Product Description

The only authorised biography, and the only one written by an author who actually met J.R.R. Tolkien, with a redesigned cover to match the distinctive paperback editions of The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales. In the 25 years since Tolkien's death in September 1973, millions have read The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion and become fascinated about the very private man behind the books. Born in Bloemfontein in January 1892, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was orphaned in childhood, brought up in near-poverty and almost thwarted in adolescent romance. He served in the First World War, surviving the Battle of the Somme, where he lost some of his closest friends, and returned to academic life, achieving high repute as a scholar and university teacher, eventually becoming Merton Professor of English at Oxford. Then suddenly his life changed dramatically. One day while marking essay papers he found himself writing 'In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit' -- and worldwide renown awaited him. Humphrey Carpenter was given unrestricted access to all Tolkien's papers, and interviewed his friends and family. From these sources he follows the long and painful process of creation that produced The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion and offers a wealth of information about the life and work of the twentieth century's most cherished author.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #36544 in Books
• Published on: 2002-01-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Review
'One of the most interesting and readable biographies of a literary figure' Times 'Rich and beautifully told' Sunday Times 'Absolutely fascinating' Daily Mail

About the Author
Humphrey Carpenter was born in Oxford in 1946 and has spent most of his life in that city. He read English Language and Literature at Keble College, Oxford, and met Professor J.R.R. Tolkien on a number of occasions. For some years he worked for the BBC as a radio producer and broadcaster and has won acclaim as a top biographer, including the recent and controversial biography of Robert Runcie.

Customer Reviews

A personal, illuminating view of Tolkien's life and writing
If you've loved Tolkien's books all your life, and wondered what kind of person it takes to come up with works of genius like The Lord Of The Rings, The Hobbit and The Silmarillion, this book will be just what you wanted.

Carpenter makes illuminating connections, linking Tolkien's early fascination with languages to the fact that the author first studied languages with his mother (who died while he was quite young). That nostalgic attachment to language led him to a lifetime of study of all sorts of Scandinavian and Germanic myths and epics, which ultimately inspired him to create his own mythology.

Carpenter also mentions that Leaf By Niggle, one of Tolkien's short stories, expressed his own bittersweet feelings about having spent most of his life writing the Silmarillion and Lord Of The Rings; especially given that advancing age made it increasingly unlikely that they would be finished in his lifetime. This was news to me, so I tracked down the story in a secondhand copy of The Tolkien Reader... it was really quite touching.

I'm planning to read The Letters Of J.R.R. Tolkien by Carpenter and Christopher Tolkien next. I'm pretty sure I won't be disappointed.

Really great!
I haven't read all Tolkien byographies out there, but I have read some, and I think this is the best by far. Not only is it precise and somewhat more 'unbiased' than others (it's clear that the author deeply appreciates Tolkien and his works, but unlike others, he didn't turn the biography into a giant praise to JRRT's genius), but it's also entertaining and easy to read, something which can't be said of many biographies. If you want to know more about JRRT as a person and a scholar, and not just as the LotR author, you really should read this.

Utterly fantastic...
This is one heck of a good read. The perfect formula-
this book + a comfy chair/sofa + the LOTR movie soundtrack + an hour or so to yourself= a very enjoyable hour!

I can't believe how well this book is written; my addiction to it almost mirrors that of my addiction to the classic trilogy. What I found incredibly refreshing, however, was how the author does not restrain from giving us the truth. So, for example, it doesn't give Tolkien a major ego boost (if one could do that to a person 31 years dead) but instead it gives him praise when it's due, and criticism when it's due, e.g. when it comes to his grades in his early education.

A great read, anyone who wants a deeper insight into the life of my favourite author should buy this immediately. Plus, Amazon did a great service of delivering this. Buy it from here, now!