Review: The Silmarillion by J.R.R Tolkien

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am going to attempt to write a review for one of the best books I have ever read, and it is daunting. But then so was reading it.

I read 'The Silmarillion' eleven years after I had read 'The Lord of the Rings. One advantage was that I went into it with a fair knowledge of and love for Tolkien's style, so I knew I was not going to give up after reading a few pages as I had initially done with 'The Lord of the Rings'. But it had been far too long since I read the Lord of the Rings, and in the interim I had not appreciated Christopher Tolkien's intervention in 'The Children of Hurin', despite his best intentions. So I was worried that this book would turn out to be similar, because it too was published posthumously by Christopher Tolkien. I am glad I was wrong.

To be honest, this would probably be a great book for the most ardent Tolkien devotee. I found it really difficult to keep up with, but again like I said before, Tolkien's style and language are so beautiful that they kept me going. I have gone back to read parts of it again, and even now for the purpose of this review.

'The Silmarillion' is right up there with the likes of 'The Kalevala', 'The Mahabharata', 'The Iliad' and 'Odyssey'. Comprising a major chunk of 'Tolkien's legendarium', to be lost in it is a wonderful experience, although very often mind-boggling. You will not remember all the names in the book. It is way too complex for that. So just flow with the narrative the first time around.

The epic consists of 5 major parts.
It begins with 'Ainulindalë', which is akin to the creation myth from different religions. Eru Ilúvatar, or 'God' decides to create the Universe, and from his thought spring several celestial beings called the 'Ainur'. The name of this part is an homage to the Ainur and their Music that leads to the creation of the Earth (Arda/Ea).Ainulindalë literally means 'the Music of the Ainur' and you are free to interpret the Music as you like, because there is no clear explanation of what it exactly is. Melkor, one of the Ainur whose ego gets the better of him, decides to meddle and make his own Music. Some readers might lose interest, and if they don't enjoy the book at this point, they should probably stop and read something else, because it is only going to get way more complex. For those who took up this book because they had a passing interest in the LOTR, they should probably skip right to the last chapter, although that would mean missing the story of the Silmarils. And this is after all 'The Silmarillion'!

If you are one of the few who are determined to persist and finish the book, the next chapter Valaquenta, describes the different Ainur (or Valar) who descend to inhabit Arda, and their constant struggle against Melkor, now known as Morgoth. Close on the heels of that is the crux of the book, Quenta Silmarillion, which narrates the tale of the magical Silmarils. I simply loved Tolkien's story telling, especially the extremely beautiful tale of Beren and Luthien. I will refrain from recounting the events in this part as they are far too many, but if you have read 'The Children of Hurin' and 'The Unfinished tales', you'll come across many a familiar name.

The smallest chapter is 'Akallabêth', which describes the events in the Second Age including the rise of Sauron and the travails of the Dunedain, the most famous of whom is Aragorn, whom we met in 'The Fellowship of the Ring'. The final chapter 'Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age', leads into the events in 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Rings' and is the one most readers find familiar.

Tolkien draws aplenty from Norse and Celtic myths and legends, so you will find a lot of familiar themes like 'The Creation', 'the Fallen', 'the Flood' and different Ages. On a side note, similar themes also exist in Hindu mythology (and also in the Transformers series!), and comparing the similarities is something that I find quite interesting.

I love browsing through online discussions of the book and when my Tolkien book club was reading it this spring, I went back to skim it one more time. The language makes you a lot more literate with the 'beautiful' old style English and there is just so much to learn by diving into the rich world created by Tolkien. Some critics say his characters are very one dimensional, but I think even if they are, they are the best one-dimensional characters in literature and serve their purpose well in the story. I wish I could do more justice to this review, but it is somewhat beyond my scope. I might review it properly at some point. Right now I am using this as a writing exercise for myself, and if I have somehow managed it, a way to entice few more readers into the Tolkien cult.

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