Reddit reviews J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography

Humphrey Carpenter's biography is quite good, and pretty widely available, I think.

Thought I'd provide some Amazon links to these fine suggestions, along with a few of my own.

J.R.R. Tolkien Companion & Guide US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0008214549/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_Jc.DCb1A3J8V6

​

Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/000755690X/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_Qe.DCbHG7HWXM

​

Art of the Lord of the Rings US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0544636341/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_3f.DCbB8Y2ZNZ

​

Art of the Hobbit US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0547928254/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_ng.DCbCX2CT65

​

Tolkien: Maker of Middle-Earth US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1851244859/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_Vg.DCbSEH99RE

​

Rateliff's History of the Hobbit US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CF6AZWK/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_Dj.DCbGWY7970

​

Fonstad's Atlas of Middle-Earth US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0618126996/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_Kk.DCbC2XF6NT

​

Letters of JRR Tolkien US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0618056998/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_ml.DCbREBRZH4

​

Carpenter's Tolkien: A Biography US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0618057021/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_xm.DCbY976PAE

The principal biography is the authorized one by Humphrey Carpenter. (Stay away from the one by Daniel Grotta, which contains considerable misinformation.) There's also a very good book about Tolkien's experiences in WWI, Tolkien and the Great War, which I highly recommend.

Beyond that, if you want more information, seek out Hammond and Scull's two-volume J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide.

Perhaps he wouldn't be a christian, but it wouldn't be because of his friends, it would be because of the differences between dialogue between now and then.

Lewis and Tolkien (and some other guy . . . I forgot his name), basically had a standing appointment to meet at a pub once a week a discuss religion deeply. People don't discuss like that anymore: they memorize and regurgitate pre-packaged talking-points.

Check this out and I think you'll see what I'm talking about: http://www.amazon.com/J-R-R-Tolkien-Biography-Humphrey-Carpenter/dp/0618057021

$7.95 on amazon.com for the paperback :)

It's well worth a read. I really enjoyed reading it again.

A few thoughts:

At one point Lewis and Tolkien were going to write companion novels about space and time. You can see echoes of this in the last chapter of Out of the Silent Planet, the first book in CSL's Space Trilogy when he mentions that space has been cut off from human travel and now any future voyages would be through time. There's also echoes of what might have been in JRRT's Notion Club Papers, which has a time-travel element, but was never published.

In addition, JRRT did not care for the Narnia series because he felt it lacked a coherent theme. However, in the controversial Planet Narnia, Michael Ward posits that CSL actually did have a theme: the medieval view of the planets (The Seven Heavens). There are definitely intriguing arguments made in the book, especially as he combines information from Narnia and the Space Trilogy into his thesis. I wouldn't say it's iron-clad, but if I was still in education, or had the luxury to write papers, this is an area I'd love to explore in depth - specifically the influence of Charles Williams on the evolution of CSL's thought.

If you're interested in aspects of their backgrounds that influenced their worldviews, I would recommend The Discarded Image from CSL (on medieval literature - my favorite CSL book) and The Road to Middle-Earth by Tom Shippey (on the philological undergirding of Middle-Earth). The Humprey Carpenter books are also good (JRRT Letters, Tolkien bio, Inklings bio) as are CSL's letters.

Tolkinova biografija, svaki bitan trenutak je napisan, od rodjenja do vecnosti :).

Uh. What about J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography by Humphrey Carpenter?

This is a good place to start. If I weren't a lazy shit I'd dig up some of the letters that Lewis and him traded, but I can't find them anymore.