Rachmi ’s Comments (group member since Mar 31, 2016)

Rachmi ’s comments from the J.R.R. Tolkien Epic Reads group.

Whoa...Wita, those are amazing pictures! Thanks so much for bringing them to us. I especially love the one by Elena Kukanova. No wonder she's one of your favorites artist.

And somehow I forgot that I haven't posted pictures for chapter 20 (I thought I already did), but since you have posted those amazing pictures, I will only add the one from Ted Nasmith then.

Heidi wrote: "Rachmi wrote: "I have to wait more than 10 years to read it. And let's say I have a long story to get my hand on the book and read it :D ..."

So ... will you tell us the story? :D

For me, as an E..."

So my story with TS began right after I read LoTR & TH, I think it was in 2002. By the time I finished TH I really wanted to read TS. Then I asked my friend who works at the publishing company that published Tolkien books, she said that they already bought TS rights but don't know when it will be published. I remember I asked her about it before Harry Potter 4 (book) was released and then the final Harry Potter was also released but there was still no news about TS :D

I think in 2010, I asked her again she said that the publisher has to buy the rights again, because apparently in 10 years they bought it, they still didn't publish the Indonesian edition. So they have to buy the rights again. I was kinda hopeless and thought that they won't publish the Indonesian edition. So I began to think to buy the English version.

And then my friend told me in 2012, if I'm not wrong that finally TS is ready to publish! Yay! And they will publish it before TH 1 (the movie) release. But guess what? three years later, when TH 3 was released TS still hasn't released yet, hahaha. That was when I finally bought TS with illustration by Ted Nasmith edition.

After waiting for 2 months for Amazon to deliver it, I finally have it! I read the first chapter, Ainulindale, put it on hold, then try to read it again, put it on hold once again, and after months I didn't make much progress, I finally gave up. I cannot even pass one chapter!

Then, when I thought I won't read TS ever, the Indonesian edition finally published on November 2015, for real this time! Lol. I think I can say that it was a long journey to get TS and I'm really struggling to read it, hahaha.

So we can say that English isn't the most important thing reading TS, then? As non English speaking reader, reading TS in my own language is also still hard for me. Mostly for the same reasons as Heidi and Joshua said.

Heidi wrote: "Chapter 20
I loved how Luthien healed “the winter of Thingol with a touch of her hand”, plus it was nice to have mini-epilogue of Beren and Luthien.

I agree with Rachmi, it was kind of another dep..."

I think you're right on Maedhros asked Thingol nicely. The more I think about it, the more I'm sure that it will be no, Maedhros won't ask Thingol nicely. Everyone wants Silmaril so it won't make sense if it doesn't bring chaos. And in a way, I think it won't make sense too to Maedhros' personalities.

Rachmi, sometimes I think Tolkien's repeat usage of a particular name may be just because he partículary liked the name. TS was published posthumously, so he may never have intended to publish it, so if he liked a particular name or theme he could lift it from TS to use in LoTR.

Yes, I think this mostly what happened. Tolkien was still working on TS and basically it was his life long work when he died. It's just with Tolkien works, when (almost) everything has meaning I cannot help not to think certain things, hahaha.

Yes, Eowyn kills the Witch King is both in the book and in the movie. It's one of my favorite parts from LoTR, what with Witch King cannot killed by men. When I first read it, I thought men here as male, but as Eowyn says that she's no man and Merry is definitely isn't a man as he's a hobbit. It's like a riddle to me :)

Heidi wrote: "Rachmi, Thanks so much for this. I wonder if we should put this in the General folder and pin it to the top of the thread? Do you think we can do that?"

Can we do that? Pin it to the top of the thread? I honestly don't know, hahaha. But we surely can put this "how to post a pictures" in the general folder. That way someone who wants to post pictures but don't know how can see it there :)

This is a good idea! Thanks for making the thread, Josh.

To be honest, I don't have any quote in my mind right now. Not because I don't think it's not memorable or I dislike it, far from it, but because I'm more pay attention into the story and the characters and place names. And since I read TS in my own language (and a little bit in English too), I'm more pay attention to how it is translated to Indonesian or whether it's suitable or have similar tone with the original language.

I think that's why I don't remember those beautiful and powerful quotes. I know which one I love, though. I'll post here but have look the book up first :)

Joshua wrote: "How do I post a picture?!"

You can post it through a link in the right side. Do see the "(some html is ok)"? Just click it and choose "image" and then copy paste (or you can write it down here in the thread that you want to post, it's up to you) this link: <*img src="https://www.goodreads.com/image..." width="40" height="100" alt="description"/*> (without the asteriks. I put them there otherwise it become a link and you cannot see what I write) Then put your picture link there, so it should be like this: <*img src="PUT YOUR LINK HERE"width="40"height="alt="description"/*> (again, without the asteriks).

