I gave reading it a shot in college. Past a certain point it became obvious that my desire for seconds on the Lord of the Rings was going to go unfulfilled and I gave up.
I don’t regret doing that because my mind wasn’t ready for it. I really didn’t know how to read it.
But now my mind appears to be ready and I am quite engrossed by it.
The belief that there can be no Truth found in myth is as it turns out comparatively recent. Tolkien created something that I found incomprehensibly boing in my sophomoric years but now, I am in awe of it.
Let me know in the comments if you would like me to write an essay on this topic when I have finished absorbing it.
The Dark Herald 
I have always found your insights to be worthwhile and accessible, and the world is in sore need of reminders as to why Tolkien was revered as a Grandmaster of fiction.
Whatever words you have to say about the subject would be most welcome.
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What is it about The Silmarillion that you find so interesting, compared to the other Tolkien novels?
I never read The Silmarillion because I was a bit skeptical about something that Tolkien’s son and another author edited and completed. So I’m curious about your opinion of that book.
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Ditto.
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Only one essay? On the Silmarillion? Well, you’re entitled to try.
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Same here. I too tried picking this up in junior high after devouring The Hobbit and LOTR, and bounced right off of it. Would love to hear some additional thoughts!
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It works better if you consider a couple of novellas, wrapped in a Bullfinch’s Mythology. Took me 5-6 years to figure it out.
I’d be interested in your musings. Usually get a thought or take I hadn’t considered.
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I would LOVE to hear your take on this. I’m pounding through this also. I’m enjoying it, but it’s like reading a historical doc so I have to stop reading the moment I find myself skimming.
Silent Draco’s comment is a great way of tackling it. I’m going to start using that method.
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Same, same in college. Recently the wife got me a nice leather bound set of all three works. Guess it’s time to take another look at the Silmarillion. Would like to read your essay.
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Adding my vote in favor of an essay on the Silmarillion from you. I never regret reading your insights on all manner of subjects, from comics, to politics, to basic life lessons, and I never fail to learn something in the process.
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Go for it.
I’ve been reading it and rereading since I was 14. I don’t get how people can find it difficult: it’s a bunch of sequential short stories and some novellas. Less than 300 pages if you don’t count the Second and Third Age stuff.
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Please let us know what you think.
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One more (late) request for your essay about The Silmarrillion.
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When you’re done with the book, you should listen to Blind Guardian’s “Nightfall in Middle-Earth,” which is their musical treatment of the Silmarillion.
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Yes.
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