Seriously, folks, it's an honor. Those of you who read my article carefully -- and I am gratified to see how many of you did -- know that my sentiments are about as pro-geek as they come, at least in the world of artsy-fartsy leftoid journalism.
As for those who mistook the essay for an anti-geek, anti-Tolkien screed, well, I guess I can't blame you. As somebody astutely pointed out here, I wasn't writing for the/. crowd, but for artsy-fartsy leftoids whose anti-geek prejudices I felt I had to humor in order to get them to entertain the possibility that they just might be entirely full of shit. Also, as somebody else astutely pointed out, I did spend too much time giving the opinions of Tolkien's detractors their due, and less time than I should have explaining why their criticisms ultimately miss the point.
That said, I think that if those of you who've been flaming my azz here would just holster your phasers for a second, take a deep breath, and read the essay slowly one more time, you'll find it more to your liking. Not to say you won't still find it pretentious, overwritten, and riddled with errors of both fact and interpretation. But anti-Tolkien? Nope. Anti-geek? No fucking way.
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Seriously, folks, it's an honor. Those of you who read my article carefully -- and I am gratified to see how many of you did -- know that my sentiments are about as pro-geek as they come, at least in the world of artsy-fartsy leftoid journalism.
As for those who mistook the essay for an anti-geek, anti-Tolkien screed, well, I guess I can't blame you. As somebody astutely pointed out here, I wasn't writing for the /. crowd, but for artsy-fartsy leftoids whose anti-geek prejudices I felt I had to humor in order to get them to entertain the possibility that they just might be entirely full of shit. Also, as somebody else astutely pointed out, I did spend too much time giving the opinions of Tolkien's detractors their due, and less time than I should have explaining why their criticisms ultimately miss the point.
That said, I think that if those of you who've been flaming my azz here would just holster your phasers for a second, take a deep breath, and read the essay slowly one more time, you'll find it more to your liking. Not to say you won't still find it pretentious, overwritten, and riddled with errors of both fact and interpretation. But anti-Tolkien? Nope. Anti-geek? No fucking way.