You can also adjust the width and height. So you have to put 600 instead of 40 if you want it to be wider, for example.

Hope it helps :)

And now I'm quite curious with your experience when you guys read TS for the first time. I have to wait more than 10 years to read it. And let's say I have a long story to get my hand on the book and read it :D

I'm also wondering if people who are English speaking finding TS less hard reading than people who doesn't speak English? I hope you all understand what I mean.

Joshua wrote: "FINALLY! A group of hardcore fans dedicated to the brilliant works of Mr. Tolkien.

My name is Josh Glover, from good ol Massachusetts here

An old manager of mine got me into the Silmarillion (pri..."

Suilad, Josh!

Agree with Heidi, it's cool you read TS before LoTR & The Hobbit. My friends who love Tolkien always said that their first book was either TH or LoTR, just like myself. And knowing that TS is a hard reading (for me), it's so awesome you started it with TS!

And I would love to see your tattoo too. Let you know how to post a picture in illustration thread :)

Kushal wrote: "Hi there,

I'm so glad to have found this group .. I've always wanted to join a Tolkien group and upon joining Goodreads it was a good idea to try this one, considering you guys are reading the Sil..."

Hi Kushal,

We're happy having you here. There are also lots of people who love Tolkien because of the movies here in my country. And similar to your experience, they mostly don't read the books, so joining a group like this is a great idea to share our love of Tolkien works :)

Hafeez wrote: "Pleased to meet the both of you, and the rest as well, thoroughly.

Have been busy with school lately but am making time to get out of it - not just physically but also out of my mind - in order t..."

I think most of member here have read The Silmarillion at least once. Maybe it's just Heidi and I who only read it now :D I'm happy to know that it's so worth it to reread because I'm thinking to read it again after our one-chapter-one-month buddy reading finish.

I cannot imagine how it feels when I read Children of Húrin. I mean reading Turin Turambar chapter in TS made me really sad, I believe it will be worse when I read his and his sister full story in one book.

Are you still listening to the audiobook? I don't know why but I still haven't fond of audiobook. I only listen to one audiobook so far :)

Mariliis wrote: "Your thread was the first one I saw, so I gave it a go!

And, I suspect I know how you know Ragnar Klavan :) Well, you are lucky to know one Estonian as most of the world still doesn't know that we..."

It's the same for me, Mariliis. People tend to not know or even never heard of my country, Indonesia. Ironically, they mostly know about Bali and often asked me whether Indonesia is close to Bali while in reality Bali is part of Indonesia. So yeah I guess we're like Hobbiton in Middle-earth!

We're looking forward for you to join us in The Silmarillion discussin. I have to admit, I take notes, like lots of notes, and put post-it sticker (because I don't want to highlight my book) to help me reading it. I often forget and confused with the characters, what happen to them and the places. And those notes and post-it help me a lot :)

Welcome Mariliis!

I'm happy you choose our group among many Tolkien groups in Goodreads. I never have friend from Estonia before, so you're the first one :) I know one Estonian, though. Ragnar Klavan. Do you know him? if you do, you can probably guess how I know him, hahaha.

Agree with your thoughts about Tolkien. I never get bored of his stories either, even when it gave me headache like The Silmarillion.

And speaking of The Silmarillion, have you read it? We are currently in the middle of one-chapter-one-month The Silmarillion buddy reading. Sometimes we read two chapters, even the chapter is pretty short. And in each chapter we discuss it and post illustrations and/or pictures which relate to chapter we just read. So feel free to join us in its thread :)

Heidi wrote: "Rachmi wrote: "Happy New Year, everyone!

Since I'm still captivated with The Silmarillion and cannot stop reading it, I decided to continue my reading to chapter 21. But since I don't know if you ..."

I never thought that TS is a perfect cure for my reading slump! what with those headache I got mostly in the beginning Lol. But it is the best kind of medicine for my reading slump. I started to take notes and highlights everything that interest me, and suddenly I couldn't stop reading it, like really couldn't stop! Hahaha. I actually wanted to continue reading it, it's only 5 more chapters to go, but I know it will overwhelm this thread if I keep writing my thoughts about chapters you guys haven't read yet, Lol. So I better stop now :)

Happy New Year in Indonesian is Selamat Tahun Baru. Happy means Selamat, New means Baru, Year means Tahun :)

Heidi wrote: "Rachmi wrote: "Heidi wrote: "I have read chapter 19 and really enjoyed it. It is long. (And so is this post!)

