This is my personal experience with The Silmarillion. I hope this approach helps excite readers and gets them prepared for this wonderful journey, because I approached it the wrong way. Feel free to share your own advice if you have any. Happy reading!

I just finished the Silmarillion. I found it utterly compelling and masterfully crafted. I definitely took my time to use the immense glossary, family trees, and studied the pronunciation guide each time I needed it. The thing that helped me the best: I read it aloud to myself.

@ProseAndPetticoats

6 ай бұрын

That is wonderful! Glad you finished it 🤎

I love that you summarized chapters and took those extra steps! That's even beyond what I have the mental energy to to do. But I love when people do it! Oh, how I wish I could find other bookish people in real life! Then I wouldn't feel like a weirdo for loving things like this. Don't get me wrong. I adore Booktube. I am so thankful for everyone here. But there's nothing quite like humans, face to face. Anyway, thank you. It makes me happy to know there are other readers out there who love books as much as, and even more, than I do.

@ProseAndPetticoats

7 ай бұрын

Aww, that's both heartwarming and sad. I feel you. It's hard to find people in real life who are as passionate about books, especially the more niche works (Tolkien, classic literature). Glad to have you here ❤

I would read a chapter and then listen to a podcast about that chapter, before reading the next chapter. The Prancing Pony Podcast covered the Silmarillion when they first started. Another answer is to first listen to the Audiobook, either narrated by Andy Serkis or Martin Shaw and then read the book after that.

@ProseAndPetticoats

7 ай бұрын

That's great advice! Thank you for sharing.

@Yesica1993

7 ай бұрын

Oh, I don't think I've listened to them. I just looked it up. It seems the eps are still there. Thank you! It's been years since my last reading of The Silmarillion. I may have to revisit it this year.

I absolutely love the Silmarillion. I have a tattoo from one of its characters 😝. I remember reading the LotR appendices, and it had a note saying Sauron was just a servant of Morgoth... and I was like WHAT? If Sauron was so evil, who was this Morgoth? Yep, he lived to his reputation! I read it once without any notes, just enjoying it, like reading mythology. When I read the last page, I immediately told myself: that was awesome! Let’s read it once again ❤. And so I did several times! The maps, family trees! Ah, so fascinating! And now I own several editions, at least 10 😆

@ProseAndPetticoats

7 ай бұрын

Haha I love your story. Love at first sight! And so many editions, wow.

@cesar_rojasbravo

7 ай бұрын

@@ProseAndPetticoats Counted again. 8 Silmarillion editions, 13 Hobbits, 14 LotR

@ProseAndPetticoats

7 ай бұрын

@@cesar_rojasbravo NICE!

You deserve more subs 😊

@ProseAndPetticoats

6 ай бұрын

So kind of you... Thank you!

I read The Silmarillion for the first time this year and I wholeheartedly agree that it’s a collection of mythology from the LOTR. I enjoyed it so much!

@ProseAndPetticoats

7 ай бұрын

So happy to hear you enjoyed it!

@christin4605

7 ай бұрын

@@ProseAndPetticoats I’m glad I enjoyed it also! I was nervous going in, but it’ll be added to my yearly reread of Tolkien. I went the immersion reading route with the illustrated edition & the audiobook, and I read a “story” every night or so.

@ProseAndPetticoats

7 ай бұрын

@@christin4605 Wow that sounds great!

The passage you read was beautiful! I don’t like audiobooks, but I would listen to the Silmarillion if you recorded its audiobook 😏

@ProseAndPetticoats

7 ай бұрын

Aww, thank you! :)

You're going to make me reread this whole book, aren't you? :) I was thinking of doing it next year because I have so many books I'm still trying to finish before the year ends. I hate taking old books into a new year, especially when I am close to finishing. It messes up my year-end, "What I Read" list! But there's no way I can resist a read through of the first chapter.

@ProseAndPetticoats

7 ай бұрын

Haha. I'm looking forward to seeing you in that video next month. It'll be fun!

This was my first Tolkien book. Having some knowledge from the movies helped and it was really difficult but the parts I did understand were amazing. It definitely takes multiple reads or a bit of research to fully appreciate it

@Yesica1993

7 ай бұрын

Wow, that's impressive! If you haven't already read LOTR, this will make it much easier. There are songs and poems that some people don't seem to like. But you have to go into it with the mindset of spending time in this world. You already know what happens, so you can just immerse yourself in the experience and enjoy it. Every time I read LOTR, I start getting to the end and I never want to leave that world.

