book report: J.R.R. Tolkien by Mark Horne

I have always enjoyed these short biographies in the Christian Encounters Series from Thomas Nelson and this one on J.R.R. Tolkien is no exception. I prefer biographies, but I don't always have the patience for 700 page tomes, nor will brief internet posts or encyclopedia entries suffice either. However, I am not a Lord of the Rings fanboy either. I read them in elementary school and enjoyed the ideas in my head more than the story. I also enjoyed the movies. But this short book intrigued me because it showed me his life as an orphan with his brother in a rented room, unsupported by his extended family because of his mother's conversion to Catholicism before her death. I wish I learned more about his relationship with his brother, who became a farmer, into adulthood. In that boarding house, he met his future wife, 3 years older, and Protestant.

Like the other biographies in this Christian Encounters series, this is a mere biographical appetizer, and this appetizer is the bacon-wrapped scallop. It's saltiness and fat leave you wanting more. There is much more to discover about his service in World War 1 and his study of philology and Icelandic myths but a perfectionism that almost paralyzed him from publishing. I can't complain about what it lacks, because it is not claiming to be a main course, but a delicious appetizer.

Many thanks to Booksneeze for the e-book, free for review.