J.R.R. Tolkien: A Life Inspired

by Wyatt North

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was Professor of Anglo-Saxon (Old English) at the University of Oxford. His research on Beowulf is still considered a standard in the field. Tolkien, however, unlike most Oxford dons, stepped out of his role as professor to create popular literature. Tolkien’s best-known writings were The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, in which he created a fully realized world known as Middle-earth, vaguely identifiable as Northern Europe in a pre-history that never was. To bring his world to life, he produced detailed geography and cartography as well as a legendary background. He peopled the world with diverse types of inhabitants and created spoken and written languages for them. By doing this, he essentially created modern fantasy literature and a standard for subsequent writers to chase and miss. A British poll at the end of the twentieth century named The Lord of the Rings the most important English-language work of that century. During his lifetime, Tolkien did not appreciate people focusing on him rather than on his writings. He felt that his writings were more worthy of attention. With apologies to the late gentleman, he is now due some notice.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History, Christian, Biography Memoir, Ebooks, Christian Non Fiction

108 pages, Paperback

First published November 20, 2014

Reviews

[Monica Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although brief (100 pages), this is quite an interesting account of Tolkien's life...how time and events shaped not only the man, but influenced his writing. There were several references to actual people, places, and things which are reflected in his stories. I found myself surfing the web to discover more.

Note: As of this review date the Kindle version of this book is free on Amazon (and has been for some time).

[Ron · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oops. I'm currently reading The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien and accidentally conflated that book with this. The latter is much the preferred. I have lowered the rating by one star.

Modern authors have the idea that biographies must be at least seven hundred pages long, even if they don’t have seven hundred pages of material. The result is often a bloated mess of myth and rumor.

Therefore, a tight, well-written biography of barely one hundred pages is refreshing. This work is the perfect companion to Tolkien’s works, especially The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

That said, there must be more fruitful information which modern readers would enjoy knowing about the professor who birthed modern epic fantasy. This volume only refers to fellow Inklings C. S. Lewis and Hugo Dyson in a literary context, while Tolkien and Dyson played decisive roles in the re-conversion of Lewis to Christianity.

Can you imagine, reader, having read the two mentioned volumes when the Professor still lived, and feel as I did the hope of more? It was not to be, but I have re-read those volumes once a decade since. They are the gold standard for all light and epic fantasy since.

North seems to specialize in hagiographies of Roman Catholic persons, of which this is definitely one.

[Kailey (Luminous Libro) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This biography follows the life of JRR Tolkien from his childhood to his death. There are many little details from his life that shaped his personality, memories from childhood that are reflected in his fiction writings, and special people in his life who greatly influenced him.

This is such a short book that it serves as a good introduction to the life of JRR Tolkien. However, because I have already read several biographies of Tolkien, as well as most of his written works and letters, I didn't learn anything new or get a new perspective on his life.

One of the highlights of any Tolkien biography is his beautiful romance with his wife, Edith. Their forbidden romance was the inspiration for the tale of Beren and Luthien. They remained true to each other, despite the obstacles in their path, and won true love in the end.

I did like that the overall focus of the book is Tolkien's faith in God. His mother's faith really inspired him to love God and to be immersed in the Catholic church. His faith was instrumental in the conversion of his friend, C.S. Lewis. His writings also deeply reflect the Christian faith, since Tolkien believed that God created us to be sub-creators.

The writing style is good, and keeps your interest. The book is well-written and obviously well-researched.

[Kara ✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

A simplified look into Tolkien’s life from birth to death. This made me even more fond of Tolkien as a fellow Catholic, an incredible storyteller, and an admirer of nature.

This man endured so much in his life and he used it all to write the greatest fantasy series ever that has never gone out of esteem. I found that reading this while rereading The Hobbit made me appreciate it even more.

[m i l o u ✨ (Grumpy Hobbit) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I mean it's Tolkien. What do I need to say more?

[Rachel Aranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short biography and I really enjoyed it. This book really showed a glimpse into how J.R.R. Tolkien came to be born and how he was shaped into the man who would write what are considered some of the best books of the century. I have yet to read any of his books because I felt like I needed to know a little about the author to understand his writing. I've known enough about Mr. Tolkien to admire him for years; it mostly had to do with his academic exploits with Beowulf as I never could believe how anyone would choose to work on interpreting the translations by choice as it is so complicated. Now that I know more about him I have high hopes he'll become one of my favorite authors. Even if I don't enjoy his books I will still admire him.

