Mr Bliss

By: J. R. R. Tolkien

Narrated by: Sir Derek Jacobi

Length: 43 mins

Publisher's summary

A brand new edition of the long unavailable children’s story.

Now available as an audio edition.

Professor J.R.R. Tolkien invented and illustrated the book of Mr Bliss’s adventures for his own children when they were very young. The story is reproduced here exactly as he created it – handwritten with lots of detailed and uproarious colour pictures.

This is a complete and highly imaginative tale of eccentricity. Mr Bliss, a man notable for his immensely tall hats and for the girabbit in his garden, takes the whimsical decision to buy a motor car. But his first drive to visit friends quickly becomes a catalogue of disasters. Some of these could be blamed on Mr Bliss’s style of driving, but even he could not anticipate being hijacked by three bears.

As for what happened next – the readers, whether young or old, will want to discover for themselves. Thankfully all ended well, and even the yellow motor car with red wheels (to which Mr Bliss has taken an understandable and great dislike), came in useful at the end…

©1982 J.R.R. Tolkien (P)2011 Harper Collins

Critic reviews

"Owes a little to Beatrix Potter in its ironical humour and to Edward Lear in the style of its drawings, though Tolkien’s approach is less grotesque and more delicate than Lear’s." (Humphrey Carpenter)

"A celebration, in the spirit of The Wind in the Willows, of a vanished, vulgar England where everybody did – and spoke – exactly as he pleased, and life was consequently a series of amiable abrupt collisions, feebly refereed by the police in the shape of Sergeant Boffin. Although the book ought to feel dated, … dating has done little harm to Tom Kitten or Mr Badger, and there seems no reason why it should here.’ (T.A. Shippey, TLS)

Cute but not for grown-ups

Childish and nonsensical, best for small children and entirely too shallow and ridiculous for adults. That said, the narrator really gets into character and makes you feel like you're standing there watching the events play out before your very eyes....er, ears.

A disappointing story

I liked the other 2 Tolkien short stories that I listened to recently. But this one did nothing for me. I had already been disappointed by the story when I got to the character "Fatty." I almost didn't finish the story at that point. I hung in there, in hopes that it would improve. It did not.

Tolkien; what more can you ask

Tolkien’s short stories a treat for the reader and so clever. The narration by Derek Jacobi are not to be missed. Give all of Tolkien’s shot stories a try, they are very enjoyable and fun.

Fantastic Whimsical Children's Story

This entirely British children's story has all the cutting dry wit and silliness we've come to expect in alot of grown up stories in our present age.

Another of Tolkien’s wonderful short stories

This is a very fun little book! Tolkien’s writing is exceptional as usual. Love Derek Jacobi, he is a wonderful narrator. If you enjoyed this, try another of his short stories for kids. Here are a few: ROVERANDOM
SMITH OF WOOTON MAJOR
LEAF BY NIGGLE

Very good, entertaining, and name's to.

I love it the narater is great as well as the words. I just love it.

Not One of Tolkien's Better Works

I generally enjoy pretty much anything written by JRR Tolkien. However this little flight of whimsy just didn't speak to me.
It would be fine for reading aloud to children, which is probably what he intended, but it is not very engaging reading for an adult.

Good narration cute story

Good story definitely better for kids but still cute, great narration! Always love Jacobi’s narrations

Excellent narration but story lacking

Sir Derek Jacobi gives another phenomenal performance.
These short stories from Tolkien always seem to be lacking any meaningful themes, character development, or interesting settings. They tend to lack points where we can emotionally connect with the characters. I rarely pick up on any moral to the story. He instead just describes this thing that happened, then that thing that happened, then another. The stories seem like they were possibly bedtime stories he verbally told his children, making them up as he went along, then afterward went and wrote them down.

Perfect for All Children

A wonderful children's story with just enough silliness. I can't wait to read it to my children.
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