[HPFGU-OTChatter] Hiliare Belloc Re: J.K. Rowling's fav books

[Ebony Elizabeth Thomas]

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


Milz:
>Yes, his influence does come through in the Potter books. I can see a
>similar dark humor of "Jim, who ran away from his nurse and was eaten
>by a lion" and "Matilda who liked to tell lies and perished miserably"
>  creeping into the Potter books.


Hilaire Belloc was one of the first British writers I ever read as a child!  
My grandfather owned "Cautionary Tales" and "More Beasts for Worse 
Children"... does everyone have a favorite?  Mine has GOT to be "Rebecca, 
who slammed a door and perished miserably"... I first read "Cautionary 
Tales" when I was about four or five and was going through a door-slamming 
and string-and-paper-eating phase.  (Don't ask.  *Please* don't ask.)  HB 
scared me half to death... I was just getting an idea of what death and 
dying actualy *were*, and reading CT didn't help.

I also can see a faint parallel between JKR and HB's bestiaries.

But Belloc influence doesn't bode well for children like Dudley, Draco, etc. 
  I hope she's not to take a page out of HB's book and let something bad 
happen to them to prove a point.

--Ebony
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