A review by hberg95
The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
4.0
Truly a unique and incredible undertaking to fit this amount of lore and backstory into a novel this size that accomplishes so much world-building. It's difficult to rate my experience of The Silmarillion without mentioning the way it lead to a larger investigation and appreciation for Tolkien as an author and thinker. Through friends and The Prancing Pony Podcast, I learned a lot about Tolkien's worldview and the way it colored the world of Eä. The idea of human beings as sub-creators, regardless of one's religious or non-religious background, is really compelling to me. I like the idea that one of the most powerful things we can do is create art and beautiful things and share them with other people.
I loved the creation out of music in the Ainulindalë. It feels so Nietzschean to have all creation begin in music and it, again, emphasizes the importance of music and art. I'm stealing this from the aforementioned podcast, but one theme that came through to be a lot was harmony. When people work together and transcend boundaries, they succeed.
The Valar pantheon was fun. I especially liked Tulkas whose first battle with Melkor was won purely through laughter. I loved some of the smaller stories that gave background and added world-building to the story like the creation of the Dwarves and Ents. I also really enjoyed the Flight of the Noldor storyline and everything leading up to it as well as the story of Beren and Luthien. There were a handful of chapters that I wasn't as interested in throughout, but there was such a depth of history and narrative at work that I've got to respect it.
The final two sections : the Akallabeth and Of The Rings of Power and the Third Age were also very great and made me eager to revisit the stories of the Lord of the Rings (whether I do so by re-reading or re-watching them).
I remember trying to read The Silmarillion years ago when I was a child and my Tolkien-obsessed uncle told me it was like reading the bible, but harder. It feels good to have read it now, to have explored the history and cosmogony of Middle-Earth, and I may revisit it (or at least selected stories) again in the future.
I loved the creation out of music in the Ainulindalë. It feels so Nietzschean to have all creation begin in music and it, again, emphasizes the importance of music and art. I'm stealing this from the aforementioned podcast, but one theme that came through to be a lot was harmony. When people work together and transcend boundaries, they succeed.
The Valar pantheon was fun. I especially liked Tulkas whose first battle with Melkor was won purely through laughter. I loved some of the smaller stories that gave background and added world-building to the story like the creation of the Dwarves and Ents. I also really enjoyed the Flight of the Noldor storyline and everything leading up to it as well as the story of Beren and Luthien. There were a handful of chapters that I wasn't as interested in throughout, but there was such a depth of history and narrative at work that I've got to respect it.
The final two sections : the Akallabeth and Of The Rings of Power and the Third Age were also very great and made me eager to revisit the stories of the Lord of the Rings (whether I do so by re-reading or re-watching them).
I remember trying to read The Silmarillion years ago when I was a child and my Tolkien-obsessed uncle told me it was like reading the bible, but harder. It feels good to have read it now, to have explored the history and cosmogony of Middle-Earth, and I may revisit it (or at least selected stories) again in the future.