Ashamed and A Live

Hello peeps,

I have a confesion to make....
It took me a whole year to finish Lotr 1,2 & 3.I had a big strugle becouse i had have already seen the movie,i think thats why it was so hard to start and to keep reading the book in the beginning i .... i have to confess i thougt it was a bit borring but later it was great!!!Later i started reading the Hobbit(maybe in the wrong order but who's keeping track)and i loved it i even liked it better than Lotr 1,2 & 3.

But the big confession is.. i dont know any other title of Tolkien.I know...
Im a bit afraid but nobody can see it so.Can you guys advise me about the books of tolkien which one i realy have to read and wich ones i have to ignor.

Thnx

Matea

[Rimbaud]

Your topic will be moved, Matea, as it is probably suited to the Newcomers forum, but here's a reply regardless.

If you're looking for another Middle-Earth novel in the form of LotR / TH then I'm afraid you are to be disappointed. However, Tolkien left behind a rich history, or Legendarium, for the world of Middle-Earth and as good a place to start is the Silmarillion, which tells the story of the creating of the world, and a hundred other tales of Tolkien's histories besides.

To back up the Middle-Earth books, there is a collection of assorted essays, notes, corrections, unfinished and alternative stories and much else, collated and edited by Tolkien's son, the twelve volumes (!) of the History of Middle-Earth (HoME). There is also the book Unfinished Tales, which is much as it sounds.

Beyond ME completely? Tolkien wrote widely, and his most notable non-ME works are thus:

Roverandom
Smith of Wootton Major and Farmer Giles of Ham
Tree and Leaf (Superb essay 'On Fairy Stories, the short Leaf by Niggle, and the poem Mythopoeia)

There are other collections of letters, some literary criticism and some scholarly essays - Tolkien was foremost a linguist. His translation of Beowulf is well-regarded still, if not unaminously. Same for Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The front page of the BarrowDowns (www.barrowdowns.com) has links to these books and more.

My advice? Try LotR again, more slowly, and see if you like it enough to browse the Appendices at the end. If you enjoyed that, try the Sil.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

You will quite possibly despise the Silmarillion the first time you read it, but don't give up on it. It takes a bit of time to actually realise the kind of story you are reading. I couldn't handle it at first, but went back to it and loved it the second time around, because I realised that it was so different to The Lord of the Rings.

[The Saucepan Man]

Quite so. It took me 22 years to read.

[Boromir88]

There's no specific one way for going, but if you wish to continue to read Tolkien and understand it there's ways to make it easier. But, again there is no one way. You already got the first two books done (LOTR and Hobbit), those were the ones to suggest to start with.

Then as far as the other ones go, Silmarillion, Lost Tales, Unfinished Tales, doesn't matter, but you would find trouble reading these if you haven't read LOTR and the Hobbit (which you did). So what you do from here, is up to you.

If you are even more interested move onto the HOME Edition and read some of Tolkien's earlier drafts, them are interesting to see what Tolkien started with, and what he ended up with.

[mark12_30]

Originally Posted by Rimbaud

My advice? Try LotR again, more slowly, and see if you like it enough to browse the Appendices at the end. If you enjoyed that, try the Sil.

He's got a point.

I'd also highly recommend the Chapter By Chapter discussions here in the Books forum. You'll get a variety of opinions and observations, and you may see LOTR itself in a while new light.

I read Hobbit & LOTR numerous times (I'll guess 9 for LOTR, more for Hobbit) before the Sil even came out. There's plenty to absorb, and there's no need to rush ahead-- unless you just can't wait.

In our library we have a little collection, and i have stared the Silmarillion(and didnt finishd it it lays in a cornor in my room and i now have a big fat fine for not turning my book in on time) , it is so complicated and hard i just dont understand it.It is so different than The Hobbit and lotr 1,2 & 3.Why is that?



THNx Matea

[Encaitare]

The Sil reads like a cross between a religious text and a history book -- because that's what it is. It's killer the first time around, but if you can get through it a second time, you'll love it.

I agree with Rimbaud's advice. Return the Silmarillion and reread LotR, appendices included (you'll get used to the rather dry tone, and keep that libary fee from going up!). Then, if you still want to read the Sil, take it out and try it again. If you still can't get into it, maybe you could try reading the chapter about Beren and Luthien -- it's more interesting than, say, the geography of Numenor.

For a little lighter reading, I definitely advise Leaf by Niggle and Farmer Giles of Ham.

Good luck!

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Encai is right. The Sil is nearly impossible to read the first time. I practically breathe reading, and it took me an entire summer to finish, and even then, I was obscenely confused. I do aim to reread it (by that I mean actually sit and read it again, rather than browsing occasionally), but that won't happen until RL slows down.

If you do insist on reading the Silm, take notes. Sketch out family trees to help you keep your characters straight, and summarize what's going on in your own words. Start with something like "Eru is God. He created the Ainur, which are like our angels... sort of. They played pretty music but Melkor was tone-deaf." See what I mean? It helps if you word it yourself.

Fea

[Ainaserkewen]

When you love reading someone like Tolkien, you'll love roaming around looking for all the fun stuff that he's written.

