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Summary: Stroke of Genius, a literary epic for all times.
Review: This can be read by the Tolkien fan, as well as the reader of fine heroic literature, of which I am both. It has a great deal of information about the increasingly famous middle earth; Tolkien has created a world that is as lifelike and fun to study as our own. The Silmarillion also shows Tolkien to be one of greatest epic writers of all time. His tale of the trials and tribulations of the peoples of Beleriand is timeless and should be remembered a classic for all time.
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Summary: A History of Middle Earth
Review: This is an excellent book for anyone who has read the Lord of the Rings and doesn't understand anything that's going on. For anyone who has read the Lord of the Rings, or seen the movies, and wondered who and what Sauron is, how orcs came from elves, or even if you still don't understand the Rings, this is the book for you.
But let me just start off saying that this does not read like a novel, just to warn you. I thought it was interesting, because it reads much like The Bible. It covers vast amounts of time in the course of a few short pages or even paragraphs, and the dialogue is very minimal.
It's interesting how Tolkein starts at the very beginning of time and explains how Iluvitar (God) created the earth and the Valar (sort of like angels)and how Melkor (The Devil) rebelled and became the Dark Lord.
Most of the information in the book was interesting to learn if you didn't know it otherwise, but the reason I only gave it four stars was because toward the end, you just get a barrage of endless names and events that I didn't care about that much.
Before you read it, I would advise that you read the letter that Tolkien wrote. He sets it up better and explains a lot of the reasons he put the things in Middle Earth's history that he did. Did you know that as far as the geography goes, Middle Earth is actually supposed to be England thousands of years B.C.?
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Summary: A GREAT BOOK ON MIDDLE EARTH
Review: THE SILMARILLION IS ONE FINE PIECE OF LITERATURE. WRITTEN AS A NARRATIVE, THE SILMARILLION TELLS ABOUT THE CREATION OF MIDDLE EARTH, ITS PEOPLE AND OF GOOD AND EVIL AND NEVER RUNS OUT OF GAS AFTER THAT. THE TITLE REFERS TO AN ANCIENT JEWEL CALLED THE SILMARILLION THAT WAS MADE IN THE BEGINNING OF TIME AND HAS THE LIGHT OF 2 TREES. THE TREES EVENTUALLY ARE ERADICATED AND THEIR LIGHT EXTINGUISHED. PROMPTING AN EPIC BATTLE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL THAT SPANS THOUSANDS OF YEARS AND INVOLVES MANY PEOPLE. WHEW!!! NOW THATS OVER I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THAT THE BOOK IS NOT AS BORING AS IT SOUNDS. IT IS A REALLY THOUGHT PROVOKING PIECE OF LITERATURE AND SHOULD NOT BE MISSED BY FANS WHO ARE INTO THAT STUFF OR ARE FANS OF TOLKIEN. BUT BE FOREWARNED THAT IT IS NOT LIKE LORD OF THE RINGS,IT IS WRITTEN IN A NARRATIVE FORM AND IT INVOLVES VERY FEW CHARACTERS IN LORD OF THE RINGS. BUT THAT SHOULD NOT DETER YOU FROM BUYING THAT. AS A MATTER OF FACT I RECCOMEND IT.
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Summary: Tolkiens use of literary devices
Review: J.R.R. Tolkien's use of symbolism in The Silmarillion is exquisite. His use of symbolism really enhanced the book. Because of the added layers of action that the symbolism provided I enjoyed the book much more because of it.
The symbolism of The Ring being the source of the problem and also being the source of all evil made the action that more provocative. Also the whole book is a work of symbolism of our very lives. Tolkien being a catholic fashions his work as a symbolic portrayal of our fallen human world. All these things made me enjoy this book allot more than if there hadn't been any type of symbolism to consider.
Concerning imagery what Tolkien wrote gave us a beautiful mental picture of his fantasy world. However, sometimes all the descriptions became overwhelming and sometimes confusing. Also when it became overbearing all the clutter took away from the rest of the book.
In conclusion The Silmarillion was a fantastic book and I would recommend it to anyone who like to read epic fantasy.
