Saturday, November 10, 2012

J R R Tolkien

J R R Tolkien His Life, Work & Faith by Raymond Edwards, published by CTS

This is a very readable account of Tolkien's life: less comprehensive (naturally) that Humphrey Carpenter's authorised biography, but also devoid of Carpenter's tone which drives me to distraction (maybe it is just me, but Carpenter always seems to adopt a superior position to anyone he is writing about...).

Anyway, Raymond Edwards avoids that, and presents a very lucid and enjoyable account of Tolkien's life. He seems genuinely in sympathy with his subject (though possibly less so with C S Lewis and Charles Williams), and pulls the strands of Tolkien's story together in a compelling way: in particular the primacy of philology in his myth-making.

The booklet takes a biographical approach, tracing the course of Tolkien's life and the development of his intellectual and literary interests and endeavours over time; but perhaps what comes through less clearly is Tolkien's own character, which steams off the page when one reads his Letters.

The booklet concludes with a consideration of Tolkien as a Catholic, under two aspects: one is his personal devotional life (and here Edwards points to the contrast with Lewis: Tolkien felt no obligation to enter into apologetics and controversy); the second is the way in which his Catholic world-view underpins his story-telling - or sub-creation as Tolkien would describe it - at the very deepest level.  That is, not by using allegory (again in contrast to Lewis, whose allegorical Narnia stories Tolkien did not like) but rather by telling stories infused with true values, and indeed with mythic truth;  such stories must, by virtue of that fact alone, reflect the Creator.

The booklet assumes familiarity with The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, at least; but that seems to me a reasonable assumption.

In short this is an interesting and enjoyable read, which I recommend.

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