>>6873740>The Silmarillion > it's like trudging through mudIt is.
That's not entirely a Bad Thing. It's phenomenally epic, like almost no other story ever. However, it will only work for you if you really want to immerse yourself in the Tolkien mythology. You will have to continuously remember and recall lineages of households. Very challenging, but also rewarding if you want to experience something like being a Nordic skáld and recalling 5,000 years of oral history in Beowulf-like poetry from memory.
I trudged through it in high school, then again in my first year of college, because I loved the Lord of the Rings so much (This pre-dates the movies). And, frankly, I admit I missed a good bit of it because only reading through it twice isn't enough to comprehend and hold all the details in mind while you experience the story. My first read through I was too young to really grasp it, and my second read through I was distracted by my studies.
And, I've read through the entire Lord of the Rings plus the Hobbit something like a dozen times.
So, if you're a true Tolkien fan, go ahead and do it. Don't try to read it in a couple of extended sessions ... pace yourself and absorb it, take breaks and come back to it, read parts of LotR in between.
Also, I don't believe anyone who claims it's their "favorite" book. It has its merits, but someone who claims they hold that up as the one and only favorite above all others is a try-hard faggot trying to impress other people.
I love and cherish the Lord of the Rings, and I don't claim it as my "favorite." Just one of my favorites.
