J.K. Rowling's fav books

[tabouli at unite.com.au]

> Hmmm...I never read "Little White Horse" nor "I Capture the 
Castle". 

Ooo, my first post to the OT list!

"The Little White Horse" is lovely, though given the frequent racial 
discussions on this and the main list, I warn you that the Black Men 
are the bad guys in the story, and "blackness" in general gets a bit 
of a bad press.

I tend to take the "read it in the context of the values of the time" 
view on these issues.  I confess (she says, conscious that she's 
wading in perilous waters here) to a certain irritation with people 
who loudly denounce works written decades ago for not upholding 
current values regarding feminism, multiculturalism and so forth.  I 
mean, sure, note that the attitudes expressed in the books would be 
considered sexist, or racist, or whatever by today's standards, but 
don't denounce the writers for not anticipating shifts in values 
which occurred 50 years after their time.  Please.

Now you mention it, I can see the influence of Hilaire Belloc in 
JKR's work...

Tabouli