I’ve always had a problem with John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. I still don’t have enough Middle-earth, and also little information about the Master’s life, inspirations and views. I have read a lot of Tolkien’s literature. Often in depth, and sometimes I just flipped through a given item. However, none of these books allows us to fully answer the question of who the professor was. Something like this can only show the position crossed out by His hand. And this is undoubtedly the Letters I have the honor to review for you.
About languages, love and loss
Letters it is, in fact, a selection of letters from Tolkien’s numerous correspondence in 1914-1973. They are a cross-section of almost the entire life of the Master. They have been leading us since Tolkien’s last year of studies, through the trenches of World War I, university work, World War II and retirement until death. Many of them are addressed to family, others to friends, others to publishers, there are also many notes from correspondence with fans and readers. These letters reveal a fascinating image of the Professor as a loving husband, father, faithful friend, devoted researcher and outstanding writer. We learn a lot about the Master’s views, his interests (the fragment about the attempt to recreate the grammar of the Gothic language simply captivated me), the creative process, and we receive a sea of curiosities and new information about Middle-earth and Arda. Among the letters there are also many emotional messages – written to Edith and children or to friends. The most impressive are the letters about the loss of friends at first, and then wives. The last one, written four days before death, also evokes no less emotions. All in all, each correspondence contained in this volume is personal in its own way and perfectly reflects the professor’s greatness. And he was great in every field.
Letters , or Why Profit, not Prószyński
The current edition is the third edition of the position on the Polish market. The first was in 2000 in which the Lord of the Rings translation was used Jerzy Łoziński, and released for sale under the name of Zysk i S-ka. This edition met with considerable criticism. As a result, we had to wait 10 years for the next editions. It was then that the book was published by Prószyński. Not only did he add an index that was missing in the previous edition, but also changed Łoziński’s translation to Skibniewska. It was a hit and it is a pity that that edition was not resumed, if only because of the amazing graphics. It was released really well. The current release has released Zysk again. It is good that he did not return to Łoziński, but left Skibniewska. Unfortunately, I do not have a physical copy yet, so I will not say how the book looks visually. It is only known that, as in previous editions, the translator of the entire collection is Agnieszka “Evermind” Sylwanowicz (not counting the above-mentioned fragmentsLord of the Rings, The Hobbit or The Silmarillion ), which means that there should be no errors or distortions inside. And it is so. Reading this book, I compared it with the 2010 edition and I did not notice any significant differences, for which the publisher deserves praise. They managed to do what Prószyński did 10 years ago, that is to publish letters of phenomenal quality. If they keep this level, I am sure about the next Tolkien books published by this publisher.
Letters is a difficult book that may alienate the reader. However, when you go through it, you get the impression that you know the Professor even better, that we could look into his mind. Therefore, it is worth getting acquainted with it, and for a Tolkienist it is undoubtedly a must-have. I recommend it with all my heart.