judging Shapiro

[Cyrus]

pynchonoid wrote:

>[...] it's lame to judge Shapiro's work (as
>"an expert in cultural studies, race and slavery,"
>quoting _The Scotsman_ article excerpted below) on the
>basis of a press release, and that it would be
>surprising to find that Tolkien's books don't reflect
>the values of the culture that formed him.  
>  
>
I would just like two point out two things: (a) noone is judging Dr. 
Shapiro, there was just a discussion (needlessly heated, sometimes) 
about the notion that there is racism in the LOTR, and (b) every book 
always reflects the values of  its reader. To make this clearer: a 
neo-nazi might indeed say LOTR is about white supremacy; an 
internationalist might say it's about abolishing boundaries and working 
together against a common enemy, someone with very strong anti-racist 
feelings might see some similarity to racist ideas in it and react, etc. 
It is a long-held belief of mine that the reader, while reading,  is 
only interested in whatever bears some relation to himself which he can 
respond to, either in a positive or in a negative way. Therefore, the 
book is always about the reader and his own values.

Trying to explain my point of view.
Cyrus