who here has read these?

[Ñólendil]

No good, some people's favorites are other's least liked. But everyone seems to enjoy Of Beren and Lúthien and Of Túrin Turambar, two of the three chiefly "Mannish" tales. The one has a little something for everybody, the other is a tragedy. One is filled with light and hope amidst darkness and despair, the other is a hell of a lot of darkness and despair.

[Eldanuumea]

Originally posted by Ërendil
OK i am gonna try read the Silmarillion again. Can anyone tell me their favourtie parts that i can look forward to them when i hit a boring part?

The very first part, describing Iluvatar's creation song, is sublime!
After that, I like to read about Beren and Luthien going after the Silmarils.

[Ërendil]

Thanks. It shall have my complete attention when i read it and i shan't stop and pick up "His dark marterials grilogy" or one of the "darran Shan" saga. (i did that before and i didn't get very far!
Now I have to fond my copy! (It is somewhere on my bookshelf)
Thanks again

[Eäráng]

I've read The Silmarillion before, and it's a good book. Roverandom, on the other hand, I haven't even read.

[johnnyrod]

Eldanuumea:

The story of Beren and Luthien, for sure, but by the time you reach the opening of the Leaguer of Gondolin you can be sure it's all happenning.

[Tar-Elendil]

My fav part is when Sauron is brought to Númenórë. The Faithful going not against the ban of the valar and going to Middle-earth is by far (to me) the most interesting part..though probably the briefest

[Carafin]

I'm trying to read the Sil too, but the library always wants it back (and I keep getting stuck right about when the humans come in!) any way I love the ainulindale and the valaquenta they are so grand and....well I can't really think of a good word to use I was having a bit of trouble with all the elf names too but my second try I could keep them fairly straight

[Elbereth]

Roverandom sounds interesting. Has anyone read the FATHER CHRISTMAS LETTERS? They are letters that Tolkien wrote for his children every Christmas. I haven't read them, I don't know if they are in print. Other 'children's books' by Tolkien include LEAF BY NIGGLE, FARMER GILES OF HAM and THE SMITH OF WOTON MAJOR. I haven't read these, either.

I read the Ainunlindale, the Valaquenta, and 'Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age' and now and embarking on Quenta Silmarillion. I just finished the chapter 'Of the Coming of Men'. So far I like the song of the Ainur and the Valaquenta best, though Tolkien says some very beautiful and insightful things in the Rings of Power and the Third Age. Astounding writing, it is my favorite Tolkien book, too.

[Starr Polish]

My library has a copy of the Father Christmas Letters. I was going to check it out, but I felt kind of silly. I think I will though, I read through a few, and it's kind of cool.

[Sanna]

I read Roverandum about 3 years ago. I remember my main impression was that it was really weird. I'd probably have to read it again to appreciate it for the work that it is. That was the first Tolkien book that I ever read, and it wasn't until just last week that I finally read The Lord of the Rings and was knocked of my feet by its brilliance.

Sanna

[Khadrane]

I've read both. I loved The Silmarillion almost as much as I loved LotR. I really like Roverandom too. It's such a cute story.

[markedel]

The Fifth Battle is sublime stuff.

[Khadrane]

Originally posted by markedel
The Fifth Battle is sublime stuff.

I agree whole-heartedly.

[Sminty_Smeagol]

Turin Turambar.... if he's the one I'm thinking of, that was one of my fav parts in the book! Is he the one who talks to his sword and it talks back and he falls on it to commit suicide? I get some of the people around that part in the book mixed up so I dunno...

[thingol]

i have read silmarillion 4 times and the most fun part was akalbeth

[Linarryl]

I read part of the Silmarillion and thought it was great!

[crickhollow]

note: my profile lists _Roverandom_ as my favorite Tolkien book. It's not necessarily my favorite, but the story behind it is great.

I've read a few of the Father Christmas Letters. They're great. Filled with adventures involving goblins, and a good-hearted Polar Bear.
[edit: still working my way through the sil. I wish I had more time to devote to it]

[azalea]

I finished reading this to my son the other day, and I really liked it, esp. chapter 4. The book really highlights Tolkien's sense of humor and as always his love of mythology and fantasy. I liked the fact that the editors included notes on various elements that today's reader might not understand (for instance, plays on the names of places and things that people in England in the 1920s would be familiar with, but that today's reader would not).

