Sam Strives For 55 - Week Nineteen

Here is week 19 of Sam's reading journey, the metrics and first week can be found here

​The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (Editor), Ted Nasmith (Illustrator)

1. Intrigue: 
   1. If you are interested in the Lord of the Rings mythology, then you’ve probably already read this, or are planning to read this and you don’t need me to convince you. This is a must of any Tolkien fan. 
   2. If you are a light LOTR individual or even someone who doesn’t care for it that much BUT still interested in mythology, this is a really fun book. It’s sort of what all high fantasy fans want - a collection of world building - and that’s it. These collections of short stories give context and a deeper understanding to the ways of Middle Earth.
2. Writing style:
   1. I am not the right person to review Tolkien. I’m not from that era. I’ve only read four of his books - Hobbit and LOTR trilogy - and I’m much more interested in characters than world building in a narrative. That’s not to say I didn’t like the world building of the Silmarillion - that’s the point of the book - I just can’t get down with excess information that’s not pertinent to the plot. Pertinent information for depth of knowledge about the world is great, but the infamous chair description in Fellowship is the ultimate example of my distaste for the sentence and chapter level writing Tolkien does. I think the stories overall are fascinating, but diving into ancillary information in the middle of a story is not my thing. 
   2. However, the Silmarillion is a it more streamlined than it’s predecessors, and since the point of the book is to tell myths, the normally ancillary information no longer feels ancillary. So, I don’t know. I quite liked it at a closer level than I thought I would. 
3. Flow of Storytelling:
   1. See above. 
   2. Just kidding, though it is prevalent that these short myths are supposed to be about all the details that normally halt Tolkien’s texts to a screeching, almost book ending, halt. 
   3. Ultimately my ability to judge the flow is hampered by the fact that I listened to this, and for me, this was the wrong type of format to consume this content. I found myself so bored at times with the myths, and found that I had to take a break in order to reinvigorate my reading stamina. 
4. Re-readability 
   1. Infinitely. There is so much detail in these myths that one could always use a refresher on the lore of Middle Earth. Seriously. There’s so much info. 
5. TESS
   1. This book qualifies because I’m unsure if the audiobook format for The Silmarillion halted the reading flow, or if I’m just not the one to read Tolkien. 
   2. What makes this book that extra something special is it’s perfect for Middle Earth fans. Like I wrote previously, it is the type of ancillary stuff us nerds love - even if it’s difficult to get through. 

Final rating: ★★★★ = For Sure Absolutely Read This - but you might not like it. That’s okay too! I did.

​J. Sam Williams is an illustrious black-tailed hawk, longing to eat as many vegan mice as possible. In his human form, he is a High School English Teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he lives with his wife, one dog and two cats. A somewhat retired breakdancing teacher, he is now a co-host on the Alohomora Podcast! He has been published on Lunch Ticket, immix: a journal for justice, Mugglenet, and a slew of small sports journalism publications. You can find him on twitter @Jabbernator.