Why is it so difficult?

[Galadriel]

Originally Posted by mhagain

Didn't find it particularly "difficult" at all. I'd actually read it before reading LoTR, over 20 years ago, and have since re-read it many more times than LoTR. It's just a matter of letting go of your preconceptions of novelistic convention, and being prepared to go with the flow rather get too hung up on who's doing what at any particular moment.

Of course, once the Silmarillion bug bites, it bites for good.

That ought to be the proper way. Read Sil first, I mean. But many people find it awfully dry if they don't like Tolkien (aka LotR and The Hobbit).