[Amrita · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never thought that I would get interested in reading biographies. But of late I find that I am beginning to get more and more curious about the person behind the well loved story. This was an lite and quick read. Just the simple narration of the story of his life. A sort of an introduction to the person behind the Hobbit :)

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brief biography of J.R.R. Tolkien. It's not particularly nuanced; it's more a recitation of pertinent facts of his life told in chronological order.

[Ettelwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jednohubka, která může působit jako lehce rozšířený článek na Wikipedii, ale na připomenutí některých faktů dobré :)

[Andrew Scholes · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short read

I didn’t realize that this was a very short overview of Tolkien’s life. It gives you a quick description of all that happened to him but not much in detail.

[Thadeus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great introduction to a figure that many take interest in. This brief biography takes you through some of the significant facts of Tolkien's life and some of the influences upon his writing. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know a sketch of Tolkien, his relationships, and his writing in this short biography.

Points that stand out to me were things shared about his early life, the company he kept, his place in history alongside the wars, as well as some good groundwork on his writing.

Recommended if you are interested in Tolkien, but aren't quite ready to delve into the deep.

[J.P. Willson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I honestly had no idea this was a mere 100-ish pages when I picked it up and I intentionally put it off because I assumed it was going to be 500 plus pages. To say I was surprised when I opened it for the first time- yeah a little...
Regardless this was a quick very informative read about some of the finer points of Tolkien's early life and schooling and the like. His relationships both within and outside of the literary world.
A pleasant and compelling read.

[Sam B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting read about J.R.R. Tolkien's life and work, with lots of insights on his inspiration and friendship with C.S. Lewis.

[Nicholas Driscoll · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned a lot. I have had this book on Kindle for years, and finally got around to reading it today. In some ways it sort of feels like an extended and good-natured encyclopedia entry. I learned a lot about the guy—like one of my favorite sci-fi writers, Ray Bradbury, he didn’t drive most of his life (I get it). He was orphaned early. I kind of want to read his Father Christmas book now.

I didn’t read the two chapter preview to the Pope Francis book in the back. The writing struck me as not very good, so I let it slide.

[Ann Brookens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and easily read, A Life Inspired is a rather simple overview of Tolkien's life. It gave enough detail for my purposes but was definitely not an in-depth or scholarly review of his experiences or thought processes. Even though I found the information to be rather simplistic and perfunctorily presented, I feel I was given an adequate background on Tolkien if I should wish to learn more in the future.

[Kevin Reeder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating

Amazing to learn the background behind Tolkien’s life to move him to write the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

[Joy Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very concise and interesting. Just the right length.

I knew nothing about someone so important in literature, and this book was quite helpful. Good to learn of his close ties with CS Lewis, whom I've been reading. Would recommend to everyone.

[Josiah Rex · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only real negative was how short the book was.

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, succinct account of the life of Tolkien. It was neat reading about the things and people that influenced his writing and stories.

[Mike Harreld · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

I enjoy biographies. It was good to learn of his childhood, marriage and more of his friendship with C S Lewis.

[Bruce Mohler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good short biography. Quick read and easy.

Author provided a good concise biography of Tolkien. Good refresher and just what I was looking for. Would recommend to anyone wanting a quick read about Tolkien.

[Chris Lott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was beguiled into reading this anemic little book by the star rating and a glimpse of the inordinately high reviews. Instead of a biography it is basically a recitation of facts, with the author providing little insight into what those facts might mean, or their connective tissue, akin to a long encyclopedia entry. The one area in which the author attempts to peer into the bigger picture is Tolkien's religious beliefs (which admittedly played an important part in his life and writing), thus my belated understanding of the book's subtitle. I myself was inspired...to purchase what looks to be a significantly more ambitious and complete biography by another author!

[Jeff Netting · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is quite sparse, and suffers from several major issues. There are several issues with the formatting, and no sources are cited. The text also indulges in platitudes at several points, which seem to exist just to expand the page count. I found the book strangely enlightening, though, as its flaws taught me some things about literary biography. I think literary biography needs to engage in an analysis of an author’s works. There is no analysis here, other than some information on biographical sources of inspiration for Tolkien. It also seems key to me that a literary biography cover an author’s obscure and minor works in detail, as a reader is unlikely to be familiar with these on his own. While this book covers Tolkien’s major works, and mentions his minor ones, I was left without a great understanding of the minor works.

All in all, a very sparse book that unfortunately does not provide much depth, detail, or analysis. Still, I found it strangely informative to read, insofar as thinking about its flaws gave me some insights into how a book such as this ought to be structured.

