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Silmarillion Discussion OOC

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Impenitent
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Posted: Mon 21 Feb , 2005 3:05 am
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Holby, you are kind. :)

Lidless, we already knew that you're always ready to play.

Oh! You mean you want to read the book. :oops: Sounds good. The more the merrier.

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Ethel
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Posted: Mon 21 Feb , 2005 3:38 am
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First a few words: I am delighted that so many people seem to be interested in taking part! I very much look forward to your thoughts and insights. As I mentioned before, I am no scholar. I won't be coming up with any arcana about the derivation of languages. It was my thought and hope that we could read this vital piece of Tolkien's legendarium together as "general readers" and simply share the experience. (Not that I object to scholarly insights! I just won't be providing any myself. :))


Okay, here's a proposed reading schedule. I would really appreciate feedback on this. Is it too fast? Too slow? Should we take, for instance, a whole week for Ainulindalë even though it's only 11 pages? Have I chosen any particularly awkward chapter breaks? For instance, I have included the last 2 chapters of Quenta Silmarillion with Akallabeth... should Akallabeth have its own week?

Once we've agreed to a schedule, I will copy it to the first post and later add a link to the beginning discussion. Basically, I tried to split the book into (more or less) 50 page increments, spread over 8 weeks. (I will be reading the Random House paperback edition - my page counts come from it.)

Here goes!


Discussion beginning Sunday, March 6 (49 pages)
Ainulindalë (11 pages)
Valaquenta (10 pages)
Quenta Silmarillion:
1. Of the Beginning of Days (11 pages)
2. Of Aulë and Yavanna (6 pages)
3. Of the coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor (11 pages)

Discussion beginning Sunday, March 13 (46 pages)
Quenta Silmarillion:
4. Of Thingol and Melian (2 pages)
5. Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië (8 pages)
6. Of Fëanor and the Unchaining of Melkor (5 pages)
7. Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor (8 pages)
8. Of the Darkening of Valinor (6 pages)
9. Of the Flight of the Noldor (17 pages)

Discussion beginning Sunday, March 20 (53 pages)
Quenta Silmarillion:
10. Of the Sindar (9 pages)
11. Of the Sun and Moon and the Hiding of Valinor (7 pages)
12. Of Men (4 pages)
13. Of the Return of the Noldor (16 pages)
14. Of Beleriand and Its Realms (10 pages)
15. Of the Noldor in Beleriand (7 pages)

Discussion beginning Sunday, March 27 (39 pages)
Quenta Silmarillion:
16. Of Maeglin (11 pages)
17. Of the Coming of Men into the West (13 pages)
18. Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin (15 pages)

Discussion beginning Sunday, April 3 (47 pages)
Quenta Silmarillion:
19. Of Beren and Lúthien (34 pages)
20. Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad (13 pages)

Discussion beginning Sunday, April 10 (52 pages)
Quenta Silmarillion:
21. Of Túrin Turambar (38 pages)
22. Of the Ruin of Doriath (14 pages)

Discussion beginning Sunday, April 17 (54 pages)
Quenta Silmarillion:
23. Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin (10 pages)
24. Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath (13 pages)
Akallabeth (31 pages)

Discussion beginning Sunday, April 24 (26 pages plus "wrap up")
Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age (26 pages)
Overall discussion of the work


Your thoughts greatly appreciated!

Oh, and just for fun, here is Christopher Tolkien's map of Beleriand:

[ img ]

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Kaya
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Posted: Mon 21 Feb , 2005 11:58 am
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I love this idea and I'd gladly participate. :)

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Berhael
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Posted: Mon 21 Feb , 2005 4:16 pm
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I've been studying the schedule and it sounds fine to me. If it feels too rushed or people can't catch up, we can slow down, or go more in depth if we feel the need to. :)

Can we use this thread to suggest another group reads, or shall I create a specific thread to recruit willing vict- er, readers? :D


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Ethel
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Posted: Mon 21 Feb , 2005 4:58 pm
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Berhael wrote:
I've been studying the schedule and it sounds fine to me. If it feels too rushed or people can't catch up, we can slow down, or go more in depth if we feel the need to. :)
Oh, certainly we can adjust the schedule as we go along if it seems necessary. It's really just a starting point; I'm always open to suggestions. :)
Berhael wrote:
Can we use this thread to suggest another group reads, or shall I create a specific thread to recruit willing vict- er, readers? :D
Well... I don't mind talking about other books we want to read, especially until we get going with the Sil. But it probably makes sense to start a thread that has the book title in it - people might miss it in here.

What book are you thinking of?

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Berhael
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Posted: Mon 21 Feb , 2005 5:12 pm
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I missed the TORC group read for Dune, and have been wanting to re-read it. And I want to go back to Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy too. Maybe once we get done with the Sil... :)


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Griffon64
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Posted: Mon 21 Feb , 2005 5:24 pm
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Yes! Belated yes! :mrgreen:

I saw this thread and wanted to post that I'm in but, with B77 not working from home, I forgot and stuff.

( And I promise to use better grammar once we start the discussion :mrgreen: )

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Ethel
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Posted: Mon 21 Feb , 2005 5:37 pm
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Berhael wrote:
I missed the TORC group read for Dune, and have been wanting to re-read it. And I want to go back to Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy too. Maybe once we get done with the Sil... :)
I'd be up for all of those too!

