[calibraxis]

Maybe it helps to simply notice that Clojure code is stored in a data format. Or it may help for you try to write a simple macro.

(Macros give you extra power in extending the language, in ways which a language designer couldn't foresee. Because they're not omniscient; for your domain, you can be the expert, not them. Macros let people add paradigms-as-libraries. You may never write a macro, but you can benefit from those who do.)

Now that I'm proficient, I see those parens as cute little code units. With my code editor, I operate on these code units, not just characters. In contrast, other languages seem to have lots of punctuation in all sorts of weird places. Messy.

You can also use ->>:

    (reduce
      (filter-reducer even?)
      []
      (reduce
        (map-reducer inc)
        []
        (range 10)))

can be written more clearly:

    (->> (range 10)
         (reduce (map-reducer inc) [])
         (reduce (filter-reducer even?) []))