The Children of Hurin or The Silmarillion?

[Baiten]

Hi there,

My (younger) brother is turning 16 next week and I was thinking about giving him a Tokien book. He's read The Lord of the Rings books and the Hobbit, both in Dutch. Now, he's not a great reader and I'm afraid the Silmarillion will be a bit to dry for him. I'd like to give him an English book this time and I'm also afraid the Silmarillion will be a bit too hard for him.

I've got my mind set on getting him tCoH, but I would really appreciate your advice!

Thanks
Ben

 

[Siberian]

Did he love LOTR and Hobbit? If not, it might be better to hold off with Silmarillion. When I was a kid, absolutely adored LOTR, but I didn't enjoy Silmarillion quite as much, it was more of source of additional information for me. I haven't read COH yet, so I can't comment on that.

 

[Baiten]

Yea, he really loved LOTR and the Hobbit especially.

I didn't enjoy Silmarillion quite as much, it was more of source of additional information for me

I've read that before, about the Silmarillion being more like the chronicles of Middle Earth with family trees etc.

Thanks for your help

 

[Siberian]

Well, ask him if he wants to know more about people and places mentioned in LOTR (Feanor, Beren, Luthien, Gondolin, Ungoliant, etc.). If he also likes history and mythology, than Silm might actually work for him.

 

[Clansman]

The Silmarillion is not much like The History of Middle Earth. The latter is the actual history of the development of the stories that Tolkien eventually published as The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and Unfinished Tales. The Silmarillion is not much like The History at all, but it is much more abstract than LOTR, for certain. One does not get as invested in the characters as in LOTR or The Hobbit.

The Children of Hurin is the expansion of the Turin Turambar chapter in The Silmarillion. It is every bit as tragic as it is in the Silmarillion, but the story is expanded and much more literary. I don't think it matters which one is read first, as far as the story goes, but if he is working on his English, TCoH might be a better bet.

This being said, why not try him on something else entirely? Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind comes to mind as being a great book for a 16 year old.

 

[Baiten]

Thanks for all your advice guys, I decided to go with the Children of Hurin.

@Clansman: I tried hooking him up with Sean Russel's Swans' War, but he never even tried it. Thanks though, I'll look into Patrick Rothfuss.