The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Silmarillion
Book Review: From Light into Darkness
Summary: 5 Stars
For those of you who adore the great narrative of THE LORD OF THE RINGS, or the charm and vigor of THE HOBBIT, you owe it to yourself to at least attempt to read THE SILMARILLION. Tolkien spent most of his life writing and rewriting the tales that comprise the full story of the First Age of Middle-Earth. Although he sadly died before completing the work, enough remained for his son to edit THE SILMARILLION into publishable form. Although it shot to the top of the bestseller lists when it was first published in the 1970s, it is certainly the least read of all Tolkien's works. The book - which is nothing less than an entire cosmology and myth cycle covering the creation of the world, the religion of Middle-Earth (oh yes, there is one), and its history during the thousands of years which elapsed before (and led up to) the War of the Rings - was perhaps not meant to be popular. As so many other reviewers have noted, the language of THE SILMARILLION is quite archaic (deliberately so) and hard to grasp. Recall that Tolkien spent decades creating the languages of Middle-Earth long before the LORD OF THE RINGS took shape in his mind, and you will understand what this book is and how it is supposed to be read. Like the Greek world's ILLIAD and ODYSSEY, (or even the Bible) THE SILMARILLION is meant to read like a collection of myths so ancient that centuries elapsed before they were written down, not like a novel in which we travel as narrators. Indeed, THE SILMARILLION sounds much better read aloud or even chanted, than consulted in silence. The subject of the book is the War between the great leaders of the Elves - assisted by some of the first men - against the Great Dark Lord, Morgoth (Sauron's "boss") for possession of the Jewels made by the Elves in their pride and stolen by Morgoth from the land of the gods. Although the haughty language of the book may discourage the casual reader, once you allow yourself to get caught up in the story, you will be riveted. THE SILMARILLION is ultimately concerned with the same theme as RINGS - the corruption that inevitably comes from power and the inability of thinking beings to let go of pride and materialism. From the earliest portion of the book, it is obvious that Morgoth cannot be defeated, and that the Elves allowed their immortality and their long residence in the land of the gods - Valinor - to lead them into temptation. For those of you who wondered why the Elves - who seem so powerful in Tolkien's other works - were so reluctant to involve themselves directly in the War of the Ring, the litany of their mistakes and miscalculations contained in THE SILMARILLION will answer your questions. The book is not a hopeful one - although it contains much beauty among its tales of grief. Time and time again, the lust for power and rigid adherence to ill-chosen oaths destroys one mighty lord (and a few ladies) after another. The individual tales are all tragic, and only grow more so as the reader comes to realize that the bulk of the miserable events that take place could have been avoided. The Elves, who to the human reader seem to have so many advantages (like eternal life and youth), are fatally flawed by their own hubris, which leads them to think that they can defeat the Dark Lord. Although much good comes from their attempt to do so, much of the evil that winds up besetting Middle-Earth in Tolkien's other works can be laid at the door of the Elves. The fact that none of the characters in the book intend to do evil makes the story all the more heartbreaking. If you can handle the language, THE SILMARILLION is a profound tale of struggle and a great series of adventures that will break your heart, for even as you hope that good will triumph, it is not to be.Book Review: GOOOOSCH ...!!!!! REALLY HARD READING !!!!
Summary: 2 Stars
Tolkien is the master of fantasy. No doubt about it. So, I supose what I'll say below will leave many of his fans upset. The truth is the following: this book is boring. The concept is grandious, the creation of Arda magnific, the battle between the elves and Melkor amazing. But Tolkien's style is typical of some British writers. It is dry. Even when he writes about beautiful moments or beautiful scenarios, it's dry and emotionless, almost if it was just a newsman relating it. So, enduring reading the whole book is already a victory. Please pay attention to the fact that I'm not saying this is not a great book. This would be insane. I'm just saying the writing style is boring.Book Review: Good Read
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is every bit as good as Lord of the Rings and in some ways better. It does take a while for most people to read. But actually, I didn't find it too difficult. The hardest part is just keeping all the names strait, and that's mostly because the book spans several thousands of years. It talks about the creation of Middle Earth by Illuvitar all the way up to a small mention of a hobbit finding the One Ring. Of course if you've read the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, you know that hobbit is Bilbo Baggins. It also goes into how the Dwarves were made (they were not part of Illuvitar's plan). One of the things I love about the book is there's a little Elvish-English dictionary in the appendix.
This book is great if you want to know more about the history of Middle Earth and what caused everything that's going on in the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings and wanted to know a little bit more (well, ok, a lot more) about the Elves.
There are some parts of the book that I didn't find too interesting, like when Tolkien goes into the geography of Middle Earth in a little too much detail for my taste. But hey, in the version I have, there's maps of Middle Earth in there, so you can just skip that chapter and refer to the map if needed.
Definately recommend this one to fantasy and Lord of the Rings/Hobbit fans. I think I'm going to read it again and then read the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, just so that I can read them all in the order Tolkien intended them to be read.
Book Review: Good but not overwhelming...
Summary: 3 Stars
Great book, but no overwhelmingly good as everybody says. LORD OF THE RINGS is much better. This Silmarillion seems like the first book of LOFR, "Fellowship of the Ring", which is the worst and slowest of the three books.Book Review: Great
Summary: 5 Stars
This epic masterpiece and LOTR stand as Tolkien's best work. The stories in the Silmarillion are at a much epic and grand scale than Lord of the Rings, and dialogue is very scarce. Nevertheless, this book fully entraps the reader in Middle-Earth. This book will not disappoint.