Thread: HP and JKR

It sounds like the author's writing grew as the series did

Frankly, I'd say the opposite. After the third one I found myself getting tired of all the politics and wishing for more of the whizzbang wonder that made the first books such fun.
I'd compare it, in a way, to the Dune series in that respect. It's so awesome at first, but eventually just keeps getting more and more into intricacies of boring court machinations and wondering how many times Duncan Idaho is going to come back to life.
I'd be interested in seeing sales figures on the series. The sequence of SIZE of the books is interesting. They just kept getting longer and longer and longer.

Hmm. I left off the Dune books after God Emperor of Dune appeared in Playboy. Boring. I'll check HP again. At least the writing isn't so bad that I'd lose interest in anything except seeing how many times it could bounce, as in many series I've seen (Meyer, Debbie Macomber, Diana Gabaldon), or such an inherently stupid premise that I wouldn't open it in the first place (most ersatz high fantasy).
I wanted to like it the first time around, but I kept getting hung up on the similarities to Harold Shea and the Practical Magic-type stuff. Especially Shea.

I prefer the earlier HPs to the latters. They got darker, longer, more political, and less magical. The latter dunes got crazy. I loved the first one, one of my favs, and sort of liked the next three - but after that it was a huge wtf fest. By the end there was that race of warrior women who enslaved people with sex and can kick as fast as a soundwave and there were all those clones running around, and it turns out that those Tleilaxu vats are actually giant, mutated women whose bodies are 95% vagina. Yuck.

Rowling sure has made a generation of people hate the likes of Umbridge and Malfoy, who were elitists and your typical fascists. Voldemort's racism and discrimination against muggles, werewolves, mudbloods, etc. is an example. Honestly, is there anyone who didn't want to roundhouse kick Umbridge by the end of that one book? Man, I was just hoping, just praying Hagrid was going to take a huge stump of a tree or something and just smash her into the sky, BAM.

moderan - I barely finished the first Dune books, and have been assured by fans that I've missed out on the literary adventure of a lifetime. Past a certain age Potter may appeal to only a few.

I'm tempted to take volume one of Potter and do an exegetical study of selected key passages, the pivot points. Even in that introductory volume there are some real nuggets, though the veins grow thicker and denser as you move from year to year.

caelum - I think I'm glad I stopped half way through the second Dune.

Obviously you are reading Rowling the way I do. Hagrid, by the way, is my favourite character in the books.

I think the social commentary within the series is completely obvious.

The Ministry of Magic are a largely unreliable force. Cornelius Fudge, the minister, is portrayed as well meaning but incompetent, and less well meaning as the pressure on him rises. We as the readers, are against him because he is so suspicious of Dumbledore.
And we love Dumbledore.
She constantly illustrates that government can be tainted and make dumb nervous decisions.

The media flip flops on Harry taking him from hero, to Slytherin heir, to nutcase, back to hero.

Using Slytherin - Race is a constant discussion in the book. Hermione is a mudblood because neither of her parents are magic. Harry's mother was a mudblood too. The Weasleys are full wizarding blood, but they're poor and kind to muggles so they're also worthy of slytherin scorn.

What I find more interesting than the politics of Potter is the affect that Rowling's relationship with her parents had on the series. Her mother was sick and died, I think, right before she started writing the first one. Her father and her were/are estranged. Throughout the series Harry is always looking for a father figure, with Sirius, Arthur Weasley, Hagrid, Lupin, and Dumbledore, but never a mother figure. As if Rowling is at ease with the death of her mother, but not with not having a father figure.

As for the progression of the books, she wrote the first one living on the dole coming out of a failed marriage with a baby in tow.
By the fifth, sixth and seventh books, everyone in the world knew who she was and was just desperate to see what she was writing.
Can you imagine the pressure? Harry becomes very bitter and frustrated in the later books. It seems mighty transparent to me that Rowling couldn't quite contain her own bitterness when she wrote those.

Now this is the story all about how,
My life got flipped, turned upside down,
And I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there,
I'll tell you how I became a famous wizard of Britain

In Godric's Hollow I was born and raised
In a crib is where I spent most of my days.
Chillin' out, maxin', relaxin' all cool,
And all oblivious I was goin' to wizarding school.

When a some dark guy who was up to no good,
Started killin' people in my neighborhood.
I survived one little fight an while my mom was clinging,
Said "You're movin' with your auntie and uncle in Little Whinging."

I heard a motorcycle, and when it came near,
I said "fuck" because it was gigantic.
If anything I could say that this shit was live,
But I thought "Nah forget it, Yo home to Privet Drive."

I pulled up to the house about seven or eight,
and I yelled to Hagrid "Yo homes, smell ya later."
Looked at my kingdom, I was finally there,
Then I got married to Ginny and had three children named Lily, James, and Albus Severus on pages 753-759.


I found this a while ago and thought it was awesome XD

Like a Fox - You are telling me things about Rowling I did not know. I had read that she was on the dole when she wrote the first book, but I did not know about her mother and father. That explains a lot.

The Ministry of Magic is a typical government ministry. It's difficult to miss both the cynicism and the in-your-face satire Rowling uses to destroy any respect we might have for the workings of government bureaucracy. The worse a situation becomes, the louder they talk about how all problems have been solved, and when at last they can't deny the problem, they become frantic in their search for a scapegoat.

What effect might some of this have on the attitudes of future voters, the kids who have grown up with Harry Potter. Even a child should be able to recognise the scathing commentary Rowling is offering here.

caelum - How dare you! (snort, cough) That's not the least bit (gah...ha) funny, you heretic you. Jeez, where did you find that? You are wicked.

I agree wholeheartedly with garza. I believe HP will be remembered in the same way LOTR is remembered. It is a brilliant piece of literature, and I absolutely love JKR's writing style. The rhythm and flow appeal to me on levels I can't describe. I was part of the original HP generation, the first book was released when I was 9, and I followed the series from beginning to end. The wait between the release of each book allowed the audience to grow and mature, as did Harry himself. This also followed the maturing content of the books as they progress from childish adventures to serious plots. I have since read them numerous times (my copy of HP4 has been read so many times that every single cover has fallen off). Also, my mother seemed to have no problem with them. She has also read them more than once.
I believe HP is similar to LOTR in the following it has. It has made history in literature, and now movies. It is a literature phenomenon that, whether for good reasons or for the controversy it has inspired (I know of several families who forbade their children from reading HP because they were Christian) , will be remembered for a very long time.
I do not apologise to anyone if my opinions offend you, they are my opinions and I am entitled to them, as you are entitled to yours. I do ask that people respect the rights of others to hold their own opinions.