This might sound a bit stupid but.....

I have just acquired a copy of the Silmarillion and I was wondering so I read it or not, a have looked up a couple of web sites and I have received a couple of mixed views. Any help will be appreciated

Personaly I think it's the greatest work of fiction ever written even though it's largely unfinished.

In my opinion it was MUCH better than LotR. It is also more "advanced" in the way it is written. You will enjoy it
Now go sit down and read it.

Indeed I will thanks guys

I wouldn't say it is better than the Lord of the Rings, but you should definitely read it. It is hard for me to make comparisons between The Silmarillion, Hobbit and Lord of the Rings because they were put together in much different ways with different things in the mind of its author (and editor), for different purposes. But I find The Silmarillion to be very moving, and for what it's worth I always become obsessed with the Quendi, those beautiful speaking peoples, first in the wide Endorenna.

LOTRs has its beauty, and the Silmarillion has its. I think the Silmarillion is written in a more moving, and poetically narrative way. there are more sad events and sad love stories to cry over. More Elven battles to get excited over, but these books inner twine I think to create the most beautiful work of fantasy fiction ever written. The History and the Present come together here to create a world we all wish we could live in. I missed my calling. I should have been a critic.

Without having read the Silmarillion, one can't understand the happenings in the LotR fully. Except for that, it is a great read on its own!

Events in the Silmarillion happened 3 ages before the LOTRs. I think most people read the LOTRs first and then the Silmarillion, because this is the order they were published in, and it just seems eaiser to do it this way. As for the HOME, you most definately would be lost without reading the other books first.