The Silmarillion in J.R.R. Tolkien Epic Reads

Aug 30, 2013 Mary Catelli rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: high-fantasy

This is not The Lord of the Rings. It isn't even in the same genre, and the difference is greater than with The Hobbit (and in the other direction).

Though I will note that reading it will transforming a re-reading of The Lord of the Rings.

A saga of the beginning of the world, and the heroes and tragedies of the First Age of the World. Many of them. In places the style is distinctly summary. (Oddly enough, reading the partial versions, as in Beren and Lúthien, underscores it when I compare the mo ...more

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May 14, 2017 Rachmi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, favorite

After 17 months I finally finished this book. It was a long way to finish one book, but it was worth it and it wasn't even that long if I compare my effort to get my hand on it in the first place.

I first knew about the Silmarillion after finished LoTR in 2002, yes it means that I'm one of Tolkien fans because of the movies by Peter Jackson. At that time, I never read any books in English and knowing Tolkien writing in both LoTR and The Hobbit, I wasn't confident enough to read it in English. And ...more

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May 14, 2017 Rachmi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, favorite

After 17 months I finally finished this book. It was a long way to finish one book, but it was worth it and it wasn't even that long if I compare my effort to get my hand on it in the first place.

I first knew about the Silmarillion after finished LoTR in 2002, yes it means that I'm one of Tolkien fans because of the movies by Peter Jackson. At that time, I never read any books in English and knowing Tolkien writing in both LoTR and The Hobbit, I wasn't confident enough to read it in English. And ...more

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Nov 14, 2015 Joshua rated it it was amazing

I have long thought about writing a review for this book and have only delayed because I know a proper review MUST be an extensive review. Here goes;

This book is not a single story, its INFORMATION. I think that's the best way to put it, just good ol straight (and often dry) information.

I think an important note here is Tolkiens goal. His son, Christopher, said his fathers goal was to write a story of connected legends, myths and stories of old. Which is precisely what he did. Tolkiens world was I have long thought about writing a review for this book and have only delayed because I know a proper review MUST be an extensive review. Here goes;

This book is not a single story, its INFORMATION. I think that's the best way to put it, just good ol straight (and often dry) information.

I think an important note here is Tolkiens goal. His son, Christopher, said his fathers goal was to write a story of connected legends, myths and stories of old. Which is precisely what he did. Tolkiens world was built from the ground up, as in he wrote the mythologies, he wrote the creation of the world. He did not have a world the book takes place in, he WROTE the world itself. That is this book.

The Silmarillion is not a novel. It's not a biography, not a story, not anything you've ever read before. It's like reading the Bible, or reading an encyclopedia in a flowing format. To start at the base, when you look at LOTR or Children of Hurin, these are the actual "stories." Those are the brief tales that took place in the world whereas the Silmarillion is the entire world.

It's a wicked unbelievably dense read, not something you sit down and read 100 pages of at a time. Most likely your first time through it you won't read more than 20 pages before you need to put it aside and digest what you just read. If anyone is familiar with the Bible, you have the cute little parables and stories that take up a chapter of an entire book, and then you have 8 full pages of genealogies. That's what the Silmarillion is.

Tolkien started his legendarium during WWI with the Fall of Gondolin, then proceeded to write parts of the Silmarillion in no particular order, then took several years (maybe even a decade or something) and wrote the LOTR and the Hobbit. Then went back to the Silmarillion (and all its branches and arms) and never even finished it. His son had to.

Now I'm a huge Tolkien nerd, both my tattoos are from this book. Now this is going to sound very very rude but I think it's important to say: not anyone can understand this book. It takes a certain mind (call it dumb or brilliant I don't care) to be able to grasp the entirety and complexity of Tolkiens world. What I mean by that is this, the world he created, the people the myths the stories the tales are all reflections of our real world. Luthien, the daughter of Melian the Maia, was stuck in a tree house and her hair grew to a great length and allowed her to escape (rapunzel). The land of Numenor was forever known after as Atalantie (atlantis). One can easily draw connections to the gods we know in ancient mytholgies from the Egyptians and Greeks and Norse myths. Like I said, Tolkien wanted to (and I say he did) write one single story connecting all the legends we know. To understand and to APPRECIATE that takes a certain kind of mind and certain kind of person. Another thing though I won't be able to capture its magnitude here is the sea. "And they (the Children of Illuvatar (elves and men)) observed the winds and the air, and the matters of which Arda was made, of iron and stone and silver and gold and many substances: but of all these water they most greatly praised. And it is said by the Eldar that in water there lives yet the echo of the Music of the Ainur more than in any substance else that is in this Earth; and many of the Children of Ilúvatar hearken still unsated to the voices of the Sea, and yet know not for what they listen." Have you and I never grown up with the myth that the ocean has a music of its own? Do we not listen to seashells for some sound? Does music not touch the soul? Are the fundamental beliefs of major asian religions not harmony? Is praise and worship not done through song? Tolkien has truly hit the major points here.

With all that said, this book is fantastic. I've read it twice, I've read the Children of Hurin, all the LOTR and the hobbit, I have The Making of Middle Earth, the Lays of Beleriand, Lost Road and Other Writings, and Book of Lost Tales 1 and 2. (the last 5 are more for research and study and less about reading straight through). I think another thing worth noting is the fact that colleges offer classes on Tolkien. That should say something.

The book is beautiful, Tolkiens writing style is phenomenally beautiful, exquisitely elegant, and something to savor at the end of each sentence. When you put the book down you find yourself thinking and wishing you could speak in the manner he writes, wishing you could swoon a girl as he has swooned you through a book.

If you want to try reading it, do it. Hopefully it will change your life in the way it changed mine. ...more

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Jun 10, 2017 Heidi Garrett rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, fairy-tales, mysticism

***CHECK OUT the AWESOME art thread for The Silmarillion! at J.R.R. Tolkien Epic Reads Goodreads group! ***

Amazing. This is a really hard read. Some of it is extremely repetitive, i.e battles are fought and lost ... and lost ... and lost again! But the gems—the original parts (original to Tolkien himself)—are worth excavating for any serious Tolkien fan/reader of fantasy. Tolkien's world building is mystical, poetic and mind boggling. The intricacy is both tedious and impressive. The great sadne ...more

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Mar 19, 2018 George Noland II rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: tolkien

After reading and enjoying The Hobbit and LOTR, I was hesitant about reading the Silmarillion since it was considered more of a definitive and detailed history of the Tolkien universe than a single novel. Someone had told me parts were tedious to read. Thankfully, my son, who bought me the book, convinced me otherwise. Now, before I began, I was prepared with printed maps, genealogies, and a strategy to methodically read/study the material over an extended period. It was worth it. I loved the my ...more

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Jan 06, 2013 Fred Lombardo rated it it was amazing

Finally got through this book. I’ve had it for years in print but could not get through it because it’s was a bit hard to keep track of the characters because of the names and it was somewhat different from anything I’ve ever read. It being a beginning history of middle earth. Finally found a version of Audiobook that was in English. The only one I could find previously on Audible was in German. Now that I’ve finished it, I’m glad I did. It is excellent and the spoken word version made it much m ...more

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