JKR's style, Lewis Carroll, HP vs LOTR

[ftah3]

Tabouli wrote:
> Given the discussion of fanfic of late, and David's comment that 
none of the fanfics could possibly be confused with the Real McCoy 
JKR style, what do people actually see as the identifying 
characteristics of JKR's style?  Fast-paced, witty, ingeniously 
convoluted plots, snappy dialogue?  On the main list Luke mused on 
how authors give characters a unique 'voice'... what is JKR's voice?  
Ahaaaa... (now, Mods, is this Off or On-Topic?  It concerns canon, so 
it might even be On!)

Hmm.  I'm on board in the firm belief that fanfic cannot recreate 
JKR's unique "voice," regardless of the fanficker's talent.  But as 
for what constitutes her voice...?  I don't think I could name any 
specifics that would encompass the uniqueness, but I think that the 
difference between what JKR can accomplish with a Harry Potter story 
and what a fanfic writer could accomplish has to do with the fact 
that JKR knows her characters inside and out.  She knows what they 
think, but don't say, what they've done that isn't reported, etc.  

I think that her pacing, wit, dialogue, plot habits could all be 
recreated; her effective use of descriptors ~ usually about a half to 
one full sentence at most to get across any number of implications 
about a character/situation ~ and her balancing of child/mature 
perspective and observational patterns could probably be recreated.  
But one of the things that strikes me about JKR's stories is that *in 
general* (granting a couple of inconsistencies which have popped up), 
it's obvious to me that she has so many and complex details about the 
past, present & future of characters, artifacts, and internal rules 
already laid out that any revelations and choices are ultimately 
logical, fitting in with both the character's internal consistency as 
well as with the internal consistency of the very complex overall 
universe.  And *that* is what I seriously doubt that anyone else 
could recreate.

Which doubtless makes no sense whatsoever, but there it is.  %-P

Tabouli:
> Heh heh heh.  Now this links back to my long ago theory about why 
HP is so popular - it is pacy, modern and accessible enough to appeal 
to the realist readers who don't want to read anything they can't 
directly relate to their own lives.  

Quite possibly!  I've tried to read Lord of the Rings (and The 
Hobbit, for that matter) several times since finding out it'd be made 
a movie, and every time I'll end up tossing it aside after a chapter 
or two thinking, "*What* is the appeal??  I don't get it! It's 
boring!  And slow!  And boring!"  

On the other hand, lest I give the impression that I don't like texts 
which aren't snappy, modern and realistic, I've got a BA in 
Literature, and I still choose and enjoy the old slow stuff, across 
genres, even though I'm no longer being forced to read it.  :-P  

Rachel:
> > I'm thinking about wearing my Gryffindor Seeker jersey, 
> just to annoy them.  :-)  Perhaps accidentally calling 
> Gandalf "Dumbledore"....Frodo "Harry"....Gollum "Dobby".<

*snert*  :-D

Mahoney