JES’s dial fell off. Mine, however, goes all the way up to 11. Bwa-ha-ha-ha! 
djm
The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings are only a small part of the legendarium which Tolkien created.
There are other tales of breathaking grandeur and heartbreaking beauty in the Silmarillion and the other posthumously published works…but they aren’t handed to you “on a platter” in the way that LOTR is. You have to work for them.
Those of us who know the story of the Tale of Beren and Luthien known how rewarding that work can be.
Those of us who have gone further than that know what is inscribed on the Tolkien’s gravestones.
–James
No, no…quite right. I like my hobbits on a platter.
But I know what’s written in wood glue on the inside of the drawer of the old desk our eMac sits on.
… actually, it fell off.
… see? What did I tell ya’? 
wine sauce? 
I may have mentioned this before around here but..
Six or seven times, over the past thirty years, I have picked up LOTR, and gave it up about a third of the way into the first book.
I just can’t get past that point without thinking to myself that Life is to short to bother with all this stuff.
The Hobbit I enjoyed very much.
LOTR has always struck me as a kinda Star Wars for those who were around before SFX.
I fell asleep in the Cinema, five minutes into the first fillum..
No disrespect to JJ, but it ain’t for me (which probably explains it’s world wide appeal) 
Slan,
D.
I have a first edition first printing of The Silmarillion. It has some wonderful moments and some that are, well, tedious reading. But it is a nice collectors item. It has a mistake in the credits and was pulled from the shelves after I got mine.
Ron
Put me in the pile that tried to make it through the Sillmarillion and just couldn’t. I loved the others and remember being excited when “S” came out, that is, until I tried to wade through the thing.
One can’t be a hardcore Tolkien fan without at least having read the Silmarillion to completion… Enjoying it is another matter.
In fact I do enjoy it, but I have to get past the first few old-Testamentish chapters and into the main action of the story.
Yes indeed.
This is probably letting people who haven’t read the Silmarillion off easy, but, then again, it may inspire some interest in others who have yet to read it.
Who dumped the big pile of green gollum on the corner of it? 
djm
How sweet!