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					Originally Posted by davem
					
				 Having missed out on 'Higher' education this is a trauma I have managed to avoid. I'm not sure I would have cared all that much about the reaction of others even so. As to Tolkien being 'taken seriously' I think those who love the stories have always taken him seriously & as far as the others are concerned I simply couldn't care less about them or their opinions - on Tolkien or probably anything else..
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 Well since they marked my essays I had to care to a point 

 . As for my peers, I wasn't particularly confident at 19 and the flaky - barking mad thing isn't an entirely recent development.  Fortunately by the time I left, I had learnt to discern between sophistication and pretentiousness......  which is why I am still in touch with only a couple of  people on my course.... 