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Summary: natural follow-up for lotr fans
Review: This book probably seems a terrible bore to those who haven't read lotr. However, this book is meant for those who sigh regretfully after flipping the last page of lotr. Tolkien keeps the magic of his world alive and delves into places which make middle-earth look mundane. A must-read for anyone who professes themselves a Tolkien fan
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Summary: for the serious LOTR fan
Review: I think that many of the people who gave this book a bad review had a real mis-understanding of what type of book it was suppose to be...It is NOT a novel like The Hobbit or the LOTR trilogy!! It is more of a history book. It's a compilation of different legends and lore from the first ages of Middle Earth. Parts of it are rather "dry" (boring) to read, but many parts are very interesting! For instance, I loved the long chapter about the romance between Beren and Luthien. By reading The Silmarillion, you gain a much deeper understanding of the LOTR trilogy. There are many names in the book - so many that I could not keep them all straight. I frequently had to look up names in the dictionary in the back of the book - in order to remember who someone was...
Approach this book with the right perspective: It is a history book for the serious LOTR fan. If you are someone who just has a surface or temporary interest in LOTR because of the movies...then you will likely not enjoy this book.
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Summary: For Rings fans looking for the roots
Review: This book started out as the "first" tales of the tales of Middle Earth, but was never published during his lift time. At points, he took it out and worried with it, redid it, polishing it. I think as his other tales came to life the saw the need for adjustments in the roots of his tales. Still when he died it remained unpublished. His son, Christopher, picked up the threads and edited the book tells a tale of the Elder Days, when Elves and Men became estranged by the Dark Lord and it was finally published, but to the thrill of Tolkien fans, four years after his death. Many new fans of his thrilling works have come to know his tales through the Ring Movies, but will have questions, want to know more. So I recommend this for all Tolkien fans, old and new wanting to have more depth to the Beginning. A super gift for your Tolkien friend!
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Summary: Very hard to put down
Review: ... but then again, it was suspended from the ceiling by a string.
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Summary: Terrific...
Review: This book is really helpful in decribing how things came to be and what caused many of the things in The Lord of the Rings to happen. My personal favorite in the story is the Tale of Beren and Lúthien, which is a tale similar to that of Aragorn and Arwen. Overall, this book was beautifully written and exellent for any Lord of the Rings fan.
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Summary: A Beautiful, Unique Work- A Summary of Tolkien's Mythology
Review: This is, basically, the summary of Tolkien's mythology, his life's work. It is the story of the cosmology and shaping of the world and its origins in the First Age, the tragic story of the Second Age, and a summary of the Third Age, in which the Lord of the Rings takes place. It is done from a completely Elvish perspective, with men taking something of a secondary role, and with Hobbits being briefly mentioned- that rights, virtually NO HOBBITS. That's right. This is very different in nature from LOTR. This story is generally meant to give the higher level of myth in his world- the stories of the great powers and summaries of ages past by their great events- in addition to some of the lower level stories. Something along the lines of this book is what Tolkien had in mind to compliment stories like the LOTR when he began writing his mythology, as he puts it in his letter to Milton Waldman (prefacing the book, very illuminating in itself), "I had in mind to make a body of... connected legend, ranging from the large and cosmogonic, to the level of romantic fairy-story... which I could dedicate simply to: to England..." As for the quality, it is achingly beautiful and piercingly poignant in its greatest moments in a way akin to that of the LOTR, but different, probably because of the Elvish manner, and also because of its larger, cosmological scope. Finally, I think that anyone who is searching for the beauty of the LOTR and the Hobbit but can stand a lack of hobbits or who REALLY wants to understand LOTR (thanks not only to the myth but the handy language reference in the back of the book, since another one of Tolkien's motivations to write it was linguistical) should definitely get this book. (One more thing. The Silmarillion was compiled after J.R.R. Tolkien by his son, Christopher Tolkien, from his J.R.R. Tolkien's incredibly extensive writings on Middle-Earth, and some elements that J.R.R. Tolkien had intended for the included stories, such as the frame-story for the Ainulindale, have been removed, so if you are absolutley in love with Tolkien and can't get enough, you should look into getting the 12 or so big volumes of Tolkien's many writings called the Book of Lost Tales, also complied after J.R.R.'s death.)
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