Mark Horne’s short biography of J. R. R. Tolkien was a really good, yet short read, coming in around 160 pages. Horne’s done an excellent job, it seems to me, in highlighting the life and the person of Tolkien in a very readable, exciting and witty style. Overall, I’d easily recommend fans give this a look.

If for no other reason, Tolkien’s close proximity to other intriguing figures and groups is enough to give a Horne’s book a read, though not the only reason. Tolkein lived in a very interesting time, WWI through WWII periods, and influenced and was influenced by some very fascinating people (C. S. Lewis, etc.). Horne goes into more detail in the relationship with Lewis than he does in the like of Tolkien’s wife Edith. My favorite quote from Horne notes an early meeting between the pair where he says,

Lewis wasn’t too impressed at the time. He said later that he had been taught by his Protestant family and then his English literature professors never to trust a papist or a philologist. Tolkien was doubly suspect to him.

I’ve not read anything else about the life of Tolkien, but only heard tales of parts of his life anecdotally (and I suppose some elements in the lengthy LotR preface that describes the laborious process of publishing the book(s)), and on even that note, Horne does a wonderful job elaborating on just how coplex that process actually was, both form Tolkien’s obsession with perfection and with the difficult task of publishing such a lengthy novel in general.

*Note: I recieved a “reviewer’s copy of this from BookSneeze.com (my first review book ever!). All the thoughts are my own and given under no obligation for favorable reviews. I’d consider checking them out for yourself!