Here's a 1958 Letter from C.S. Lewis to My Father Recommending Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. . . .

     In 1958, when my father was in the Army, somebody gave him a copy of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, which he read and loved.  My father didn't know much about Tolkien, but he did know that he was an Oxford don and a close buddy of C.S. Lewis. 

     So, he wrote Lewis at his current address at Magdalene College, Cambridge (Lewis had spent most of his teaching career as a don at Magdalen -pronounced "Maudlin" - College, Oxford) to ask about the wonderful discovery.  My father had not yet met Lewis, but he was already a huge fan. 

     Here's Lewis' response, in which he urges my father to dig into The Lord of the Rings!

   

It says:

Oct. 14th, 1958

Dear Mr. Howard,

     Oh but, believe me, you are still only paddling in the glorious sea of Tolkien.  Go on from The Hobbit at once to The Lord of the Rings: 3 volumes and nearly as long as the Bible and not a word too long (except for the first chapter which is a botch - don't be put off by it).  The Hobbit is merely a fragment of his myth, detached, and adapted for children, and losing much by the adaptation.  The Lord of the R is the real stuff.  Thanks for all the nice things you say about my own little efforts.

Yours sincerely,

C.S. Lewis

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