Encai is right. The Sil is nearly impossible to read the first time. I practically breathe reading, and it took me an entire summer to finish, and even then, I was obscenely confused. I do aim to reread it (by that I mean actually sit and read it again, rather than browsing occasionally), but that won't happen until RL slows down.
If you do insist on reading the Silm, take notes. Sketch out family trees to help you keep your characters straight, and summarize what's going on in your own words. Start with something like "Eru is God. He created the Ainur, which are like our angels... sort of. They played pretty music but Melkor was tone-deaf." See what I mean? It helps if you word it yourself.
Fea
|