faith (Catholicism) of his mother which sustained him and affected every aspect of his life, his meeting with Edith, his early friends at school - and the loss of most of them in the trenches of World War I.

Tolkien's early sufferings and reversals (Edith at one point broke off their engagement and planned to marry another; Tolkien's passion for language wasn't always enough to keep up his grades, and his marks were just enough to keep him afloat in the academic world at first) helped to mark him with a deep and lifelong pessimismm, and there's a great deal of sadness and bleakness in THE LORD OF THE RINGS to go along with the moments of joy and triumph. Carpenter focuses on what made Tolkien the man he was, on his relations and friends, and thereby does manage to give us more than a glimmer of what personal idiosyncracies and quirks went into the creation of his private world. What he does not focus on particularly is the literary heritage of the writer or his work; you won't find a detailed analysis here of how exactly the stories of Middle-Earth relate the the old Icelandic, Norse and Finnish legends that so excited their author, and you won't find more than a few paragraphs attempting to explain why they caught on with the English, and later American and world imagination as they did. Carpenter's examination is of Tolkien the individual, the curmudgeonly and cranky, sometimes petty and arrogant and just as often overly modest and unconfident academic and intellectual, who spoke and read in the rarified tongues of dead peoples but wanted nothing more much of the time than a plain life of plain English food and English ale. And he describes such a man in a work that never heads toward hagiography but also is never venomous; Carpenter admires, even loves his subject, but is sometimes frustrated with him, sometimes doesn't understand him, and sometimes wonders at him. He leaves the deep textual analysis to later critics like Mr. Shippey, but his work remains of great value I think to all admirers of Tolkien who just want to get a sense of what the man was like.

This is not to say that what Carpenter does have to say concerning Tolkien's literary heritage and his aims in his writing isn't valuable - merely that it isn't the primary focus. I suppose I do wish there had been more of it, more of the book overall; as I said in my comments on The Inklings, Carpenter's 1978 follow-up of sorts to this book, to paraphrase the Bard of Middle-Earth himself (when talking about THE LORD OF THE RINGS): it's too short. Carpenter is an engaging and likeable writer, as engaging as his subject, and I was sorry to have this come to a close. I would highly recommend it to all lovers of Tolkien, and I would further recommend THE INKLINGS as a thematic sequel, especially if your interest runs to the writings of C.S. Lewis and Charles Williams as well. That's an even better book I think, perhaps because Lewis and Williams were somewhat more challenging personalities than the stodgier Tolkien. In any case, Mr. Carpenter deserves a lot of credit in humanizing these writers of fabulous far-off magical lands, and I'll return to both of these books again, and often.