jordanabina
Have you at least seen the movies? If you haven’t at least WATCHED The Lord of the Rings trilogy by Peter Jackson then I really think you should stop reading this and go watch them. They aren’t as good as the books, but nothing ever really is, but at least you will get a sense for the type of world that it’s creator J.R.R. Tolkein created. If you’re one of those people who haven’t read the books or at least seen the movie, well I’m not saying anything is wrong with you but there seriously might be something wrong with you. Or at least can I say, you are really missing out! But enough of the guilt trip, onward and upward to a short review of Humphrey Carpenter’s biography entitled J.R.R. Tolkien.
I was recently asking myself what makes a good biography. It can’t be the facts of the life the person is covering because in the end, they are just being true to the story of the life of the subject. And quite frankly, as referenced by Carpenter himself, the life of Tolkien wasn’t very, well, exciting. And yet, Tolkien’s life is a tractor beam to readers all over the world. There was a season in his life, while in his sixties and seventies, that Tolkien was chased by fans and media. He had reached a level of fame that had exceeded his expectations. All because of a story, well a few of them. But it wasn’t his fame that makes his story so great, it’s his normalcy in the midst of a extraordinary mind.
The best part about a biography for me, is it takes the focus off the most famous things about a person and unpacks the person they were in between success and failure. As a person who dreams of publishing multiple works one day, when I read something like The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, or The Lord of the Rings I am terrified that my capacity will never be anything like these beautiful and wonderful stories. Not just stories, but worlds. How could a simple English guy build such vast and deep worlds? I was fascinated to learn through this book about all the influences Tolkein had growing up, especially when it came to God and language.
It makes perfect sense that Tolkien was a man fascinated with philology. The study of languages both current and ancient set him on a track to not only learn and discover old languages from Germania and beyond but to constructhis ownlanguage and alphabet. Actually Tolkien created more than one and many of his journals are encrypted with these languages. It’s amazing. Carpenter avoids the temptation of taking us to his writings to quickly and allows us to learn about Tolkien outside of Middle Earth. His mother and father, his long distance romantic soul mate, and his dealing with the Inklings and especially with C.S. Lewis.
I’ve read articles in recent years criticizing Christopher Tolkein, one of Tolkien’s sons, for how strict he is about protecting the stories of Middle Earth and how he has been a little rude about it. But I can’t imagine what it must be like for him to be the caretaker of such works after reading how his own father literally mourned over these stories. Hours upon hours, years upon years, working tirelessly on the history, topography and language of these stories. Most stories don’t have history, you open them at the beginning and shut them at the end. But not for Tolkien. The universe of Middle Earth is as close to being true as a myth can get. It is not an allegory, which Tolkein proclaimed, but is a real story of a world we have never been.
It’s obvious that Carpenter is very affectionate of Tolkien and cannot hide his defenses and love for him. I do not fault him in the least. Carpenter did a fabulous job on making sure we knew what life was like for Tolkien and that while an amazing author, was a normal man like any of us. He didn’t have a perfect marriage and yet their gravestones reflect the names of two romantic heroes in middle earth lore; Beren and Lúthien.
The most impactful part of reading this book was to hear how meticulous and over-zealous Tolkien was about his work. Constantly delaying, constantly biting off more than he could chew. He blew past deadline after deadline with his publishers and universities. By all accounts Tolkien was a procrastinator, and for all the right reasons. It took him nearly 16 years combined to complete The Lord of the Ringsand it wasn’t published until after he was 60 years old. For a man, to have held on that long, believing in the story and in the characters within them, and publish the work after that much time, showed me that I MUST keep moving towards the goals of creativity that cloud my heart.
I was so blessed to read about his conversations with C.S. Lewis and the Inklings. I know Carpenter has written more extensively on this and I plan on jumping right in.
Although I loved him before this read, I love him even more after. Such an inspiration and a man to be challenged by.
J.R.R. Tolkien a biographyby Humphrey Carpenter, pick it up.
