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I'm listening to The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien (read by Andy Serkis, but I'm also actively reading a PDF of the book while I listen to it)

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/5600161

Thoughts on this book?

Thoughts on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit?

I might watch The Rings of Power but I've heard mixed things on it. What do you all think of it?

Mostly though: I'm hoping that some people here can expand on what I'm reading so far.

'Cause honestly, I do like what I'm reading, I do, and that's because I genuinely like the mythological tone that the world-building takes. And Numenor as an "Atlantis" is a fine way to do things, but honestly, I doubt they'll be able to do much with it in whatever Amazon property they decide to make of it (which, I mean, is fine). I wonder if there are other shows or serials besides The Rings of Power that are coming out? Either way: I really like the beginning and how everything started with music and song.

Your thoughts?

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  • You’re asking what our thoughts are on the high fantasy works that defined high fantasy? You’ll need to be a little more specific 😂

    My thought on Andy Serkins’ reading is that it is the best audiobook ever made in the history of audiobooks. Regardless of whether one even likes the books, it’s still arguably the best reading of a work.

    • Agreed with the last part, though I know some that didn't like it.

      And yes, giving your thoughts on The Silmarillion or even The Lord of the Rings entirely is fine!

      • I’ve read all of those (yes, even The Silmarillion). They’re the only high fantasy works I’ve read, so I’m not in a position to compare it to others in the genre. I’m not interested in the genre in general, but AFAIK these are unique in terms of the depth and breadth of world building that he sets them in. ~20,000 years of astoundingly detailed history of an area the size of Europe, a sumptuous attention to languages, and a whole cosmology laid out from the beginning of time.

        The Silmarillion is for masochists only. I only read it because I was trapped somewhere once with no internet and nothing to do for a long time. A lot of it reads like the Old Testament (I think: hell if I’m ever going to pore through the Bible).

        The work is racist and reactionary; divine rights of kings and such. From an ML-perspective it’s hot garbage. But whatever, it’s not like it’ll give you liberal cooties.

        • From what I hear, the Netflix Amazon show would be considered non-canon, if you care about such things. It compresses thousands of years into a human lifetime. I only watched the first three-or-so episodes and lost interest. I’m not very interested in a series that makes minced meat of the world that’s already built in my head from the original material, especially when high fantasy isn’t even my bag.

        • I read The Bible, Old and New Testament, and the Old Testament at least is much more dry.

          Also, yeah, The Lord of the Rings series is dated, of course.

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