Of LotR, Game of Thrones and recent 'criticisms' of Tolkien
Those two statements don't go together well.....I disagree as well which is why I bothered to bring it up.Passdagas the Brown wrote:How else should superficial and/or condescending criticism be treated?
Though I disagree that GRRM is assessing Tolkien superficially...
Do you mean me saying I'm annoyed by the tone of some the responses in this thread?Frelga wrote:And the criticism of the criticism of the criticism wasn't that much better.
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What bothers me is seeing -- yet again -- the posts of others being misrepresented. No one said -- or implied -- that Martin or anyone else is stupid, and yet that is what is accused. These types of misrepresentations make any kind of real discourse impossible, and are a big part of why I tend to stay out of these discussions.
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Understood. But though I disagree that GRRM is assessing Tolkien superficially, I do think that the articles SV posted in the OP assessed Tolkien not only very superficially, but also condescendingly. As such, I do not believe they merit serious consideration or respect.yovargas wrote:Those two statements don't go together well.....I disagree as well which is why I bothered to bring it up.Passdagas the Brown wrote:How else should superficial and/or condescending criticism be treated?
Though I disagree that GRRM is assessing Tolkien superficially...
Do you mean me saying I'm annoyed by the tone of some the responses in this thread?Frelga wrote:And the criticism of the criticism of the criticism wasn't that much better.
SV may be presenting his argument a little stridently here, but I don't think he deserves the accusation of "righteous grandstanding," as Alatar put it. He's justifiably annoyed, IMO, at the kind of sneering attitude many Tolkien critics adopt.
That said, I think we should avoid hypocrisy by trying not to sneer too much at other fantasy authors, such as GRRM. While I think Tolkien is the far superior author, I understand GRRM's appeal.
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Correct. Apologies for the mis-characterization. In any event, I don't feel that any posters here have been righteously grandstanding. If there's a defensiveness, it is likely a reaction to the sneering tone of some criticism.Alatar wrote:To be clear, I didn't name anyone when I made that comment and it could have applied to several posters.
But I agree that we, as Tolkien fans, should try to avoid treating fans of other fantasy authors the same way!