Crofts book is profitably read in tandem with garths biography and dickersons study of gandalfs ethics. To find out how long should a chapter be, we examined books from a wide variety of genres and eras. Paolo gulisano bindingcopertina flessibile ean9788818121896 ean listean list element. If youre asking this because youre wondering how long it is, i would tell you that if you worry about its length, youll never get through it.
What follows is a rough guide to book length expectations in certain genres. It shows us the ancient history to which characters in the lord of the rings look back, talk, rhyme and sing about. Oct 14, 2018 the word count of the silmarillion is just over k words, but i wouldnt worry too much about that. Among tolkiens works, the silmarillion is the least popular. The silmarillion, along with other collections of tolkiens works, such as unfinished tales, the adventures of tom bombadil, and the road goes ever on, form a comprehensive, yet incomplete narrative that describes the universe within which the hobbit and the lord of the rings take place. Covering all that material would be a logistical and financial nightmare. The work was finished by the son of tolkien after tolkien initially started it. Pages in category characters in the silmarillion the following 22 pages are in this category, out of 22 total.
In the lord of the rings were narrated the great events at the end of the third age. About the contents, its a very good story, and perhaps some people find it as complex to read and so much names and places, but in the end, those are good reasons for reading chapter by chapter again and again, inspecting the maps, the names and descendants and the way that elements intertwined, because. The silmarillion, like tolkiens other middleearth writings, was meant to have taken place at some time in earths past. The book is a collection of narratives which talks about the universe of ea in which different lands exist. His books have been translated into more than fifty languages and have sold many millions of copies worldwide. Tolkien considered the silmarillion his most important work, and, though it wa. First state of the 1st impression of the silmarillion, with the special commisioned 1977 bookplate signed by christopher tolkien, only seen in few copies. Fredrick and mcbride conduct a feminist reading of the inklings, including two chapters on tolkien. Speculative faith 7 reasons why a silmarillion movie is a. From these numbers, we can establish some guidelines. Jul 04, 2018 the silmarillion is a book written by j r tolkien who is an. Tolkien 2001, paperback at the best online prices at ebay. Sep 26, 2017 even though the book itself is roughly a third of the length of lotr, it has a much wider scope. About the product itself i have no complaints, it came to me in very good conditions.
Tolkien 18921973 is the creator of middleearth and author of such classic and extraordinary works of fiction as the hobbit, the lord of the rings, and the silmarillion. Sep 15, 1977 a number one new york times bestseller when it was originally published, the silmarillion is the core of j. Pages in category characters in the silmarillion the following 200 pages are in this category, out of 215 total. The lord of the rings is an epic highfantasy novel written by english author and scholar j. I just read about the book the silmarillion and thought id like to buy it, but im a little confused about the different versions that i found. The silmarillion is a collection of mythopoeic works by english writer j. Tolkiens imaginative writing, a work whose origins stretch back to a time long before the hobbit. The silmarillion, simply put, is a tragic book, beautiful, with one flaw that nearly kills it. Mar 20, 2017 the news that production for one or more movies based on j. Oct 18, 2017 knowing this, why does chapter length matter. The tales of the silmarillion are set in an age when morgoth, the first dark lord, dwelt in middleearth, and the high elves made war upon him for the recovery of the silmarils, the jewels containing the pure light of valinor. In origin it precedes even the hobbit, and is the story of the first age of tolkiens middle earth. It is the ancient drama to which the characters in the lord of the rings look back, and in whose events some of them such as elrond and.
Feb 15, 2012 a number one new york times bestseller when it was originally published, the silmarillion is the core of j. Hark now to the silmarillion, the bible of tolkiens fantasy world. Is the silmarillion actually a good book or is it one of those things that only big tolkien fantasy fans like. The methuen publications specially bound presentation copy, first edition, limited. The silmarillion isbn 0618391118 is a collection of j. This work served as the model for tolkiens last full version of the history, which he composed in the mid to late 1930s. Tolkien considered the silmarillion his most important work, and, though it was published last and posthumously, this great collection of tales and legends clearly sets. The silmarillion is the history of the rebellion of feanor and his kindred against the gods, their exile from valinor and return to middleearth, and their war, hopeless despite all their heroism, against the great enemy. I want to read silmarillion to expand my vocabulary and because i like fantasy books. Tolkien, edited and published posthumously by his son, christopher tolkien, in 1977 with assistance from guy gavriel kay. The word count of the silmarillion is just over k words, but i wouldnt worry too much about that.
