Superbly performed by Martin Shaw | The Silmarillion

Eclipses the wonder of The Lord of the Rings | The Silmarillion | J.R.R. Tolkien

books:


	• The Silmarillion J.R.R. Tolkien Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2004 - 416 pages average customer review:based on 686 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Second only to LOTR

It does not matter whether you're into fantasy or not, this is a must read. The first 1/3rd of the book can turn off even LOTR fans, because it is filled with too many names and places. But, work on the book. The rest of the book is one of the best reads ever. Like so many other reviewes say, THIS IS NOT A COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES. This is a story about elves and men and their wars with Morgoth (Sauron's boss). The writing is top notch. This is a great fantasy and literature at the same time. If you're sick of G.R.R. Martin and Robert jordan and looking for something original, read the old master JRR. This is an undeniable masterpiece. I'm not one of those ringnuts, but after this book, I might become one :)

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Superbly performed by Martin Shaw

This is The Silmarillion told as Tolkien might have wished it told--not read silently but aloud, by a gifted tale-teller. Even before the first sentence is declaimed, the music that wells up under the opening of each major section perfectly sets the mood: when we hear the growing chords we know we are in for something worth attending to: dark, brooding, but full of wonder.

Martin Shaw's reading rises to the tale's magnificence with a performance that is beautiful in every way. His actorly instincts are keen and true, offering perceptive, convincing performances of the varied characters. His voice weaves magic that touches the heart and satisfies the intellect.

I already loved The Silmarillion as a book, in its published form and in the more detailed drafts provided in the HoME, but this reading brings the tale to life in a way I never imagined possible. I thought Rob Inglis' reading of LotR was mostly excellent, but this recording is unparalleled.

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Eclipses the wonder of The Lord of the Rings

There are several chapters in the Bible consisting solely of genealogies, lists of who beget who, used mostly to establish bloodlines. The last being in Matthew in which the lineage of Jesus is established through the bloodline of King David. I have always found these fascinating because of what they don't say. You look at the names on the lists and wonder just who these people were and what they did. What big or small things did they do in their lives that may have wrought monumental changes on the world for future generations. There is an unwritten history there that fascinates.

The same can be said for J.R.R. Tolkien's saga The Lord of the Rings. Whether reading the books or watching the films you come across names of individuals and of peoples that give historical depth to the work but also make you wonder who they were and what part they had to play in the development of the Middle-earth of the Third Age. Thankfully Tolkien didn't just mention these people and pass on, he spent his lifetime developing the creation of his world. The culmination of these efforts can be found in The Silmarillion.

The Silmarillion was never published in Tolkien's lifetime. It was a work that in essence started in the trenches of WWI and was not completed at the time of his death. Thankfully much of it was completed and his son, Christopher Tolkien, was able to take the large body of work left by J.R.R. Tolkien and edit it together into a complete narrative. The Silmarillion is essentially the history of Middle-earth, from the creation of the world and the First Age through the Third Age up until the time seen in The Hobbit and then The Lord of the Rings.

Let me stop here to say that I was completely enraptured by this book. The Silmarillion is not something that one can pick up for light reading. It is a history book and reads as such. However if you are in a LOTR frame of mind I believe you would find the book amazing as well. Tolkien was a scholar of language, of the history and mythology of Europe, and of religion as well. These things heavily influenced his life's work and can be seen in the creation of the world in which his characters lived.

It has been said that Tolkien was disappointed in the lack of a true mythology for England and that part of what he set out to do was to create one. The Silmarillion then is Tolkien's description of the creation of the world and ages that existed in a time long before our time. The opening chapters in which Eru or Iluvatar, the One creates the Ainur (or Holy Ones) and teaches them to create the world through song is beautiful, especially in comparison to the creation accounts of the book of Genesis. One of the things it does quite well is establish the importance of music as a tool of communication and storytelling, something that not only was true in the `real' history of our world but in Middle-earth as well.

The Silmarillion goes on to tell the story of the Silmarils, three jewels created by Feanor, the most gifted of the Elves. Within each jewel was captured the Light of the Two Trees of Valinor before the trees were destroyed by Morgoth, the first Dark Lord. These jewels were eventually stolen by Morgoth and set in his crown. The Silmarillion then becomes the "history of the rebellion of Feanor and his kindred against the gods, their exile from Valinor and return to Middle-earth, and their war, hopeless despite all their heroism, against the great Enemy". It goes on to tell the tale of the rise of Sauron and his battles with the peoples of Middle-earth, the creation of the rings of power and the One Ring, and the battle in which Isildur cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand, eventually losing it in the river to one day become the possession of Smeagol.

Although The Silmarillion was begun long before Tolkien ever intended to write The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings it turned out to be the ultimate Tolkien fan bible. It answers so many questions about the people who came before those we loved in The Lord of the Rings. It was so fascinating to learn about the Elves and the Dwarves, about the Numenoreans who are referenced often in LOTR, about the first Dark Lord and the creation of evil in Middle-earth.

Well-written history is wonderful to read. Two of the most interesting historical books I have read are the the books I, Claudius and Claudius, the God by Robert Graves. They are the stories of the Roman Emperors told through fiction and they are amazing. Despite being the history of a fictional world, The Silmarillion is equally amazing. The depth of the many historical and literary influences in Tolkien's life as well as scholarly command of language makes this history feel real. Reading The Silmarillion does not feel like reading a work of fantasy. It feels like reading a history of our world describing a time that has passed out of all recollection of men. The fact that it gives so much back story and dimension to the world that so many have fallen in love with via the LOTR novels and films is just a bonus. Like any `true' history, the peoples who populate The Silmarillion are far from perfect. They are very real, full of virtues and faults and the actions of individuals and groups have far reaching consequences in the world they leave for future generations. Reading The Silmarillion was an amazing experience and one I am likely to repeat. The last chapter alone, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age, is something everyone should read at least once before watching the movies again.

I was talking with my brother-in-law the other day mentioning the fact that Tolkien's work is so interesting because his grasp of language allowed him to create a universe in which the many and varied names of peoples and of places and of cultures do not feel made up or silly. The Silmarillion is full of names one hasn't heard before but never does it feel like Tolkien was just making things up. It reads like a history that has been passed down from generation to generation and for that Tolkien has to be acknowledged as a literary master.

I guess it goes without saying (then why have you wrote so much???) that I highly recommend The Silmarillion. It is the work of Tolkien's lifetime and is a remarkable legacy. Tolkien would no doubt consider The Silmarillion to be his important work. The stories in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings were just moments out of the vast timeline he created. Read it, it is the ultimate LOTR geek's dream. It is also a book that I believe would appeal to anyone who is interested in mythology and history. Reading it one finds it hard to believe that this isn't actually a true history of an age long before our own which I think is the ultimate compliment for what Tolkien set out to do. By far the best book I have read this year.

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Incredible

This is so much easier to listen to than it is to read. Buy it, it's also great value.

Silmarillion Spectacular

This audio book is spectacular. Uniquely J.R.R. Tolkien, the language is wonderful, the detail is captivating, the myth is magnificent! As expcted, it is a voyage into the nature of God, good and evil and the frailty of mankind.

reviews: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, page 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20

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