J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography
OCLC 16381273 | |
J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography, written by
Book
Synopsis
Carpenter begins with a visit to Tolkien. He then describes Tolkien's early years, from South Africa to Birmingham and Oxford, and Tolkien's experience of fighting in the trenches of Northern France. He then explores how the legendarium came into being, from the Book of Lost Tales in 1917 onwards. The story of how Tolkien came to write The Hobbit, with the famous first line "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit", is set in the context of life at the University of Oxford, Tolkien's love of language, and his developing skill as a storyteller. Carpenter then looks at how the "new Hobbit", its successor The Lord of the Rings, took shape, and Tolkien's increasing fame in the 1960s. The narrative ends with an account of his final years.
Appendices provide a family tree, a chronology, and a list of published writings.
Publication history
The biography was first published by George Allen & Unwin in London in 1977. It was repeatedly reprinted that year, in 1978, in 1987 by both Unwin and by Houghton Mifflin in the US, and many times since. It has been translated into languages including French (C. Bourgeois, 1980), German (Klett-Cotta, 1979), Polish (Wydawnictwo ALFA-WERO, 1997), Russian (ĖKSMO-Press, 2002), and Spanish (Minotauro, 1990).
Reception
The Tolkien scholar
Charles E. Lloyd reviewed the book for the
References
- ^ "Tolkien Bibliography: 1977 - Humphrey Carpenter - J.R.R. Tolkien: a biography". The Tolkien Library. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
- ^ Shippey, Tom (29 November 2001). "Tom Shippey's top 10 books on JRR Tolkien". Retrieved 1 August 2020.
- ISSN 0148-3331.
- ^ Lawson, Anthea (24 November 2002). "Review: Tolkien: A Biography". The Observer. Observer Review Pages, page 18.
- JSTOR 27543325.
External links
- Editions of J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography available on the Internet Archive