In keeping with this idea, the silmarillion is meant to have been translated from bilbos threevolume translations from the elvish, which he wrote while at rivendell. It is in these lands that the stories of the hobbit and lord of the rings take place. The story began as a sequel to tolkiens 1937 fantasy novel the hobbit, but eventually developed into a much larger work. The silmarillion is actually tolkiens first book and also his last. Tolkien, is a work in five parts that serves as a mythological creation story and history of the middle earth, the fictional universe created by tolkien that served as. I have attempted to read the silmarillion before but it was far to dry for my tastes and i would often get lost among all the similar sounding names and the difference between lotr and this in writing style was far to jarring. For book length, i chose to go with word count rather than page count, since theres so much variability when it comes to the number of words that get squeezed onto a single book page. Tolkiens the silmarillion would be a wonderful thing for fans of the worlds greatest fantasy author, but its unclear if this is ever going to happen. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides for challenging works of literature. This is somewhat tricky, because there are a lot of characters in the silmarillion, which essentially tells the entire history of middle earth, from its creation through to the events of the lord. It is among the books i love the most, but this might not be the case if i had not read it in a bizarre way that i can hardly recommend to anyone else, and yet may be the best way to read it. Publisher salemans dummy copy used in advance of the books publication 900. The silmarillion hardcover and paperback tolkienbooks.
While rumors early last year suggested that a deal had been made with the tolkien estate, nothing has been heard of the. My wife says that im all grown up now and can even drink out of a big glass unless its grape juice then i still have to use a sipper cup, so i ordered the silmarillion and tried again. For movie length, i simply used the run time for the theatrical version of the movie as listed on imdb. Tolkien includes detailed chapter summaries and analysis covering 28 chapters, as well as several more indepth sections of expertwritten literary analysis. Fliegers splintered light examines the silmarillion from the perspective of the thought of fellow inkling owen barfield. If your story is a melody, its sections make up the underlying beat or rhythm. I somehow contracted african sleeping sickness every time i open the book, so i cast it to the four winds and went out for little league instead. A full, book length form of the silmarillion existed by the early 1930s. Tolkiens works that were edited and published posthumously by his son christopher, with the assistance of fantasy fiction writer guy gavriel kay. A number one new york times bestseller when it was originally published, the silmarillion is the core of j. So the length of these affects the pacing of your story, and the way the reader experiences it. This is why both the silmarillion and the return of the king may appear shorter than expected. Along the way, the valar and the children of iluvatar battle evil in the form of melkor in order to survive and maintain good in ea.
Do you want the pace to be brisk to the reader and skip in a staccato. The silmarillion is perhaps the most unique and difficulttoexplain book i have read. On amazon i found foremost these two versions i hope its okay to. Aug 01, 20 the silmarillion is a collection of mythopoeic works by english writer j. After reading first few paragraphs i thought that it is boring. Though unfinished tales cannot be read as a book in its own right, any one who comes to it after reading the lord of the rings and the silmarillion will indubitably find it interesting, as the book gives various nuggets of information about characters, events and places that are only hinted at in the other two books. Ea, the world that is, is created, and the valar prepare the way for the children of iluvatar. Designed to take fans of the hobbit and the lord of the rings deeper into the myths and legends of middleearth the silmarillion is an account of the elder days, of the first age of tolkiens world. This is not a work to be taken lightly, for here we at last uncover the great truths of middleearth, and hear of its creation. The book includes several other, shorter works in addition to the silmarillion. Tolkien 1998, hardcover at the best online prices at ebay.
The silmarillion, now published four years after the death of its author, is an account of the elder days, or the first age of the world. May 04, 2019 the silmarillion is a complex work that explores a wide array of themes inspired by many ancient, medieval, and modern sources, including the finnish kalevala, the hebrew bible, norse sagas, greek mythology, celtic mythology, and world war i. The silmarillion is a book written by j r tolkien who is an. The music podcast from two best buds think millennial artist spotlight hosted by brandon. Since just comparing the number of unique words in a book does not take its length into account i decided to calculate the percentage of unique words of the whole text. Readers of individual genres anticipate certain book lengths, and so do publishers. Tolkien, it is the story of the creation of the world and of the first age, this is the ancient drama to which the characters in the lord of the rings look back and in whose events some of them, such as elrond and galadriel, took part. One of a small number of copies of the clowes impression were specially bound in dark blue leather, upper cover and spine stamped in gilt, for presentation by the publisher. Tolkiens silmarillion is the prequel to the lord of the rings trilogy and is an extremely well written novel, with his language painting a vivid picture in the mind of a brand new world with. Is the silmarillion actually a good book or is it one of. The silmarillion first american hardcover edition by tolkien, j. The silmarillion is composed of a collection of stories, forming one cohesive greater story of epic proportions, which recount the beginnings of middleearth, the fictional and fantastical world of the same authors tolkiens works the hobbit and the lord of the rings lotr.
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