[Kev Willoughby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting albeit brief look at the life of the legendary writer in the spirit and style of a college research paper.

I especially enjoyed reading of how both Tolkien and C.S. Lewis influenced, inspired, and encouraged each other in their writing and in their faith as they taught together at Oxford during the prime of their careers, meeting twice per week to discuss literature and their personal projects. I can only imagine the conversations that must have taken place between them and their colleagues during those days. You also get a glimpse of what it was like to be a child of Tolkien and the opportunity to serve as the first audience for some of his literary character development. He had quite an imagination, sharing written and oral stories at bedtime and Christmastime for his children, one of whom carried on his work by finishing and editing some of Tolkien's unpublished work after his death.

This book serves as a great introduction to Tolkien, although his life certainly merits a deeper and more developed look that could be better organized in chronological order.

[C.J. Daley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an interesting and quick biography about the father of fantasy Himself. I got this as a gift and I was so pleased to be able to read through this one on my day off.

This author does a great job of giving all of the necessary bits to Tolkien’s life without it being so detailed that it feels more like textbook reading. Not that I wouldn’t read more about Tolkien, of course I would, but this was like reading nice highlights and I actually learned a couple new things. For instance, I was always under the impression (for whatever reason) that Christopher was helping with The Lord of the Rings and the maps while still pretty young (aka in my mind, I was always picturing he was a child still). However, he we actually 21 and already in a group of friends alongside his father at the time.

The only slightly weird thing is that this publishing company is a small religious one. So, this went pretty heavily into Tolkien being a devout Catholic more than once. However, it wasn’t preachy or anything like that so I’m glad to have read it.

[Fr. Daniel Carr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having read a great deal of Tolkien's writings, and having taken a college-level course about him and his writings, I found this biography to be fascinating. While it is not researched to a great level of depth (little source material is used and only select writings are mentioned), it does provide a solid foundation for understanding why and how Tolkien wrote what he did. It is a general overview and not meant to be in-depth.

The book assumes a relatively solid level of knowledge of the Lord of the Rings trilogy in addition to the Hobbit, as well as basic knowledge of some of C.S. Lewis's writings. I would say these are fair assumptions to make, as few would be interested in Tolkien himself if it weren't for his writings.

The book did not wear out its welcome, it provided a great deal of interesting back-story, and it provided me with some interesting facts about a man from whom I have read much but about whom I knew little.

[Nicole Normand · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book for free on Amazon via Bookbub; this is my honest review.
-Excellent rendering of Tolkien's love, religious, family, writing lives.
-Just reading this short biography, I found that in the times Tolkien lived, think-alike people loved to get together to discuss all sorts of subjects they had in common, be it for or against it. Tolkien started or was a co-founding member of many of those groups. Socializing (without the spouse) was really important too.
-I knew Tolkien was friend with CS Lewis for ~25 years but couldn't remember why they split in the end - religion. Not because CS was pushing his, more because JRR didn't like that CS didn't choose Catholicism like him but instead went for the Church of England.
-Tolkien also thought his writing came from God, just like the apostles ...
-Easy to read and interesting. I lift my hat to his sons (or just Christopher?) who finished and published his last works posthumously.
-Kudos on editing.

[J.D. Sutter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wyatt North's biography of Tolkien is a short read and is, therefore, a very high-level view of Tolkien's life. The author hits only major highlights and does not go into much detail on any events. Beginning with Tolkien's parents, the timeline of the narrative then moves to Tolkien's birth and early childhood and continues all the way to his death. North seems to pay particular attention to events and circumstances which had an impact on Tolkien's creativity and resulted in characters or plot elements in The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, or another of his tales of Middle-earth.

The book is well-written and is not a difficult read. Its tone is not overly academic or analytical but is an easy narrative. The author glosses over lots of Tolkien's early years but he takes much more time on his later life, including his academic years, his relationship with C.S. Lewis, his time with The Inklings, and more.

If you are looking for a quick introduction to Tolkien's life and work this volume is a great place to start.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't read a lot of biographies, but every once in a while a deal comes along that pulls me in. Such was J.R.R. Tolkien: A Life Inspired. It certainly provided me with plenty of "I didn't know that" moments or times I outright chuckled, such as when he was described as brilliant, but hard to understand because he talked so fast and mumbled, his intelligibility made all the worse by the pipe that hardly ever left his mouth!

I was a bit surprised by the depth that Catholicism affected his life, although now that I think about it, it does bring some clarification to both his and Lewis's relationship. I'm not sure I'll ever pick this one up again, but it was interesting for a quick read.