The IBIC Guide to Books By J.R.R. Tolkien

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Remarks from the IBIC Editor's Journal

A few thoughts on rereading the LORD OF THE RINGS, THE SILMARILLION, and UNFINISHED TALES for the first time in many years.

Something I never noticed before: How the identity of the main characters is defined by themselves, not by their parents, or their significant others, or their peers, or their callings. For example, we hear the phrases "Frodo, son of Drogo," and "Aragorn, son of Arathorn", over and over again. But we learn very little about those fathers.

The one time we do learn a great deal about a father-son relationship, it is the tragic story of Boromir, Faramir, and Denethor, where the son who is saved is the one who is not defined by his father.

I recall reading that Tolkien shared many portions of LORD OF THE RINGS in letters to his son Christopher while he was stationed in South Africa during WW2.

I find myself discovering that some of the lasting grace of these beautiful stories is in the subtle statement they make about the proper relation between parent and child.


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Editor's Recommendations, Summer 1996

In this inaugural edition of IBIC's Featured Books, I'd like to draw your attention to several titles which have helped to shape my life and thinking.

  • When I was around fifteen, I came across Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's science fiction novel, INFERNO. This '70s remake of Dante's classic describes science fiction writer Allen Carpentier's descent into Hell. It's still a very fresh, accessible take on the classic. What a great movie it would make!
  • The Niven/Pournelle INFERNO immediately inspired me to read the original Divine Comedy. I've read a number of translations over the years, but my favorite is the one by Dorothy Sayers (INFERNO; PURGATORY; PARADISE). The notes are excellent, and Sayers had such a knowledgeable and witty mind that reading her prose is a pleasure in itself. (For those interested in a more contemporary translation, I should mention that Robert Pinsky received excellent notices for his 1995 THE INFERNO OF DANTE : A NEW VERSE TRANSLATION; it's a very handsome book.)
  • I also want to tell you about the late Henry Fairlie's THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS TODAY, which probably did more than any other single book to galvanize me into a lifetime interest in Christianity that led me, eventually, to faith. Ironic, because Fairlie was a self-proclaimed agnostic socialist! But reading between the lines of this insightful and deeply feeling book, one realizes that the love of God cannot have been far from Fairlie's heart.
  • Finally, I should draw to your attention a more recent acquisition, the very handsome NIV STUDY BIBLE (10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION) from Zondervan, indexed and bonded in leather in IBIC's theme color, burgundy (black and brown are also available). The notes to this Bible are amazing. They appear to provide you with a very substantial portion of what you need to know to have an intelligent layman's appreciation of the linguistic and historical issues involved in understanding Scripture.

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