IVIV: chapter seven—Eel Trovatore

[Ray Easton]

Robin Landseadel wrote:
> What appalls me about these critics is that they are placing 
> themselves above the author

Any new work by a great writer deserves serious and thoughtful 
consideration.  A "good reader" should strive to understand the work on 
its own terms, rather than immediately rejecting it because he cannot 
"connect to" or comprehend it.  A "good reader" should indeed suspend 
judgment, but does not mean that he should simply abandon judgment 
altogether.  If it's a bad thing to place oneself above the author, it 
is equally certain that it's a bad thing to place oneself below the 
author, and is a sort of idolatry that seems particularly inappropriate 
when applied to a writer with TRP's (apparent) views.

Ray
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