Not the analysis itself, which is sound (if overly familiar), but the fact that, yet again, someone starts talking about 'Tolkien' as an author but then only mentions THE LORD OF THE RINGS in isolation. If it was an essay about LORD OF THE RINGS by itself, that would be fine, but given the point of the article seems to be an assessment of why people think Tolkien is a 'sacred cow' of a writer and why that is not a good idea when the work is flawed (and indeed it is, as all works are), then his full oeuvre needs to be considered, with particular reference to THE SILMARILLION.
Of course, it is important that critics don't mention THE SILMARILLION, as then their usual standbys (Tolkien has inert female characters! Tolkien isn't dark enough!) go flying out the window. Naturally, that book shouldn't be a sacred cow either, and is certainly not flawless (its biggest flaw being that it is very hard to classify), but it would be nice if someone even tried to mention it in one of these things.
Baing hard to classify is a flaw?
		*MySmiley*
structured procrastinator
	
	
	
	
	
structured procrastinator
			Tolkien as a sacred cow of fantasy
	    
	         - 28/07/2010 10:02:39 PM
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			Nonsense, at least in part
	    
	         - 28/07/2010 10:19:19 PM
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			I know there is a polite difference of opinion here
	    
	         - 28/07/2010 10:40:42 PM
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			Have to agree.
	    
	         - 28/07/2010 11:38:37 PM
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			It seemed to be that way with Harry Potter just when after it had started to get big.
	    
	         - 29/07/2010 09:44:53 AM
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			*cough* Twilight *cough*
	    
	         - 29/07/2010 10:15:13 AM
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			I was gonna mention that one too.
	    
	         - 29/07/2010 10:35:17 AM
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			Mmm. I read an interesting article actually...
	    
	         - 29/07/2010 08:24:04 PM
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			That's a fair point, I guess...
	    
	         - 29/07/2010 09:18:13 PM
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			mmm, except it's relevant to Bella too.
	    
	         - 29/07/2010 10:43:03 PM
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			That's my point, it's pretty much only relevant to Bella - only there is it shown prominently. *NM*
	    
	         - 29/07/2010 10:59:54 PM
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			Of course, since she's the main character, it matters rather a lot, yes? *NM*
	    
	         - 30/07/2010 09:39:07 AM
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			How much do you have to read to form an opinion?
	    
	         - 29/07/2010 12:23:28 PM
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			To the end
	    
	         - 29/07/2010 12:59:25 PM
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			my reading time is too scarce to think that way
	    
	         - 29/07/2010 01:21:26 PM
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			I agree, but HP is a good example of something you should keep reading
	    
	         - 29/07/2010 08:27:20 PM
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			and I will
	    
	         - 29/07/2010 09:13:03 PM
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			The books mature as Harry does. You should really give it another shot *NM*
	    
	         - 29/07/2010 03:00:37 PM
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			He doesn't want to, so why should he? It's not like you or he is losing anything now
	    
	         - 29/07/2010 06:15:58 PM
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			It is a case of the "someone is wrong on the internet" thing, only much older
	    
	         - 29/07/2010 06:27:07 PM
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			well you have not failed completely
	    
	         - 29/07/2010 06:50:15 PM
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			Re: well you have not failed completely
	    
	         - 29/07/2010 06:53:38 PM
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			one quick question
	    
	         - 29/07/2010 07:38:00 PM
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			how many books do I have to read to get to the grown up books?
	    
	         - 29/07/2010 06:42:37 PM
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			None of them are "geared towards grown ups" - it's still a YA series.
	    
	         - 29/07/2010 07:03:24 PM
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			They're all "light reading" for adults, geared towards YA readers.
	    
	         - 29/07/2010 08:29:01 PM
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			Re: It seemed to be that way with Harry Potter just when after it had started to get big.
	    
	         - 29/07/2010 08:45:58 PM
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			it's not supposed to be on par with adult fantasy.
	    
	         - 29/07/2010 08:49:16 PM
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			I'd argue it's better than Jordan and others from a literary standpoint.
	    
	         - 29/07/2010 09:14:07 PM
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			I have always thought Jordan had some interesting themes but they were often ignored...
	    
	         - 29/07/2010 09:27:12 PM
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			I agree Tolkien should not be a sacred cow or put on a pedestal overmuch.
	    
	         - 28/07/2010 11:10:37 PM
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			I completely agree that there should be no sacred cows, and that applies to Tolkien.
	    
	         - 28/07/2010 11:13:39 PM
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			all art forms have sacred cows
	    
	         - 29/07/2010 01:38:26 AM
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			Yeah, it was the line about women waiting at home while their men went to war that made me laugh.
	    
	         - 29/07/2010 06:44:34 PM
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			Disappointing.
	    
	         - 29/07/2010 04:41:34 AM
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			Re: Disappointing.
		
	         - 29/07/2010 09:19:25 AM
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			I think you are ignoring the key fact that the Silmarillion was never published by Tolkien.
	    
	         - 30/07/2010 01:48:14 PM
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			I find the Tolkien lovers to be obnoxious in their never ending masturbatory praise of his works.
	    
	         - 30/07/2010 06:09:42 AM
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