How many of Tolkien's books have you read?

[Jeremy5848]

Although I have a copy of Sylmarillion on the shelf, I've never read more than a few words of it -- I 'spose I ought to do something about that.  As for the Hobbit and the Trilogy, I read each one about once a year and have done so since college (mid-1960s).

Jeremy

[Andúnië]

Yeah, the Silmarillion is probably one of the most difficult to get through. Overall, though, it's worth the read.
I do that with LotR and Hobbit too- there's something about them that makes them the best to read over and over again.

I have read all of the above "major" works at least a dozen times each.  I have also read all 12 volumes of "The History of Middle Earth", "The Children of Hurin", and "Unfinished Tales".  Add to that "Tom Bombadil", and "Farmer Giles", as well as "The Complete Guide to Middle Earth" and several of the analytical writings and Tolkiens only "authorized" biography.

That's pretty impressive. I have myself not been able to get my hands on all the other histories yet.

[Orome]

The Silmarillion can be tough, unless you take your time with it.  Even now, what I do is keep one bookmark in the "Appendeces" in the back of the book, and refer to it if I stumble on a name or term that I do not understand.

Either that, or I keep Robert Forrester's "Guide to Middle Earth" handy..

The Silmarillion is just like reading The Old Testament - It is a creation story, and if you try to rush right through it, you will become completely befuddled!

[Andúnië]

All the histories though- how do they read? Are they like the Silmarillion? Do they explain a lot that you don't get reading just the major works, or are they more of an earlier version of LotR?

[Orome]

All the histories though- how do they read? Are they like the Silmarillion? Do they explain a lot that you don't get reading just the major works, or are they more of an earlier version of LotR?

The Histories can be really tough because Christopher has attempted to compile the scattered and disjointed notes and manuscripts his father used in creating the mythology that is Middle Earth.

The Book of Lost Tales, Volumes 1 and 2, are quite hard to follow, and it seemed best to try and disassoicate them from The Silmarillion, even though that is kind of difficult.

In the rest of the Volumes, he does try to guide you on how to approach each chapter or excerpt.  A suggestion would be to find the footnotes for each chapter and place a bookmark there...then read the foot notes as soon as the reference (a number) appears in the text.

It is a bit overwhelming to see the amount of changes and emendments that went into the creation of the original printed works, after reading all 12 volumes of this.

"Thank Heaven" for computers and the ability to save stuff on discs in this day and age.