Tolkien has some very dense prose and it can be tough to get through. The Silmarillion’s even moreso, it reads like the King James Bible. I think what really kills it though is how influential it’s been on the genre. So much is derivative of LotR that it no longer feels “fresh”, kind of the same way The Beatles were mind-blowingly innovative at the time but now it all just sounds really generic and well-worn. You’re bang-on about Star Wars too, I like Star Wars quite a bit but it goes groundbreaking movie (ANH), goated classic (ESB), schlock (the rest of the movies).
Tolkien has some very dense prose and it can be tough to get through. The Silmarillion’s even moreso, it reads like the King James Bible. I think what really kills it though is how influential it’s been on the genre. So much is derivative of LotR that it no longer feels “fresh”, kind of the same way The Beatles were mind-blowingly innovative at the time but now it all just sounds really generic and well-worn. You’re bang-on about Star Wars too, I like Star Wars quite a bit but it goes groundbreaking movie (ANH), goated classic (ESB), schlock (the rest of the movies).