@ProseAndPetticoats

7 ай бұрын

That's an intimidating first Tolkien choice. Did you pick The Silmarillion first for a reason?

@darth_hylian

7 ай бұрын

@@ProseAndPetticoats It's the only Tolkien book I had 😂 it belonged to one of my brothers. But it got me hooked on Tolkien

@ProseAndPetticoats

7 ай бұрын

@@darth_hylian Haha amazing :D

Best way to read the Silmarillion - read The Children of Hurin first. The big problem with the Silm is that it was never truly finished, so the best gateway into it is TCOH, which is the one great chapter from the Silm that Tolkien basically finished in his lifetime. It provides a much smoother transition from Lord of the Rings to the rest of the Silm. And the Silm is a collectiom of stories rather than one single story, so it's okay to jump around in the timeline like that.

@ProseAndPetticoats

7 ай бұрын

So true! I love your advice. When I re-read TCOH, I will be paying attention to that.

I‘m just so frustrated about how impatient people nowadays are. People even consider the Lord of the rings book boring and all about "walking" or the poems cringy. I grew up in a time when books are treated as the main way to spend leisure time, perhaps just as phones and social media now. English is not my first language but I never found the Silmarillion too difficult to read. Even though I definitely cannot follow all the names, I still enjoy the stories very much. I am now reading the third time a translated Silmarillion to learn my third language, with an original English texts as reference, and I feel that the newest edition with a directory as appendices really helps our readers trace all the difficult names while reading.

@ProseAndPetticoats

6 ай бұрын

I know what you mean. It's a challenge for many people to sit down with a book and actually finish it. I blame it on the digital world and wish we could go back to the old days. Luckily there are many readers who can still focus on reading. Tolkien's works ask more attention to read as a random modern novel. I will forever try and get people to read more, and read deeper. Glad you love Tolkien's work as well. :)

I love The Silmarillion and I totally agree with you: read The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit first. There are so many names in Silmarillion (both people and places) that you will have a hard time to understand or appreciate if you don't have a solid ground to stand on.

@ProseAndPetticoats

7 ай бұрын

I'm glad you agree :) Thanks for stopping by!

@emilkarlegrund8800

7 ай бұрын

@@ProseAndPetticoats thanks for making another awesome video, always a joy to stop by. Sending all the good vibes your way! :)

@ProseAndPetticoats

7 ай бұрын

@@emilkarlegrund8800 Aww, so kind!

Oh, what edition is that? Do you have LOTR in that same cover design? I am forever looking for a good hardcover version to replace my old battered paperbacks. I do have the LOTR Compact set from Barnes & Noble. It has been great for putting in my bag and reading on the go! Unfortunately, the print is pretty small and my eyes continue to get worse as I get older. The last time I reread that set, it was more difficult. That was probably a year ago, so I'm sure it's gotten worse since then. Anyway, I do need to reread The Silmarillion. It's been a long time. You are right, it's not an easy read. Some preparation is key. If you go into it expecting a straightforward narrative like The Hobbit and LOTR, you will be disappointed and confused. But once you know what you're getting into, it is beautiful!

@ProseAndPetticoats

7 ай бұрын

Haha, you need a copy to read and a copy to sit pretty on the shelf, right?! The edition I'm holding in this video is a rather old one. I hope you can still find it. Here's the ISBN: 978 0 261 10242 2

@Yesica1993

7 ай бұрын

Thank you!@@ProseAndPetticoats

As a fellow Tolkien fan, I'm curious to hear your thoughts on the travesty that was the Rings of Power. Apparently this was its source material.

@ProseAndPetticoats

7 ай бұрын

The Silmarillion was its source material? Absolutely not xD The marketing made me unwell, so I decided to not watch the show.

@Rascal-of-War

7 ай бұрын

@@ProseAndPetticoats If you're looking for some good fantasy to read I'd suggest the Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson. The depth of the world building is some of the most detailed I've seen even compared to LOTR and Game of Thrones. It's pure nerd porn

You are a Lúthien

@ProseAndPetticoats

7 ай бұрын

Aww :) Very kind.

@Flamejante_

7 ай бұрын

@@ProseAndPetticoats can i be your Beren