People
To be a judge you don't have to know about books, you have to be skilled at picking shrapnel out of your head.
— Joanna Lumley
Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial interpretation.
A wry jibe about judging: the job supposedly needs no literary knowledge, only the knack of removing shrapnel from your own head. It suggests that judges endure heated, damaging argument, and survival matters more than expertise.
Context reviewed