The two most depressing words...

[Percy Weasley]

read the Silmarillion and then re-read the LotR! It makes it so fascinating!

Brilliant words, Finrod! I read LotR then The Silmarillion, then read LotR again, and it just seemed to have so much more depth, because I understood the history of the land and the people so much more.

As for difficulty with reading The Silmarillion, I would suggest reading it through once, and not worrying if you can keep everyone straight, or knowing exactly what is going on. I suggest that you just read it, and get the feel of it - the beauty of the language. The Silmarillion is prose poetry, and it saddens me a great deal when people concentrate so much on details that they miss the forest for the trees.

You may have finished LotR, but I assure you, your journeys in Middle Earth (and Arda) have just begun.

Happy trails,
~Percy