The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien by J.R.R. Tolkien

I never thought I would enjoy a book of someone's letters.  In the case of this book I was happily mistaken.  Of course, it doesn't hurt that J.R.R. Tolkien wrote my favourite book - The Lord of the Rings - so it makes sense that I might like to get an insight into his mind via a route other than his fiction.

The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien encompasses his life from 1914 (when he was 22 years old) to 1973 (when he died a widower, aged 81) and is comprised of 354 of his letters (or excerpts thereof).  The first letter in the volume was addressed to Edith Bratt, his future wife and the mother of his four children.  The last letter was addressed to his only daughter Pricilla and was written just four days before his death.

The contents of the letters cover the main aspects of Tolkien's life: his family and friends, his academic career, his dealings with publishers and translators, and his fiction.  Through these letters we get a partial glimpse into an unfolding life. We find a man who is deep-minded, conservative, religious and loving and who, by turns, is also playful, fastidious or even utterly serious.

Fellow Middle Earth enthusiasts will enjoy the letters of explanation Tolkien wrote to his curious fans in the 50s and 60s who asked for details about hobbits and dwarves and elves and their histories.   I enjoyed those particular letters too. Amongst the other letters two are, to my mind, particularly memorable.  In the first, Tolkien describes the death of his former friend C.S. Lewis as 'an axe-blow near the roots', and an old man's pain is very evident and yet expressed with Edwardian restraint.  The second was addressed to his (now adult) son Michael, who was suffering from depression and 'sagging faith'.  Tolkien gently comforts his son and then tells him about the consolations of Christian faith: tender, poignant and deeply personal.

I am very glad that I read this book of Tolkien's letters.  I liked it so much that I think I will read it again in the near future, perhaps one letter a day, so I can stretch it out over the course of a year.   

Publishing details: The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Humphrey Carpenter (Harper Collins, London, 2006, pp.502)