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Category Archives: Book news and reviews
Tolkien at Exeter College: Birth of a legend
In which I blow my own trumpet… When you picture J.R.R. Tolkien, it’s probably as a member of Oxford’s Inklings, writing The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings in the 1930s and ’40s, or in old age when fame … Continue reading
Posted in 100 years of Middle-earth, Book news and reviews, John Garth’s writing, Tolkien in the First World War, Uncategorized
Tagged Beowulf, Biography, Exeter College, First World War, J.R.R. Tolkien, Middle-earth, Oxford, Silmarillion, Tolkien's college friends, Tolkien's life, Tolkien's writing
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Unseen Tolkien: sex, infertility, adultery and the birth of Galadriel
The encounter between mortal man and immortal enchantress is always fateful in Tolkien’s Middle-earth. In The Lord of the Rings, for instance, Boromir fears the Elf-queen Galadriel and ignores her wisdom, then dies for his sins. The Lay of Aotrou … Continue reading
Beren and Lúthien, a centenary publication
Note, 2 June 2017: Since writing this, Tolkien’s Beren and Lúthien has been published, so the speculations below regarding its content are out of date. My New Statesman review of the book as published can be read here. In … Continue reading
Teaching Tolkien in Las Vegas
Vegas brought out my worst vices. Handed carte blanche to indulge recklessly and obscenely for twelve months, I borrowed books from the university library in such numbers that when it came to returning them, I had to use a suitcase. I even … Continue reading
Bottling the essence of languages: Tolkien’s ‘A Secret Vice’
From sound aesthetic to Finnegans Wake, a new book explores Tolkien’s relationship to language. Here’s my review for the New Statesman. A Secret Vice: Tolkien on Invented Languages Ed. Dimitra Fimi and Andrew Higgins HarperCollins (223pp, £16.99) Horsemen, barbaric yet noble, … Continue reading
A turbulent darkness: Tolkien’s first story
Here’s a short review of Tolkien’s The Story of Kullervo that I wrote for the Mail On Sunday when the book came out in September 2015. I reproduce it here, with permission, as the book becomes available in the USA, … Continue reading
Tove Jansson, queen of the Moomins
The international children’s laureate of disaster and displacement, Tove Jansson, was born one hundred years ago, on August 9, 1914, just as Europe was going to war. She is most famous for creating the Moomins, a family of hospitable and … Continue reading
Posted in Book news and reviews
Tagged Children's books, Daily Beast, Moomins, Tove Jansson, Visual art
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Fanfare for the common prof
Review: John Carey, The Unexpected Professor: An Oxford Life in Books (Faber. ISBN 9780571310920) My first encounter with John Carey was hearing him on Dickens at the St Cross Building – the English Faculty at Oxford University. His Violent Effigy … Continue reading
Posted in Book news and reviews
Tagged Autobiography, J.R.R. Tolkien, John Carey, Oxford
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Tolkien’s Beowulf: one man’s passion for the threshold between myth and reality
Review Beowulf: a Translation and Commentary, Together with “Sellic Spell” J.R.R. Tolkien Edited by Christopher Tolkien HarperCollins, 425pp, £20 In his story “Leaf by Niggle”, J.R.R. Tolkien imagines an artist painting a picture he can neither complete nor abandon. “It had … Continue reading
Assuming Character: Oxford’s new Story Museum
Facing a big throne nestled among an array of trumpety horns, the boy holds up a slotted board filled with words from a fantastical pick’n’mix. He steps up and perches on the cushioned seat. Trumpets blare. A voice announces: ‘Presenting … Continue reading
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