i picked it up, tryed to read it, then put it down.

[Tessar]

i tryed to read it. i failed (sob) my mom sayed that it was a bit deep for a 12 year old but noooooooo i just had to try i just KNEW that if i could read the lotr books i could strugle thrugh it. (sigh):( :confused: oh well the big map in the back was cool :) i love big maps (fake ones).

[Sister Golden Hair]

Originally posted by Tesseract12
i tryed to read it. i failed (sob) my mom sayed that it was a bit deep for a 12 year old but noooooooo i just had to try i just KNEW that if i could read the lotr books i could strugle thrugh it. (sigh):( :confused: oh well the big map in the back was cool :) i love big maps (fake ones). It is a hard book for anyone of any age. Don't give up though. If you can make it through the first...say....four chapters, I don't think you will want to put it down. It's up to you though. Good luck.

[Darth Tater]

it's my belief that everyone abandons the Sil the first time around. Go back in a couple years, I gaurantee you'll devour it

[Finmandos12]

I read it when I was 12 Tesseract, the Ainulindale and Valaquenta are hard to read, but it only gets easier later on. You can do it!

[Tessar]

uhhhhhhh first four chapters? i didnt evan make it through the first four pages.......:confused:
oh well your right maybe try again in about 3 years or so.

[ringbearer]

Originally posted by Tesseract12
i tryed to read it. i failed (sob) my mom sayed that it was a bit deep for a 12 year old but noooooooo i just had to try i just KNEW that if i could read the lotr books i could strugle thrugh it. (sigh):( :confused: oh well the big map in the back was cool :) i love big maps (fake ones).

Hey Tesseract...who told you that big map was fake! Shame on them!:mad:

[Tessar]

By fake maps I mean maps that aren't of Earth :)

[Renille]

I'm only halfway through it right now...and I've had it for four whole weeks as of yesterday. :( I hit a hump, and I put it down...and I haven't had the willpower to pick it back up...but that'll change very soon. (Oh yeah...this is my fourth attempt!! Go ahead...call me pathetic...) :p

[ArwenEvenstar]

[ArwenEvenstar]

hey cool im not the only 12 year old at the board!!

[galadriel]

It's definitely a hard book to read the first time. The writing style is very lofty, almost biblical. It took me a months of reading a chapter, putting it down for a couple weeks, picking it up again and reading a few more pages, and so on. The first time around I skipped some of the harder-to-read and more technical stuff, as long as it wasn't absolutely essential to the plotline. The second time, I read it straight through, being a much better reader after suffering through the Iliad in English class. And lo and behold, the once-difficult parts were really cool! So if you really have problems, just let it rest and try it again in a year or so. Good luck!

[ArwenEvenstar]

i first tried to read it last year when i was 11 i took it out four times from the library and when i was turned 12 (in august) i finally finished it!!!:) :D :P :cool:

[Varda]

i think i tried to read it as well when i ws 12 or so... i just got back to it this last summer (i am now 18), and i found it challenging but managed to read it in a few weeks... however i know i'll have to read it a few times to get more out of it. my dad is a very good reader and very fast, and he said it took him 3 reads to properly understand it, and he said he is sure he'd get more out of it if he read it again. (he's the person i got my copies of lotr and the silmarillion from)

[Elenna]

I first read all of Tolkien when I was 23. I know, I was terribly late.
I loved the Sil the best. I read right thru it, straight (course I was older and had better reading skills, no offense).

The Sil rocks it, and stands as my favorite Tolkien piece yet. I am by no means a scholar of the Sil, but my book is pretty well worn in the few months I have had it.

Elenna:cool:

[Miriel Stormrider]

You don't even want to see our copies of LotR. Their only value now is the content.:)

[Tessar]

yup, i think only one of the books still has a simi-hole cover.

[Ñólendil]

Out of curiousity Elenna, what do you mean by 'all of Tolkien'? Which books, exactly?

[Elenna]

Well It 's definetly not ALL of Tolkien.

The Hobbit, LOTR, The Sill and Unfinished Tales.

I have high hopes for more tho :)

Elenna

[Sister Golden Hair]

Originally posted by Elenna
Well It 's definetly not ALL of Tolkien.

The Hobbit, LOTR, The Sill and Unfinished Tales.

I have high hopes for more tho :)

Elenna If you get the chance to read any of the HoMe, and you love the Silmarillion, you will love Morgoth's Ring. I just bought it, although I had already read the Athrabeth by getting it from the library, but it is just an awsome book. I also hear that War of the Jewels is too. That will be my next purchase.

[Elenna]

I have been told that The HoME and Morgoths Ring are very good.

I will check them out next~ Thanks

Elenna

[rashbold]

The Silmarillion is admittedly not an easy book to read, especially to those who had their first taste of Tolkien with The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In fact Christopher Tolkien himself admitted that he made many mistakes in putting together his father's papers in an effort to make the largely unfinished saga of the First Age into a coherent whole. The problem was that J.R.R. Tolkien made so many changes to many aspects of his mythology, to the detriment of other aspects that Christopher was forced to go back to his father's pre-LotR writings which are sometimes of a more primitive state so we can get an idea of Tolkien père's intentions.
Let me give you an example: In the chapter "Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin", the only other significant text in existence besides that which was published in Unfinished Tales was in The Book of Lost Tales part 2, so Tolkien fils was forced to make compromises by paraphrasing and condensation while in an effort to introduce inauthentic elements into the story.
I would recommend that you all read the last three books of The History of Middle-earth series as well as The Lost Road and Other Writings (Volume V) to see how Christopher Tolkien presented his father's ideas in the published Silmarillion.

Alasaila ná la kare tai mo nave mára. It is unwise not to do what one deems good.

[Lord_Ov_The_Thunder]

The sil is just a great book... it's just the best of tolkien's work, i have read the silmarillion over eight times, and i never get bored of it, its just a grand piece of work, and every time i read it i feel the chill of every scene as if i read for the first time, it's just great but i first tried to read it when i was 13!! i didn't at first understand the music of the ainur and the accounts on the valar..etc, but any1 should go through the book...it's awesome.