A Reader's Guide to The Silmarillion

by Paul H. Kocher

This book serves as a reference for readers of Tolkien's other well known opus.

Genres: Fantasy

286 pages, Hardcover

First published February 29, 1980

About the author

Paul Harold Kocher was an American scholar, writer, and professor of English. He wrote extensively on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien as well as on Elizabethan English drama, philosophy, religion, and medicine. His numerous publications include studies of Christopher Marlowe and Francis Bacon. He also authored books on the Franciscan missions of 18th- and 19th-century California.

Reviews

[Leon Moore · Rating 2 out of 5]

For many 'The Silmarillion' is an uncharted sea and for the sycophants of the middle-earth movies, a rather unnerving quest which offers no easy re-interpretations to apply to a greater understanding of Tolkien's envisaged world.

For me this guide is more a re-telling of the original work and less of a critical anlaysis or interpretation. The knowledgeable reader of Tolkien will find this book disappointing with nothing enlightening or revealing.

If its a greater understanding of this book your after then then i'd recommend you go back to 'The Silmarillion' to read again.

[Kay Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book but found it to be a précis of The Silmarillion with not much critical analysis. There were a few spelling errors (one which Tolkien hated ie writing elfin instead of elven) and a few factual errors (eg the number of Istari was 5 not 7). The book was also repetitive in places, especially the last chapter. However as ’ve only just recently read The Silmarillion it was a good recap of the book but not much else.

[Todd R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth reading on it's own, but wonderful when read with the Silmarillion.