So will anyone try The Silmarillion? FWIW I stopped reading it because it seemed almost like an alternative bible/story of creation and it was getting that I knew more about it than the real thing.
I slogged through that finally a couple of years ago. More to keep straight than I really wanted to bother with.
The Silmarillion would be many, many movies. I don’t think even Jackson could do it justice.
In honor of Jackson's latest "offering", I t hought I'd better "bone-up" on middle-earth. So, I've just finished reading the trilogy. But before that I went through The Silmarillion, and The Hobbit.
Years ago, I happened upon The Silmiarillion and attempted to read it (before I'd read anything else concerning Hobbits) and adopted the same attitude as your own.
I found though that after going through The Hobbit, The Fellowship - then seeing Jackson's rendition of middle-earth, I found The Silmarillion to actually be an enjoyable read. One reason for this I believe, is simply that in the Silmarillion, you almost immediately are overwhelmed with so names and characters - and no categories with which to sort them out...
I've read it many times. It will give you much deeper insight into Middle Earth, the events of LotR, and will change how you view the characters.
A resource I found invaluable when reading the Silmarillion was Karen Fonstad's "Atlas of Middle Earth". It allowed me to visualize the major changes in the world that occur in the Silmarillion.
And yes, it does read like the Bible. Tolkien was a devout Catholic. Manwe is an analog of Christ and Varda is comparable to Mary the Queen of Heaven. Melkor is obviously Satan. On the other hand Tolkien's cosmology is gnostic. Eru Illuvatar is Demiurge, the Valar are Archons and the Maiar are Angels. Keep in mind that it is just fiction and use it to pique your curiousity in the real Bible.