Silmarillion, the hobbit, and the lotr's

cool i love fantasy stuff. such a fun escape from reality haha

I have a paperback copy of the sillmarillion. It's an extreemly difficult read. I cnt get past about page 30 or 40. no entertainment value whatsoever. I keep feeling I'm missing some portion or background or something.

Don't bother is my advice.

The only reason I did was because of encouragement from my husband. Pretty attractive nerd - quite persuasive he is.

In one package, no. And you shouldn't get the Silmarillion unless you first fully understand what it is, and what its problems are.

If you have read the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, and are looking for more, your next step should be The Children of Húrin. This was written by Tolkien's son, but it was painstakingly sourced from Tolkien's notes (with not a bit more added, so the entire story is 100% true to canon).

Make sure you read the introduction first so you have some clue what is going on. This story is set in a much earlier period, with a MUCH more powerful bad guy (Sauron and the balrogs are mere servants of the chief bad guy in this period). If you don't read the introduction, you won't know what is going on or how this story is connected to the same universe of Lord of the Rings. (And warning, don't be looking for a happy ending to this story.)

After that, read Unfinished Tales. That is a collection of short stories about various important events throughout the timeline of Tolkien's universe.

You should be careful reading Unfinished Tales before the others because one of the short stories is an abbreviated form of The Children of Húrin. If you read that short story first, it will not only spoil the ending of the book, but there is also not much of an explanation as to how that short story relates to the universe of the Lord of the Rings.


The four books Hobbit/LOTR/Children of Húrin/Unfinished Tales are true to the Tolkien canon, and are stories that people can actually enjoy, so they are the ones that are most what you are looking for.

The rest of the books are not really written in story form. They are more along the lines of discussions, analyses, and outlines that describe the history of Tolkien's universe and how it works. They are useful in understanding the world that the stories are set in, but they are not stories in themselves. And many of the books are not canon (or only part of them are canon).

If you really want to get some of these other books, first, read this FAQ:
http://tolkien.slimy.com/faq/External.html

Pay careful attention to Question 2 "What books about Middle-earth are considered "canonical"?"

And Question 3 "How does The Silmarillion as published differ from what Tolkien intended?"


After that, go over this list, and note which books (and sections of books) are canon, which are not, and what the nature of each of the books is:
http://tolkien.slimy.com/publist.html


After that, you should have a sense of what you are truly interested in buying.

This page lists all the various forms of The Hobbit that are in print:
http://mysite.verizon.net/aznirb/mtr/hobbit_editions.html

Note that only copyrights dated 2001 and later are truly accurate. Earlier printings have various errors in the text.


This page lists all the forms of Lord of the Rings that are in print:
http://mysite.verizon.net/aznirb/mtr/lotr_editions.html

Note that only copyrights dated 2004 and later are truly accurate. Earlier printings have various errors in the text.

Note also the Deluxe 50th Anniversary Edition from 2004, which is the only version to ever include pictures depicting pages from the badly-damaged book they examine in the Mines of Moria. Tolkien felt very strongly that these pictures needed to be included in order to fully convey the story as he intended it.


And this page lists all the versions of The Children of Húrin, Unfinished Tales, The Silmarillion, and the 12 volume set The History of Middle-Earth:
http://mysite.verizon.net/aznirb/mtr/s_ut_home_editions.html

Careful choosing which versions you get. Some of the printings are good, and others not-so-good. The website explains what is good and bad about each printing.

I would strongly suggest going to used bookstores around your town to hunt for Tolkien's work. Chances are you can find some awesome versions from different eras of print. That's what I did when I was on a mad hunt for anything Asimov, and I have some really great hard cover copies of a bunch of fiction and his non fiction. They just don't make books like they used to - ahh old book smell! Also they're usually cheaper!

That might be OK for some of the Tolkien books. But all printings of Lord of the Rings copyrighted before 2004, and all printings of The Hobbit copyrighted before 2001, have various flaws in the texts, some serious, and some not-so-serious.

Of course, you could always find used copies of a newer printing, but make sure to check before you buy.

BTW, cool Lovecraft ID.

This is true, my relationship with books may be a little different.

I personally relish the inconsistencies of prints. It makes them unique and it makes for interesting topic when speaking with other literature buffs!

And thanks! Gotta love them unknown terrors!

Russia has just released Khraniteli a weird soviet era version of The Fellowship of the Ring. It was made just before the Soviet Union collapsed had a brief airing and was thought to be lost.

There is an article on the BBC website about it.