Quote:
Originally Posted by Macalaure
To me, The Silmarillion is much more of a 'fantasy story' than The Lord of the Rings. The LotR presents you a fantastic story that you can just read from beginning to end without interruptions. The Sil clearly demands a little more from its reader. You actually have to utilise your own imagination and fantasy to make it come to life. Imagine the Sil was written with as much detail as the LotR. It'd be of the length of the whole HoMe, just plain story, no notes, no repetition. But the Sil doesn't present this to the reader, the reader has to do it itself.
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A very good point here. To be read with enjoyment the Silmarillion absolutely demands that you utilize your imagination. Sit down in a comfortable chair, smoke a pipe for relaxation, and read slowly, very slowly. Ask yourself, how was it like on the plains of Ard-Galen on that cold winter night right before the Battle Of The Sudden Flame? What went through Húrin's mind when he faced the bare walls of the Crissaegrim and realized there was no return to Gondolin or the high hopes of his youth. Try to imagine how it was like when Haleth and her people heard the horns of Caranthir just as the Orics broke though their last line of defence. Three lines in this book may contain events and character descriptions that would take up tree pages or more in LotR, and if you just rush on trying to finish the book, those events and characters are lost. In order to really enjoy all the fantastic storielines, you have read between the lines and capture them yourself.