Silmarillion - worth reading?

[Endur]

Worth reading. But not easy to read.

 

[Asmo]

As someone whose favorite fantasy is Tolkien's, let me say this:

I'd rather have my testicles ripped out through my nostrils than read the Silmarillion again.

Come on now Olgar; I´m pretty sure that you rather read Silmarillion again than having your testicles ripped out through your nostrils, that can´t be good

Asmo

 

[Mycanid]

I also would have to say that Tolkien is my "fantasy favorite". I have read the Silmarillion, but I found it easier to read in bites. Although of course the whole thing is broadly on one subject, the specific chapters in the book are often little "mini-books" in of themselves.

Regardless, I loved it - not as much as I loved the Trilogy, but I still thought it was great.

 

[taliesin15]

So I've read the LotR trilogy once and had many issues with it, not the least of which were annoying hobbits and the, at times, overly flowerly language. However, I love rich and detailed worlds in fantasy and science fiction,

personally, I think overly flowery language and rich and detailed worlds go hand in hand, at least the sort of flowery language that Tolkien uses...if that's a concern for you, perhaps you should give the rest of Tolkien a miss, and instead stick with the works of Robin Hobb, the Sword of Shanarra series, Thieve's World and the like

 

[Justin]

...instead stick with the works of Robin Hobb, the Sword of Shanarra series, Thieve's World and the like

Eh, not my thing, either. Maybe I'll just read Sep's SH again. I think that is what has spoiled all other fantasy for me in the first place.

 

[Merlion]

Like the Bible it also starts with a creation story which while tangentially related it mostly explains a bunch of Middle-earth frameworks and is mostly unrelated to the history of the Simarils (Which is why it is called the Simarilian). I personally found the begining very difficult to get through but the later parts were worth the read.

My experience is the oposite. I enjoy the begining...the Song of the Ainur, the descreptions of each of the Valar, and the tales about the earliest days of Arda to be my favorite part. I havent actually completed finished the very last parts, dealing with the Second Age etc, mainly due to the density of oft-similiar names. But everything dealing with the First Age, especially, I find fantastic.

 

[taliesin15]

Eh, not my thing, either. Maybe I'll just read Sep's SH again. I think that is what has spoiled all other fantasy for me in the first place.

yeah, nor mine, really--you know, I recently re-read the Fafhrd and Grey Mouser series and found it even better than I remembered it...I'm wondering if I'll have the same experience re-reading The Dying Earth...

anyhow, have you ever tried to read Beowulf or the Kalevala? Great stuff, IMHO...

 

[Joshua Randall]

One other point I can make is that I'd like to get more interested in reading real history, but I've found it difficult (with a few small exceptions) to get into.

Here's a first person account of history which is not at all boring or hard to read --

Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Discovery and Conquest of Mexico

Of course the conquest of Mexico is about as different from JRRT's Silmarillion as you can get, but variety is the spice of life and all that.