Friday, January 03, 2003

Tolkien as a fantasy author
To me, to say that one doesn't like The Lord of the Rings because "fantasy isn't my genre is like saying "I don't like The Brothers Karamazov because murder mysteries aren't my genre." I say this as someone who likes murder mysteries and has never been able to make it all the way through The Bs K. There are some books that, no matter what my tastes are, are simply great literature, no matter what the genre. If I don't like it it only points to my own limitation, not to "a matter of taste." For instance, Ulysses is great literature, even if Joyce isn't my cup of tea. Same for Shakespeare.

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