Why do you like Monk?

I've been listening to jazz more and more for about three years now, and have been into music for about 12 years.

I come back and listen to some Monk now and again, but just can't get into it. The problem a lot of people seem to have is that it's too harsh/dissonant. That's not the problem with me. I love out-playing, weird sounding stuff, and have listened to a lot of very harsh metal in the past.

To me, he literally sounds like a retarded person playing. And I don't mean "retarded" as it's used as an insult sometimes nowadays, but actually literally retarded. He just slops around. It sounds like he has no control over dynamics. Whenever he's comping, he distracts from the focus on the soloist, rather than complementing what they're doing. And while I do enjoy the sound of playing out, I find his little whole-tone runs to be sickly and dry, rather than intriguing. Every time Monk does a whole-tone run, I feel like I was just sentenced to spend eternity copying the dictionary over and over in a small shack in the middle of the desert.

And yet people call him a genius. Why?

Genuinely curious, not trolling here.

Thanks

EDIT: I will add, however, to soften the blow, that I like some of his compositions. Monk's Dream in particular.