Everyone has heard of J.R.R. Tolkien and Lord of the Rings.
You probably have read at least one of the books or The Hobbit at some point in your life.
Maybe you were that guy who dressed up like Frodo and went to the midnight showing when the movies came out.

But have you read The Silmarillion?

The Silmarillion is to Lord of the Rings as Rocky Balboa is to Tommy Gunn in Rocky 5. Normally I refuse to acknowledge that this movie was ever made because I am a proud Rocky fan and Rocky 5 is just an all out embarrasement - there is no way around it. The budget was too low, the timing wasn't right, Stallone was too old and the plot was too ridiculous. I spend a lot of the movie looking down at my feet in akwardness. The movie never should have been made, they should have stopped with 4.

But it works for illustration.

In Rocky 5, Balboa can't fight anymore because of brain damage he suffered at the hands of the giant Russian he beat in the epic fight of Rocky 4. But Rocky can't stay away from the ring and he agrees to train the upstart boxer Tommy Gunn and eventually turns him into a world champion but in his success Gunn never gives any credit to Balboa and eventually turns his back on him which leads to the showdown at the end.

It's a stretch but Enter the Silmarillion.

LOTR is the greatest fiction series ever written - its an awesome epic. The movies made millions. Millions have read the books, but often people haven't even heard of The Silmarillion. The Silimarillion explains how everything began - it explains the lore of middle-earth, the origin of all the races, it explains the language Tolkien invented when writing the series (by the way who invents a language? Amazing). It makes LOTR. Without it's history, LOTR doesn't come to life. Without Balboa there is no Tommy Gunn.

It's time the book gets it due.

If for no other reason, read the book out of respect for one of the world's greatest writers. This is my second time through and there are times still where I have to put the book down and think to myself: this is a masterpiece written by a man of unparalleled genius. People simply don't write like this anymore.

And the thing with good art is that ultimately it gives credit and points right back to the Artist whose fingerprints are upon us. The beauty of the book moves me and ultimately makes me more impressed with the God who molded the genius of a man like Tolkien and allowed him to fashion his art.

In our fast food, pragmatic-knowledge driven culture we should all more often just stop and read a book - not to learn so that we can spit off facts and feel smart but just to appreciate beauty and the God whose handiwork it ultimately harkens back to.

I recommend The Silmarillion as a good way to start.

"The Silmarillion is both Tolkien's first book and his last, and the core of his imaginative work that underlies all his writings about Middle-earth. Tolkien began The Silmarillion in 1917 and worked on it, changed it, and continued it throughout his life. Edited by his son, Christopher Tolkien, the book finally appeared four years after the author's death, in 1977. "