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Berhael
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Posted: Mon 21 Feb , 2005 5:53 pm
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Excellent!!!
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satch
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Posted: Mon 21 Feb , 2005 6:14 pm
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:D

I don't know if I'll actually be able to do this though because my reading skills have died, and I think 50 odd pages a week would kill me. Plus the fact that I've already been reading the book on and off since December 03 (I think) and I'm only on chapter 3 ;).

Oh wow, that's not even the first weeks reading??


Well yeah... hmm...


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Guruthostirn
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Posted: Mon 21 Feb , 2005 6:19 pm
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Considering I'm still toying with the idea of doing a workshop, hopefully with some help, on the Sil at the next Gathering, dealing mainly with making the book Managable and Not a fierce struggle, keeping it from being too intimidating, I should probably hop on in...

Whatever pace works for me...last time I think I went through it in about a week...

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Ethel
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Posted: Mon 21 Feb , 2005 7:16 pm
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satch wrote:
Plus the fact that I've already been reading the book on and off since December 03 (I think) and I'm only on chapter 3 ;).
Well then - you should be all ready for the first discussion on March 6! ;)

Guruthostirn wrote:
Considering I'm still toying with the idea of doing a workshop, hopefully with some help, on the Sil at the next Gathering, dealing mainly with making the book Managable and Not a fierce struggle, keeping it from being too intimidating, I should probably hop on in...
That would be great. I'm completely into reading it like any other book and not getting stressed over not being a good enough scholar. I think people miss out on a lot of good literature because they allow themselves to be intimidated. I truly believe anyone can read and appreciate anything* - all you have to do is want to, and keep going.

* with the possible exception of Finnegan's Wake!

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peeg
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Posted: Tue 22 Feb , 2005 8:33 am
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Sounds like fun.....i'm in. :)

Just imagine....the day before my birthday i'll be wallowing through the beginning of the Silmarillian. :LMAO: But it should be fun.....hopefully i'll understand it this time round ;)

As to other group reads, i'd love to have a "His Dark Materials" one.....never got around to reading the "Amber Spyglass" properly, so this should be my chance :mrgreen:

Is fervently glad to hear she's not the only one lacking scholarly qualities when it comes to the Sil..... ;)

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Nin
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Posted: Tue 22 Feb , 2005 8:46 am
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I'd be interested in other group reads if they can help me with my difficulties to read in English (so someone who would be ready to help me with vocabulary) or if I'm allowed to read in German/French.

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Amarie
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Posted: Tue 22 Feb , 2005 8:59 pm
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I'm in too. :D I'm more likely to lurk though because I'll probably end up being intimidated by the brimming intelligence.

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Jnyusa
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Posted: Wed 23 Feb , 2005 1:45 am
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Yes, I'm in, Ethel. Will do my best to keep up.

Jn

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Sunsilver
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Posted: Wed 23 Feb , 2005 3:00 am
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I'd like very much to do this, but have one wee problem.

I'm moving, and all my books are packed away.

If I can locate my copy of the Sil by March 6th, I will glady join in!

If not, well, I guess I'll just have to catch up when I do find it!


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peeg
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Posted: Wed 23 Feb , 2005 5:40 am
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I have no idea what you're talking about Nin....your English is perfect :Q
But if you were reading it along in German/French, wouldn't that be confusing for you, if everyone else was reading it in English?

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Andri
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Posted: Wed 23 Feb , 2005 8:09 am
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Count me in!

But I have a couple of questions on how one should do the reading. I haven't done anything similar before. :oops:
* Do we need to focus on particular questions or issues that we find interesting in those chapters or are you going to give us some topics to think about? :scratch

* Do you guys keep notes or write down thoughts when you do the reading?

46 pages until next Sunday! Gulp!!!


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Ethel
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Posted: Wed 23 Feb , 2005 1:41 pm
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Amarie wrote:
I'm in too. :D I'm more likely to lurk though because I'll probably end up being intimidated by the brimming intelligence.
Well, Amarie, there may well be brimming intelligence on hand. But it won't be emanating from me! So just jump in and share. :)
Jnyusa wrote:
Yes, I'm in, Ethel. Will do my best to keep up.
Ah, good. I chose a later start date for discussion in hopes you could join in or at least catch up. :)

Sunsilver wrote:
I'm moving, and all my books are packed away.
Oh, my poor Sunsilver. My last move just about did me in. I shall be thinking of you. I started to suggest you borrow a copy from the library - but then I realized it would probably just end up packed with the Christmas ornaments. :Q


Welcome, peeg! :)

Andri wrote:
* Do we need to focus on particular questions or issues that we find interesting in those chapters or are you going to give us some topics to think about? :scratch

* Do you guys keep notes or write down thoughts when you do the reading?
Hi, Andri. Glad you will be joining us. The way I tend to do this is start off each discussion with a post that just sort of gives my thoughts and reactions to what we've just read (or someone else does that if RL has turned evil on me... ) Then other people do similar, and that generally provides plenty of material for discussion. I certainly won't be assigning topics! :Q The value, I think, is in the shared discussion.

I do tend to make notes as I'm reading when it's for a group venture like this - sometimes just penciled ones in the margin, though. I find it helps me not forget the bits that particularly struck me. But it's not a requirement. I find that people tend to participate at different levels, and that seems to work fine. :)

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