# The Quest of Reading the Sil



## Xoranix (Dec 2, 2002)

I think I am receiving the Sil for X-mas this year. I have heard that it is extremely detailed and complicated. Are there any suggesstions out there as to how to go about starting this book? Should I just "gung-ho" it and read it from the beginning? Or should I read the LOTR again to refresh my memory? Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

Xoranix


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## YayGollum (Dec 3, 2002)

'Sup, dude? Well, lots of these crazy people around here have read it certain ways, starting with certain chapters, always looking in the back of the book to remember who certain characters are. I didn't see the need for that. I just read the thing straight through. Wasn't confused at all. Wasn't dissappointed or confused. oh well. I don't see why it's hard for some people. oh well. It made sense to read it straight through, I thought. Like the Bible. Some people start with Psalms and Proverbs, then go to the New Testament for some reason. Makes no sense to me. I'd read it straight through. Wasn't it put in that order for a reason? oh well. Maybe I'm just crazy. *hides*


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## kohaku (Dec 3, 2002)

I'm almost finished with my first reading of the sil. I started right from the beginning and I haven't had any problems. There are a lot of names of people and places to remember, it helps to use the map until you have it memorized.


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## YayGollum (Dec 3, 2002)

There we go. Yay for people reading it the whole way through! Sure, the map is helpful. Too many crazy names of places. The people didn't really matter to me. just a bunch of boring elves.


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## Glamdring (Dec 3, 2002)

I'm about halfway through my first read of the Sil. It's accually a lot easier than i thought. The name/location index is very helpful, because I forget who some people are sometimes. This book is soooo great. I think i'm enjoying it just as much as LOTR.


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## Finduilas (Dec 3, 2002)

Yay for Yay!I agree now!  
I read it all the way through as well and it wasn't complicated at all.
Well,maybe only the places so it's good to use a map.It really helps!


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## Xoranix (Dec 3, 2002)

Alrighty, well thanks for the help. Guess I'll just read it all the way through. Your help is greatly appreciated.


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## Maedhros (Dec 4, 2002)

I just wanted to share something from the Prologue of the _Book of Lost Tales I:_


> _The Silmarillion_ is commonly said to be a 'difficult' book, needing explanation and guidance on how to 'approach' it; and in this it is contrasted' to _The Lord of the Rings_. In Chapter 7 of his book _The Road to Middle-earth_ Professor T. A. Shippey accepts that this is so ('_The Silmarillion_ could never be anything but hard to read', p. 201), and expounds his view of why it should be. A complex discussion is not treated justly when it is extracted, but in his view the reasons are essentially two (p. 185). In the first place, there is in _The Silmarillion_ no 'mediation' of the kind provided by the hobbits (so, in _The Hobbit_, 'Bilbo acts as the link between modern times and the archaic world of dwarves and dragons').





> Where _The Silmarillion_ differs from Tolkien's earlier works is in its refusal to accept novelistic convention. Most novels (including _The Hobbit_ and _The Lord of the Rings_) pick a character to put in the foreground, like Frodo and Bilbo, and then tell the story as it happens to him. The novelist of course is inventing the story, and so retains omniscience: he can explain, or show, what is 'really' happening and contrast it with the limited perception of his character.





> Of course, '_The Silmarillion_' was intended to move the heart and the imagination, directly, and without peculiar effort or the possession of unusual faculties; but its mode is inherent, and it may be doubted whether any 'approach' to it can greatly aid those who find it unapproachable.


Have patience, _The Published Silmarillion_ is a great reading.


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## Daeron (Dec 4, 2002)

The hardest part is remembering all the elves and how they go together, other than that its easy to understand.


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## Niniel (Dec 5, 2002)

IMO the best way to read the Sil is form beginning to end, since it's a chronological story and if you start somewhere in the middel you will really never understand it. If you don't get it the first time, read it again from beginning to end, and after that you might want to re-read some particularly difficult parts, or the parts that you especially liked.


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## YayGollum (Dec 7, 2002)

There we go! Well, now I'm feeling pretty crazy for saying that lots of people around here read this book lots of crazy ways. oh well. They probably just avoided this place. Whoops!


