pickThis is a lovely little book, covering Kilby's stay with the Tolkiens in the summer of 1965, invited by JRRT to give him "editorial and critical assistance", and an impetus to focus on his authorial task at a time when age and the distractions of a fame to which he was ambivalent combined with a natural dilatoriness and a tendency for his interests to be "Like butter that has been scraped over too much bread". His personal impressions of ?
Next up, a memoir of Kilby's summer assisting JRRT with his Silmarillion materials, after which he was asked to read the manuscript prior to publication. Kilby's book was published 1976, the year before The Silmarillion, so his impressions will be personal & unaffected by its general & critical reception.
Kilby was an Inkling scholar, with several academic books about Tolkien, Lewis and the others, so I'm also expecting it to be well-considered.
pickOne of my current hyper fixations is J.R.R.Tolkien. I stumbled across this and knew I needed it. It has a bit of info about his life and his writing. However, it is mostly photos of his artwork. I only learned recently how much of an artist he was. This is a quick read, and I'm glad I found it.
“... and a sound arose of endless interchanging melodies woven in harmony that passed beyond hearing into the depths and into the heights, and the places of the dwelling of Ilúvatar were filled to overflowing, and the music and the echo of the music went out into the Void, and it was not void.”
#CurrentlyReading #JRRTolkien #TheSilmarillion #LotR #MiddleEarth
"Tolkien read the whole of "The Lord of the Rings" to the Inklings in chapters as it was written but Lewis recalled, "We listened to his work, but could affect it only by encouragement. He has only two reactions to criticism: either he begins the whole work over again from the beginning or else takes no notice at all.""
A rare breakfast in bed! Veggie bacon and cheese sandwich, strong tea, Tolkien and Chet Baker on the stereo ☺
#bookmail
I can't believe l've found this at a reasonable price. True, it's a bit battered, but it's intact.
Loving it!
#YearOfTolkien
pickI'm a wee bit late, but I'm finished! I was fascinated by the mythology, even if narratively this wasn't my favorite. Onto The Children of Húrin next! And yes, I have a lot of catching up to do 🙄
#LOTRchapteraday #thesilmarillion
![[tagged book]](https://image.librarything.com/pics/litsy_webpics/icon_taggedBook@3x.png){kind=icon}
He goes onto a sketch of the composition of the Silmarillion, something that Christopher Tolkien later greatly expanded upon, then a consideration of how Tolkien's Christianity is embedded in his work, not as deliberately as that of C.S. Lewis but as a natural effect of his deep belief, and rounds up with a consideration of the three major Inklings, JRRT, Lewis and Charles Williams.
Lovely! 😊 4mo