Oh course, there are other ways of going about it to. Just this morning I picked up a book at the library called "Before Tolkien" and it is about all the greatest fantasy stories that apparently he got some of his inspiration from. A lot of the short stories were written in the middle-ages and for whatever reason are very much LOTR style.

If you're going to tackle the Silmarillion, get a pen and paper ready. Write down names because there are alot and you'll forget/get frustrated/abandon reading.

[the phantom]

You guys are crazy. My dad bought me the Sil three days before summer vacation right before I turned 16 (he thought I'd read it on the trip) and I had the thing read before we left town. It drew me in so much that I read it twice more during the trip. It's the closest I'll ever get to love at first sight.

It's on such a big scale and there are so many characters, places, and things to imagine. It's awesome.

[Encaitare]

I'm certainly not saying that the Sil is anything less than awesome, on the contrary -- I love it. Yet I consider myself to be quite a strong reader, and I found my first read through the Sil to be a challenge. Now I'm fine with it, but it's quite a change from LotR.

[mark12_30]

Some teenagers read half of Shakespeare's tragedies in one summer on the beach. Other teenagers don't. That doesn't make one crazy and the other sane.

I'd prefer a more genteel, respectful expression of differing opinion rather than

You guys are crazy.

Consider it an invitation to expand one's diplomatic writing skills. People differ. If it were not so, even the Downs would be a dull place.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

I'd prefer a more genteel, respectful expression of differing opinion rather than Quote:
You guys are crazy.

Especially since he was talking to girls!

[Ainaserkewen]

Especially since he was talking to girls!

It's amazing the amount of sexism activists who don't care anymore.

But the phantom is right. Some parts I completely ate up, others went a little more slowly. Am I right in assuming that a lot of people read the Silmarillion like the Bible as opposed to a regular novel? By which I mean that they would read sections or chapters not nessesarily in order. That's how I read it anyway, and maybe I'm just weird.

[the phantom]

Where in the world do you come from Mark?

Around here, if I say "Burger King's new angus burger is the best!" and my friend says "No way, man, you're crazy! That chicken whopper they have is way better!", my friend is not saying I'm wrong or that he honestly thinks I'm crazy- he's just saying that he likes the chicken a lot better.

"You guys are crazy" is like adding one of these-> to what you say. It's just an expression. It does not mean that I literally think that everyone who took a while to read the Sil is a certifiable lunatic!

Honestly, why would ya take it like that? You should know by now that the phantom is always and never .

And Fea, don't make me spam your pm box.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

It's amazing the amount of sexism activists who don't care anymore.

Fea's words... misinterpreted again.

You guys are crazy.

Especially since he was talking to girls!

TP said that us "guys" are crazy, and I pointed out that we were (and presumably still are) girls. I say tosh to the genteel and respectful whatnot (although that is nice). You see, my comment had nothing to do with the whole idea of "Boys should treat us like diamonds because we are precious and blah, blah, blah." I was simply poking fun at his choice of words.

Anyhow, back on task: I agree with you about the bible comparison. I mostly skipped The Lays of Beleriand my first time 'round, on order to read something that I thought seemed more... I don't know... applicable, I guess is the word.

Fea

Edit: TP:

[mark12_30]

Phantom, thank you for clarifying. A smilie does supply the needed inflection.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

In my day-to-day life, I carry around large bits of cardboard with smilies on them, just for clarification.

[mark12_30]

I'm sorry, did your facial muscles atrophy? How sad.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Ahem! Too much chat in recent posts - back to the topic, please.

[Encaitare]

TP said that us "guys" are crazy, and I pointed out that we were (and presumably still are) girls.

One could assume so.

Some parts I completely ate up, others went a little more slowly. Am I right in assuming that a lot of people read the Silmarillion like the Bible as opposed to a regular novel? By which I mean that they would read sections or chapters not nessesarily in order.

The first bit I definitely agree with, that some parts went quickly for me and others went slowly. Yet when I do read it, I usually go in order, maybe skipping a drier chapter here or there.

[Lhunardawen]

I found it a bit more difficult to read the Sil, especially since I just finished reading LotR once months prior to that. But I was so enthusiastic upon getting the book that I practically gobbled up the words. But when I was beginning to read BoLT 1, I lacked the enthusiasm, more so when I was reading the first part (I even forgot its title!) since I could hardly connect it to my previous readings. So up until now, I haven't read it yet. *dodges flying books towards my direction*

What's my point? Love what you read...or what you are about to read. It takes passion!

[Encaitare]

But when I was beginning to read BoLT 1, I lacked the enthusiasm, more so when I was reading the first part (I even forgot its title!) since I could hardly connect it to my previous readings.

Yes, it definitely depends on how you can relate it to what you already know. I'm maybe a third through BoLT 2, and it's good but difficult to get through -- this on-and-off progress has taken me several months. Yet yesterday I was going on a long bus ride and decided to take the Return of the Shadow with me to read, and I got about a quarter of the way through it in one sitting. It was so much easier to follow because I'm that much more familiar with the story of LotR than that which BoLT encompasses.