Simon Tolkien--Grandson of JRRT

[Stormrider]

This link was sent to me via Facebook from Hilary Baker:

Simon Tolkien is the author of No Man’s Land, which is inspired by the real-life experiences of his grandfather, JRR Tolkien, during World War One (Doubleday/Nan A Talese, on sale January 2017. Published by HarperCollins in the UK).


www.bbc.com/culture/story/20161223-tolkiens-grandson-on-how-ww1-inspired-the-lord-of-the-rings

[Andorinha]

Thanks, Stormy!

Hmm, is today 125 birthdays for JRRT?

[Stormrider]

YES! 3 January 1892 (I had to research that!)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien

[Stormrider]

Interesting article getting the Grandson's impression (what he remembers of him anyway) of his grand-dad. Even though JRRT never spoke about the battles (as most war vets do not), LOTR certainly was descriptive and reflected the Professor's vision and feelings about them and the inventions of modern industrial gadgets to make life "easier" for people. Simon was gifted with the LOTR books to guide him in his own writings. It would have been difficult to write about WWI without being there himself and since he had never realized he had a desire to write about WWIwhile he was young that he should ask his grand-dad about them.

[Andorinha]

Finally got around to seeing how Simon Tolkien "reads." Going through a preview, online copy -- LOL, yes, hoping there would be wise-sad Elves, and green passages about forests that had vanished long ago, and the trickling, plashing magics of some clean water's flow...

Well, it is not "middle-earth," but Simon produces a pleasing flow of words that do create rich mental images, so I just may seek a used copy and try him to the book's conclusion.

www.google.com/books/edition/No_Man_s_Land/c_EqDAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PT6&printsec=frontcover

[Stormrider]

Ah, a link to his book. Thanks, Andy. I will load on my laptop and do some reading.