Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, informative
Review: And being both, it goes without saying that Shippey's book is refreshingly unacademic, or better, NOT hung up on Tolkien fantasia.I've found to be a fascinating companion piece. Although Prof. Shippey tends to get a little defensive (and sometimes rude toward Tolkien critics), his analysis of the Tolkien corpus is enlivening. Shippey makes a convincing case that Tolkien has made a tremendous contribution to modern literature. Now, I finally have a conscious understanding as to WHY I've always been drawn to mythological and fantasy stories, and why "real" modern literature from the likes of Hemingway, Salinger, Grass, Joyce, etc. leaves me cold. My only criticism is that I wish there was a more in-depth look at Tolkien's First and Second Ages -- i.e. the Silmarillion, the Book of Lost Tales other early works that were the foundation to his myth-making craft.
Rating: 
Summary: A Streamlined Restatement
Review: Author of the Century is a streamlined restatement of Shippey's Road to Middle-earth, where he made a landmark in Tolkien criticism by observing that the One Ring is addictive. Whether I qualify as a first-year Tolkien student I'm not sure, but I wonder which errors Mr. Menendez has noticed. The Road to Middle-earth mistakes Tom Bombadil's leonine hexameters in The Lord of the Rings for Old Germanic staves, but verse prosody is not mentioned in Author of the Century. Shippey's religious orientation notwithstanding, he has exemplified an integral perspective on Tolkien's works and life by illuminating the links between Tolkien's legendarium and scholarship, which are mutually pervasive. Tolkien was an important scholar, and Shippey has contributed to his recognition as such. Author of the Century is not so entertainingly readable as The Road to Middle-earth, which is equally academic criticism for all of its relative informality; but if you really want to know why Tolkien's fictions work the way they do, Author of the Century is square A now.
Rating:
Summary: The man with Tolkien's job knows Tolkien best.
Review: Basically, having read LotR more times than I care to admit, I have found much of the published work on Tolkien and his creations to be rather boring. Shipley, however, showed me things I had not known. This book is fresh.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent piece of criticism
Review: By far the greater portion of Tom Shippey's book is analysis of _The Hobbit_ and _The Lord of the Rings_, though the book does examine other of Tolkien's writings. I am limiting my commentary to his LOTR analysis. Shippey probably spends too much time with the question of why so many supposedly sophisticated critics do not take _Lord of the Rings_ seriously. The answer, I suggest, is simpler than he thinks: contemporary criticism has developed the notion that any piece which tells a logically constructed story is, by definition, bad. (And this is not the place to discuss what that says about 20th. Century criticism.) Now that that's out of the way, what about Shippey's study of _The Lord of the Rings_? I found it excellent. Shippey is strong on interpreting the vision of evil offered by Tolkien. He suggests that Tolkien is offering an ambiguous picture of "evil": evil is internal failure, the failure to recognize good or to do good; yet evil is sometimes an external force, an entity like the Dark Lord. Tolkien does not tell us which definition
is "true"; rather he paints the question, and paints it richly. Shippey also offers us the kinds of details that should delight LOTR fans, such as explaining the interweaving of the plot and Tolkien's carefully constructed time sequencing. Mostly he tells us, in no uncertain terms, that _The Lord of the Rings_ is a creative masterwork. With that I agree, and I thoroughly enjoyed Shippey's effort in telling us why.
Rating:
Summary: Linguistic in Focus.
Review: I have massive respect for Tom Shippey and his obvious knowledge and command of the English language. There are few books that you'll read which will educate the layman as much as this one will. For the Lord of the Rings fanatic, however, much of this book may not be what one expected as it points a laser into the mechanics of Tolkien linguistic universe present in LOTR, the Hobbitt and the Silmarillion. The worm's eye view can't be beat but it is still a very detailed view. The Foreward is an amazing read as it is more whollistic then the rest of the book and gives a thorough and illuminating overview of Tolkien's majestic place in the history of literature.
Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: I'm a novice when it comes to Tolkien criticism, so maybe my opinion is less valuable than others who have read more on this subject. Nevertheless, as a relatively new devotee of Tolkien, I found this book highly insightful. Shippey examines the sources that inspired Tolkien to write the large and disparate body of work centered on Middle Earth, of which LOTR is only a small part. The bulk of it centers on how Tolkien borrowed characters, themes, and words from old Norse myths. While I admittedly had little or no interest in these ancient legends, I am amazed at Tolkien's mastery of the subject, and Shippey does a good job of making Tolkien's lifelong engagement with these stories highly interesting. There is also an excellent chapter looking at Tolkien's conception of evil in comparative perspective. Shippey points out that Tolkien's ultimate take on evil is ambiguous; there are signs that he viewed evil as merely the absence of good, but other compelling signs that he saw evil as a power in and of itself. Finally, Shippey examines Tolkien's work as mythology. Despite Tolkien's purported dislike of allegory, Shippey argues that this need not prevent us from gleaning important lessons from Tolkien's themes and characters. There are individual sections on The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, and his shorter works and letters. Readers will obviously prefer the chapters on the particular body of Tolkien's work they most admire. While more experienced literary critics might find fault with this work, I highly recommend it to anyone looking for an informed analyses of Tolkien's inspirations and intentions.
Rating:
Summary: Living in a Philologist's Paradise
Review: I'm sure a lot of this material was already familiar to people who studied Tolkien in depth. I consider myself a moderate scholar. I've read most of The History of Middle Earth (there were places where I had to skim) and I've read several volumes of criticism. Still, there was a lot here that was new to me, especially as it related to the Anglo-Saxon origins for many of Tolkien's ideas and names. I especially enjoyed the chapter on the Council of Elrond as I've read that a dozen times without ever noticing just how complex it is. It's clear from this book that in Book 1 of LOTR Tolkien is scrambling around for a story, yet those scenes remain some of my favorites. He may have been scrambling, but I think those little adventures were necessary preparation for the Hobbits to face their BIG adventure. All in all, a very readable and enjoyable book. I couldnt' put it down.
Rating:
Summary: Readable, rewarding, trustworthy
Review: If you've never ventured into the realm of criticism of Tolkien's writings, then start with this one. It's filled with good sense, fascinating connections between Tolkien's fantasy and his professional studies, and says enough-but-not-too-much for the nonspecialist.
Rating:
Summary: See why Tolkien was the author of the century
Review: In this excellent volume of criticism on Tolkien's work, Tom Shippey seeks to explain just what made Tolkien tick, and what made his stories the way they are. Tolkien shunned the idea of a biography, but I think this book is probably more along the lines of what he would have agreed to, since he believed that the best way to get a look inside an author's life was to examine his works. This book does just this.
The bulk of this book, of course, centers around Tolkien's stories of Middle-Earth: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. Shippey attempts to explain why Tolkien wrote these stories the way he did, and the result is very insightful. Shippey explains why he wrote archaically, how the more modern hobbit society, with its postal system and manners, fits in with the rest of Middle-Earth, and how to classify the various cultures and nations (like Rohan and Gondor) appearing in the works, to name a few. The rest of the book deals with Tolkien's other, lesser-known works, including the two semi-autobiographical ones. For true fans of Tolkien, the criticisms of these shorter works are an invaluable resource.
All in all, this book is very insightful--there is definitely a great deal to be learned about Tolkien's works from a man who succeeded him to his Oxford chair, and who understands Tolkien's professional field as well. If you want to truly understand Tolkien, this is a book worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: See why Tolkien was the author of the century
Review: In this excellent volume of criticism on Tolkien's work, Tom Shippey seeks to explain just what made Tolkien tick, and what made his stories the way they are. Tolkien shunned the idea of a biography, but I think this book is probably more along the lines of what he would have agreed to, since he believed that the best way to get a look inside an author's life was to examine his works. This book does just this.
The bulk of this book, of course, centers around Tolkien's stories of Middle-Earth: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. Shippey attempts to explain why Tolkien wrote these stories the way he did, and the result is very insightful. Shippey explains why he wrote archaically, how the more modern hobbit society, with its postal system and manners, fits in with the rest of Middle-Earth, and how to classify the various cultures and nations (like Rohan and Gondor) appearing in the works, to name a few. The rest of the book deals with Tolkien's other, lesser-known works, including the two semi-autobiographical ones. For true fans of Tolkien, the criticisms of these shorter works are an invaluable resource.
All in all, this book is very insightful--there is definitely a great deal to be learned about Tolkien's works from a man who succeeded him to his Oxford chair, and who understands Tolkien's professional field as well. If you want to truly understand Tolkien, this is a book worth reading.
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