HELP!

[Luthien_ Tinuviel]

If you just struggle your way through the book it will be much more easier next time

Definately. I understood and enjoyed it a lot more the second time I read it, although I still get some of the elf-princes confused sometimes (all those names starting with the letter F!). Don't worry if you can't seem to get it all straight or can't remember certain parts. It doesn't really matter, and you can always go back to it.

The Ainulindalë can be hard to get through, but think of it as a long song with a theme that is begun there and played out through the entire saga.

That's a wonderful idea, Lyta, seeing as the Ainulindale is all about the Song of the Ainur.... Very clever. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

And balrogman, it's good thing you didn't make my mistake and read UT before the Silm... it was so confusing!

Overall, to anyone else who is reading the Silm for the first time, I would say that the best thing to do is try to enjoy it. I know that some parts about the geography and stuff can get kind of boring, but the parts that read like a story need to be read like a story. I think you'll enjoy it most if you read it like you read anything else, becoming immersed in the story aspects and interested in the tale (assuming that you read books for enjoyment, instead of studying them). The second time around, you can go back and try to memorize stuff and get it all sorted out in your mind, and so forth. But I think the first time should really be about reading it for it's literary qualities, not quite as much for it's historical side.

An incentive for reading the Silm is that you'll see much more depth and understand some of the subtleties and poems and things that the characters mention in an off-hand way in LOTR the next time you read that. It will lend so much more depth to LOTR, and it will clarify some of the things that might have confused you when you first read LOTR.