(Crossposted to bookwhores_anon.) I must say...

[quasigeostrophy]

...that was an accomplishment! Just sucessfully finished my attempt at a front to back (excluding the Index of Names) reading of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion. I like it much better now than when I last tried to read it that way (High School, 20 years ago). I'd read bits of it, some repeatedly, but this was a first for me.

The two major difficulties, for me, anyway:

- The detached, distant nature of the narrative, rather Old Testament-like in style.
- The sheer numbers of names, often thrown out in rapid-fire manner.

Despite the above, there are some beautiful tales within, such as of Beren and Luthien, which reminds me more than a little of Perseus and Andromeda. I don't know enough about Tolkien's influences to know if this was one for that tale. Also, the Akallabeth (Downfall of Numenor) is an interesting depiction of the complete decay of a grand civilization in a few pages. The Ainulindale and Valaquenta are difficult in the abstract sense that creation came from music, but this also is a beautiful way to envision the same. The Quenta Silmarillion, by far the longest and most complex story, encompassing several tales within, essentially a narrative of the first age, is the part of which I gained the most understanding on this read.

So, now that I'm done, I feel like I have a better understanding for much of the lore behind The Lord of the Rings. It was worth it. :-) After this, though, I don't know what, on my extremely large to-read pile, I'm going to pick up next. I'll start something else at the end of the week, after I get back from my trip that starts tomorrow morning.


ObPedantic: I've not bothered with diacritical marks on many of JRRT's names herein. I've noticed LJ has some issues with some fonts not displaying them correctly.

Comments

[futabachan.livejournal.com]

I struggled with The Silmarillion until I acquired the unabridged books-on-CD version read by Martin Shaw, which I listen to in the Aztek on long trips. Hearing it read seemed to breathe more life into it than seeing it on the page. Oddly enough, that's what's playing right now on my MP3 server....

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

I've wondered about that CD version. I would have bet it's much easier to absorb.