XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien, alt.books.cs-lewis, rec.arts.books.childrens   
   XPost: rec.arts.sf.written   
      
   In rec.arts.books.tolkien westprog  wrote:   
      
   > I suppose one could come to the right conclusions if enough evidence were   
   > ignored. Certainly lit crit where no background reading is required must be   
   > less demanding. One could knock off by lunchtime.   
      
   Actually literary criticism where no background reading is   
   required is far more demanding, on both the reader and the   
   author.  A book should stand on its own.  If you need the   
   author to tell you what the book means then someone   
   has failed as an author or a reader.   
      
   Stephen   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)