Lord of the Rings labelled racist

[Laitoste]

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

One of the big drawbacks of course of Reader Response is that we can call a text anything we like if we can find a tiny bit of evidence to support it, even if that evidence is simply our 'feelings' in response to the text.

Ah, but some readings are better than others. In my literary analysis class last year, my professor gave us an interpretation of "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Frost. He had read it as in support of bestiality--"My little horse must think it queer/to stop without a farmhouse near." You could find evidence for that, certainly, but that doesn't make it a right reading, or even a good reading. How do you determine a "right" or "good" reading? That's what's debatable...