1. I loved that Beren had kinship with animals and how that contributed to the plot; p..."

Hehehe, I just couldn't help it! There are so many things I want to discuss whenever I finish one chapter.

I do hope Beren and Luthien is a novel. Just check on the BookDepository (it's already open for pre-order) it stated Painstakingly restored from Tolkien's manuscripts and presented for the first time as a continuous and standalone story, the epic tale of Beren and Luthien will reunite fans of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings with Elves and Men, Dwarves and Orcs and the rich landscape and creatures unique to Tolkien's Middle-earth. Now I'm pretty sure it's a novel :) And I'm agree with you about our reading schedule. It's better if we read CoH next and go back to TH and LOTR. It's been a long time since I read either TH and LOTR I forgot the detail.

I never think (seriously) whether Tolkien has another (deep) meaning when he paired the immortal elf with mortal human, but I'd like to think that it shows that somehow they are equal. And they have choices (for Elves to become mortal because they choose it and Man can be an immortal if Illuvatar (or is it Valar?) wants it).

And another thing, I think it's also a nod to the best side of humanity, just like you said. Although Man has limited time in this world, I think it's the best kind of thing. I mean I cannot imagine to live forever, a very long time, watching and feeling everything around me die and vanish and rebuild again and again. So although death is a sad thing, it's also a blessing, in a way. And that way, we can live to the fullest, knowing that we have only limited time here. That's what I thought, anyway :)

Heidi wrote: "Okay, I missed all this:) But very interesting connection. I guess when I read about the Swarthy Men, it also made me think of the men in the Two Towers movie who followed Sauron against the Rohan:)

Don't they (Gandalf? Aragorn?) talk about the Fall of Gondolin in The Return of the King movie? Are I'm I just imagining things? "

Yes, I think they are Easterling, the one that came from the ship. It's in Two Tower, right? or is it Return of the King? gah...I forgot! It's been two years since I watch LoTR :D

The Fall of Gondolin is apparently one the last chapter in The Silmarillion! I was really curious and kept asking where I heard about it and then I look at the table of contents of The Silmarillion and found that it is indeed the title of chapter 23. Silly me I didn't realize it in the first place Lol.

I didn't recall that Gandalf and Aragorn talked about it in RoTK, though. Which part do you think it is? I'm going to check it. I guess you're right, PJ, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens were definitely manipulated Tolkien works for theatrical effect. I thought everything they add were only from TH & LoTR appendix but then when I read TS, there are things that are quite remind me of the movies too.

I might watch TH again, some day. But not now, hahaha.

Heidi wrote: "Rachmi, these heraldics are very cool. How did you identify them? I have no idea why Luthien has two :(

"

I check them out in the internet, hahaha. But I still haven't found the one that match with the top of the left. And I found more heraldics that aren't here. I just cannot believe Tolkien draw them too. But then, after everything he did, they shouldn't surprise me anymore, right? But I still surprised :D

Heidi wrote: "Hmmm... I'm going to have to listen to that song specifically, and which scene in LoTR are you talking about?!? Is this before they get to Rivendell? "

You should listen to Into The West. I really love it and it's still one of my favorite from LoTR soundtrack :)

As for Aragorn telling story to the Hobbit in FoTR, I forgot which part exactly, but yes I think it's before the Rivendell. Maybe when they are in Weathertop, before Nazgul stab Frodo. Well I definitely have to check the book out to make it sure.

Heidi wrote: "OMG! Rachmi, these are so amazing, THANK YOU!!!!! It's going to take me some time to absorb them all. I have to say it's really rich to see these pictures/visual interpretations after doing the rea..."

You're welcome Heidi! I have some awesome picture for chapter 20 and 21 too. But since we haven't discussed it it won't be wise if I post them now. It will spoil the story, I think.

Suilad Hafeez,

It's good to have you here, moreover this is your first group in Goodreads. I'm from Indonesia so we're basically neighbor, I think :D

Tolkien is definitely a man to admire, right? I felt in love with his works after watching LoTR: FoTR the movie. It made me curious of his books and I read LoTR and The Hobbit right away. And I'm with you, I'm even more amazed after I read his bio.

So you have read Children of Hurin? It will be our next buddy reading, after we finish The Silmarillion. I cannot wait to read it, especially after I read chapter 21, Of Turin Turambar.

Have you read The Silmarillion? If you have, you can discuss it with us in its thread but if you haven't I recommend you to read it. It's awesome, though it's quite a hard reading for me. Or if you want to discuss anything, please feel free to create the thread :)