This biography recounts Tolkien's his early childhood in South Africa followed by his family's return to England after his banker father's death. The Tolkiens settled in the highly industrialised city of Birmingham in the 1890s which was still surrounded by breathtaking countryside. Thus the industrialised heart of the Empire and the sylvan idyll of the woods and hills became important extremes for much of Tolkien's thinking and writing, leading up to that most inspired moment when, as an Oxford don Tolkien was marking exam papers and noticing his student had left a blank page in the answer book. Suddenly he wrote: 'In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit.' In typical Tolkien fashion, he was intrigued by this and decided to find out more about hobbits. The rest is history.
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White's Tolkein is a quick, vivcaious gifure, laughter-loving and prey to the most petty of human foibles... [an] engaging biography. (INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY )
Book Description
* The first general interest Tolkien biography to appear since Humphrey Carpenter's biography was published in 1975.
* White's book will be aimed at the average fan, and is very timely with three upcoming Tolkien films - the first scheduled to be released in December 2001.
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First Sentence
On the scale of things I came quite late to Tolkien's work. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
On the scale of things I came quite late to Tolkien's work. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Tony McKeown
Format:Hardcover
This book is a must have if you are truely curious about the life and times of Tolkien. The book covers his early years in S.Africa, his involvement in the war, the inklings, his time at Oxford plus (and more importantly) just what it takes to produce masterpieces such as the LOTR and the Silmarillion.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is not a scholarly work; little or no original research appears to have been done, there are typos and grammatical mistakes aplenty, and the author appears to fill the gaps in his knowledge with sweeping assumptions - the book is littered with 'probably's and 'must have's. It is also a fair bit shorter than the authorised biography by Humphrey Carpenter, having the nature of a lightweight tourist's guide rather than a serious biography. In spite of all this I enjoyed reading it, and feel that my fellow reviewers, having judged it by the standards of scholarly biographies, have been too harsh on it. It is a mostly enjoyable read for anyone who has read Tolkien or even just seen the LoTR films, and may induce the reader to delve further into Tolkien's life and works.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By S. Hill
Format:Paperback
Interesting but not thrilling. Quite a dry style, you have to be interested in the subject to wade through it, but it would be difficult to make the life of an Oxford don thrilling. Gives Tolkien credit without toadying to him - it covers his detractors as well as his fans. Covers his changing relationships with other authors including of course C S Lewis, particularly their differences in faith - did you know Tolkien was a committed Catholic? Follows the whole of his life from early childhoold to retirement and death. A full and worthwhile account, I feel I get more out of Tolkien's books for having read it.
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