Do not give up. Silmarillion is an excellent read and it gives you a lot of info from the LOTR history. I've read LOTR several times but not after seeing those movies; maybe i should put it to my books to read list. I remember reading Silmarillion as i was younger and it was surely worth it. Another to my endless list.
Another thing that makes all Tolkien books worth reading here is that he took some influences from our mythology, folklore and national epic Kalevala (on the contrary, that is the most difficult book to read).