Christian Encounters Series - J.R.R. Tolkien

Mark Horne               Thomas Nelson, 2011.

 3.0 /5.0
In his biography, simply titled J.R.R. Tolkien, Mark Horne does two things that he admits his famous subject could never bring himself to do - write a overtly Christian work and dominate his readers.  Whether speaking of Tolkien's youthful surroundings, his literary influences or his love for his family or faith, Horne rarely misses a chance to point out the obvious crossovers between Tolkien's life and work.  Highlighting Tolkien's Christian faith is the more forgivable branch of Horne's incongruous treatment.  The book is part of the Christian encounters series from Thomas Nelson and Tolkien's Christian heritage is probably unknown to many of his fans.

The highlight of the book to me, was the author's emphasis on the T.C.B.S. club.  Tolkien's original cadre of creative minds is often superseded in accounts by the later formed Inklings.  Although most of the members of the club were killed in the Great War, the early impetus for Tolkien's sub-creation came from the time he shared with these friends.

I was, however, a little surprised to see some changes to Tolkien's cannon that were not explained either in the text or in the endnotes.  Horne lists Father Giles of Ham among Tolkien's writings (most readers know it as "Farmer" Giles of Ham) and changes the spelling of some of Tolkien's dwarves (i.e. Norri and Dorri).  These may be acceptable alternatives of which I am unaware, but there is no commentary on the changes.

In all, J.R.R. Tolkien is a short and straightfoward book that serves as the briefest of introductions to the writer's life.  For a more complete and traditional biography, I recommend Humphrey Carpenter's  J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography.  Colin Duriez wrote a great book detailing Tolkien and Lewis' realtionship called Tolkien and C.S. Lewis: The Gift of Friendship.  Some of the themes that were hinted at in this book are, among others, explored in Tom Shippey's J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century.  I do think Mark Horne's book is the perfect introduction to Tolkien for a high school student writing a research paper on the author which, admittedly, was me fifteen years ago.

*I received a copy of the book for review from the publisher.  I had to write a review - good, bad, or ugly.  You can do the same at booksneeze.com.*