"In The Tower and the Ruin, Michael Drout explains what sets Tolkien's work apart from all other modern literature. Drout's argument starts with the observation that reading Tolkien's books, particularly The Lord of the Rings, feels more like having an experience than just reading another book. Along with more easily described characteristics -- the richness and complexity of the world of Middle-earth, the aesthetic beauty of Tolkien's invented languages, the intricacy of the narrative, and the sophistication of the moral vision -- this experiential quality is the foundation of his books' enduring popularity and cultural influence. It is also what makes them more personally significant to many readers than any other secular texts. Taking us into Tolkien's life and his many books -- from The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion to lesser-known works such as The Fall of Gondolin and The Book of Lost Tales -- Drout shows how Tolkien, over a period of decades, crafted a fully coherent world. But the greater achievement, Drout argues, was how he drew from Beowulf, the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala, and other foundational myths to create of a set of stories that felt, to readers, as though they were much, much older than they actually were; that read as compilations of already existing material; and that appeared to be the product of many different authors. Throughout, Drout demonstrates how Tolkien has shaped his own life, helping him during periods of intense sorrow. As he writes, "The effects of the Ring on Frodo and Gollum are the most profound metaphorical exploration of addiction that has ever been written, capturing the experience so perfectly that when my father finally told me about his struggles with alcoholism, he said 'I could not take off the Ring,' and I understood." Sweeping and hugely perceptive, The Tower and the Ruin defines Tolkien anew." --

"No writer has surpassed the epic achievement of J.R.R. Tolkien, who spent decades refining his Middle-earth -- a world that has felt so real to so many readers that it is almost impossible to imagine that any single person could have simply created it, seemingly out of thin air. In The Tower and the Ruin, Michael D. C. Drout takes us deep into Tolkien's genius, allowing us to glimpse the making of not only The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion but also lesser-known books such as The Fall of Gondolin as well as Tolkien's poetry and innovative scholarship. Drout, who has spent decades reading, studying, and teaching Tolkien, allows us to understand the author's methods and to embrace his works as never before. With great erudition and sparkling prose, Drout shows us how Tolkien invented myths, legends, cultures, languages, histories, and an intricate, multivocal narrative. We come to understand how Tolkien drew upon and modified material he found in Beowulf, the Kalevala, and other medieval literature from northern Europe, using the subtle qualities of those famous works as inspiration for his own. We also see the process by which he created the complex form of sorrow that is the primary emotional effect of his mature works, a sadness "blessed without bitterness," carefully woven through a tapestry of themes that has resonated with generations of readers. Sweeping and hugely perceptive -- and enhanced throughout by Drout's personal reflections on how Tolkien has shaped his own life and relationships -- The Tower and the Ruin illuminates Tolkien anew and will come to be seen as an essential work for anyone who has journeyed to Middle-earth." --