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## Lady_of_Gondor (Dec 9, 2002)

I started reading the Sil about a year ago (a copy that I borrowed from my local library). However I found it very difficult to remember all the names and places (not so much the events). So I returned the copy, and bought my own, so that I could take my time on it. I haven't started rereading it yet. But I am finishing my reread of the Return of the King now. I have a feeling now that I've read tLotR twice through, I will have an easier time with the Sil. I can't really give you any advice seeing as I myself have had trouble with the book. But I can say that reading the Lord of the Rings _at least_ twice cannot hurt in any way. And yes, I agree that reading it from cover to cover is the only way to go about it....seeing as it is one cohesive story (or at least i gather that from the first half of it that I _have_ read.


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## Gil-Galad (Dec 10, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Finduilas _
> *Yay for Yay!I agree now!
> I read it all the way through as well and it wasn't complicated at all.
> Well,maybe only the places so it's good to use a map.It really helps! *


You think its easy because Bulgarian language is not as rich as English language.In the bulgarian version The Sil is not complicated,but try to read it in English.After finishing it you won't think so.
My personal opinion is that The Sil is difficult in way,but only in the beginnig.


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## Finduilas (Dec 11, 2002)

> You think its easy because Bulgarian language is not as rich as English language.



Hey,how can you talk so? 
You are Bulgarian,aren't you?

By the way,Bulgarian language is very difficult to learn and pretty complicated.If you were a foreigner you would know what I mean>
Oh,I'm reading now ch.24 but you know that.


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## Gil-Galad (Dec 13, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Finduilas _
> *Hey,how can you talk so?
> You are Bulgarian,aren't you?
> 
> ...


Bulgrarian grammar is very difficult actually,but the problem of the sil is not its grammar.It is worthy of old words and phrases etc and bulgarian language doesn not have the same amoun of words and phrases as the english language.the sil has also unusual style of sentence construction.


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## Finduilas (Dec 13, 2002)

> Bulgrarian grammar is very difficult actually,but the problem of the sil is not its grammar.It is worthy of old words and phrases etc and bulgarian language doesn not have the same amoun of words and phrases as the english language.the sil has also unusual style of sentence construction.



I didn't actually talk only about grammar but about figurativeness and richness of vocabulary as well.Bulgarian language is a very old one and some authors do use old phrases,too.Also in prose and poetry,especially,the structure of the sentence can be (depends on the imaginary od the writer/poet)really coplicated and expressive.
I don't deny English is a hard language but Bulgarian one isn't no way inferior to British.


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## Gil-Galad (Dec 13, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Finduilas _
> *I didn't actually talk only about grammar but about figurativeness and richness of vocabulary as well.Bulgarian language is a very old one and some authors do use old phrases,too.Also in prose and poetry,especially,the structure of the sentence can be (depends on the imaginary od the writer/poet)really coplicated and expressive.
> I don't deny English is a hard language but Bulgarian one isn't no way inferior to British. *


No.Bulgarian language doesnot have the vocabulary richness of English,and Tolkien proves it with all his books.
I tell you this cause I've had the chance to talk with some people who have graduated English Philology,and other who are lecturers in University of Sofia.


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## Finduilas (Dec 13, 2002)

> No.Bulgarian language doesnot have the vocabulary richness of English,and Tolkien proves it with all his books.



Tolkien is really a phenomenal writer and his works are in great value at least for lingvists(is it so in English,Gil-Gald,please correct me)and their science and for folklor as well.



> I tell you this cause I've had the chance to talk with some people who have graduated English Philology,and other who are lecturers in University of Sofia.



I accept your word but I still thing Bulgarian language is as rich as English.


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## Orodreth (Dec 18, 2002)

I have a simple yet time consuming strategy that I have shared with a few other people. I say to read the book all the way through once, and try not to worry too much about the names. There are so many that it WILL get confusing if you try to memorize all of them. Just read it once, understand what happens in general, and then re read the book to fit the names to the stories.


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## Finduilas (Dec 20, 2002)

> Just read it once, understand what happens in general, and then re read the book to fit the names to the stories.



Yes,and if possible more than twice.


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## Gil-Galad (Dec 21, 2002)

that is a good strategy but it doesn't mean you should read the book the first time without trying to understand it in depth.Try to understand as much as you can.


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## Finduilas (Jan 3, 2003)

Yes,and taking notes about some hard and not so important places and names helps as well.


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