I found there to be some interesting similarities (unintentional I'm sure, esp. since Roverandom predates most of it) to his ME mythology, which I wanted to share here in case others that have read it wanted to comment or tell me if they also noticed the same thing.

1) The Man in the Moon is portrayed as a "white wizard"-like character who lives in a tall pointed tower. This reminded me a lot of Saruman (aside from, ya know, the corruption ).
2)When they went through the moon, I was reminded of the trip through Moria (different, but some of what he said reminded me of it).
3) The big black spiders (Although he claims not to have a fear of spiders in Letters, he obviously thought of spiders as a little gruesome and scary [IOW, that his reader/ listener would find them scary], because he used them in at least these four stories -- Roverandom, The Hobbit, LotR, and The Silmarillion -- as scary monster types! It could also be that they were a "safe" scary thing for a child to read about [meaning in this and The Hobbit], because it would be easy for them to reason that although the spiders "there" were big, the ones "here" are very small and so the child wouldn't need to be afraid of them, whereas making up fearsome monsters that are unfamiliar in shape might be more horrifying, or something along those lines).
4) He includes references to Elvenhome (they were apparently not in the first written draft, and the place was called something else, but this is what it was called in the ms he sent to his publisher.)
5) The sea-serpent reminded me of the Watcher in the Water. A lot of the similarities I saw in the book were most likely a result of his own interests and background coming through in his storytelling, rather than him copying himself. Because of his love of ancient mythology, he was apparently always drawing elements from them to use in his stories, and changing them to fit in the world he created. I think this is interesting -- in the case of Roverandom, it almost seems as if was partly his way of introducing his children to the old myths, or telling them about different mythological characters but within his own story, almost as if I as a parent told my son a story about himself and in the story he climbed a beanstalk to the clouds, and met a gingerbread man, etc.
6) A reference to a continent falling into the sea. The editors mention in the notes that it most certainly refers to Atlantis because he hadn't invented Numenor yet, but here is another case like the one I mentioned above. It all makes me think of when people here mention his view of "all stories are part of one big Story," when discussing his views of allegory vs. applicability or what have you.
7) The only other thing I can remember (there are probably some things other people can think of that they noticed, and if so I'd love to hear them) is the reference to the saying "Even a worm will turn" (he makes the reference about the sea-serpant's tentacle, I think), which the editors make a note about to explain that the saying (which I don't ever remember hearing before -- one of those reasons I am glad they made the notes) means that even the lowliest of creatures will turn on its tormentor if it is tormented for long enough." Guess who that made me think of? I immediately thought of when Wormtongue turned on Saruman. I wonder if Tolkien had this saying in mind once again when he wrote that bit. It's fun to think about that.

Anyway, I just had to get all that out of my system after reading Roverandom and being reminded so much of ME stuff.
And I know a lot of people look down on stories intended for children, as this one was, but there are those of us for whom dragons, flying dogs, and undersea adventures are as fascinating as they were when we were children, and perhaps now more so than then, because whereas then we could actually believe in them, now we can't, and that makes them ever more so enticing!
I love, appreciate and enjoy some children's literature as much as some of the stuff put out there for the adults to read, and Tolkien did it so well that his stuff SURPASSES (in terms of being interesting to read) a lot of it! So there!

[azalea]

What, not even a "Wow, azalea, that's really interesting" post from just one of the over 2,000 members? Hasn't anyone else read this besides Crickhollow (according to her last post in this thread) and me? If not, I recommend it. Okay, that's the last I'll say on the matter.

[Earniel]

I was just completely struck speechless by your impressive analysis.

I've read Roverandom and enjoyed it immensly. So what if it's a kid story? I'm just an oversized kid when it comes down to it. But I wish I could have heard it when I was little. While reading I didn't really stumbled on things that reminded me of the middle-earth mythology. But the style did remind me of 'The Hobbit'. I particularly liked the fact that the dragon on the moon was responsible for the moon eclipses.