Ultimate Unofficial Guide

Sun Feb 23 20:24:53 UTC 2003

Well, 

After reading Nia's and GulPlum's comments, I am emboldened.

I bought it too, looking for possible guests to invite to Nimbus - 
2003. 

I glanced through it a bit, but found its format both condescending, 
ala GulPlum, and, as Nia says, without a lot of the heart that's in 
the books. 

I'm sure there's a lot in there that people may not get on their own, 
but a lot of her connections are tenuous and some are downright 
beyond left field. I wasn't familiar with her "Heir of Gryffindor" 
theory, GulPlum - like I said, I really glanced at it and got utterly 
turned off within moments. Still, I got the sense that she saw 
Significance in so many factors in the books that there's hardly 
anything left in them that is Insignificant. Every veiled reference, 
whether integral to the plot or not, gets presented like a smoking 
gun. I also didn't see a whole lot of supported arguments - more just 
her opinion (and whomever else she happened to have working with 
her... though perhaps GulPlum is right about how she managed that).

I took some umbrage at her assumption that some of the readers were 
looking for a combination of Cliffs' Notes for the plot (I mean, 
seriously, was *anyone* really surprised that the potion Snape brings 
Lupin is Important and A Clue?) and a Bullfinch's Guide of sorts for 
the literary allusions, all of which are pretty easy to discover, if 
not patently obvious from the start (again, does she really think we 
need to be *told* that Sirius is the dogstar, and also that "Sirius 
Black" means Black Dog? Maybe the twelve-year-olds, but... Yeesh).

I have something else to say, and I held off because I wasn't sure 
whether this was just an unfounded impression, but given GulPlum's 
personal interaction with her, I think I can say this without getting 
in terrible trouble... I'm a little uncomfortable that the book is 
presented as something "by fans, for fans" and yet she seems not to 
be very interested in the scope and breadth of the fandom. Okay, her 
site has a few links. But while I fervently hope she comes and adds 
yet another dimension to Nimbus - 2003, she was, let's say, not as 
enthusiastic as I thought she'd be to hear such a thing existed, 
claiming as she does in her book intro to be such a rabid HP fanatic. 

Maybe it's lack of time, maybe I'm completely barking up the wrong 
tree. Maybe she just hates conventions. But she doesn't seem eager to 
connect to a large chunk of the fandom. From this and from some of 
her other interactions I know about (the names shall go unmentioned 
to protect the innocent), it sounds like she has her own agenda. 

Add to this GulPlum's statement:
> Apparently, a lot of the book's contents are theories which have 
been 
> doing the rounds online, but it seems as if she came up with them 
all 
> independently. Regrettably, some of her theories also appear to 
> depend on her having been unaware of some of the things JKR has 
said 
> in interviews etc.

And... yeah. Well. 

Like I said, just an impression. Hope I'm proven wrong. But it's just 
a little hinky.

Gwen

P.S. Nia, are you aware that Dr. Nel is a member of HPfGU? I can 
assure you that even though he had some errors in the continuum book, 
he does care quite a bit about HP. Bear in mind, too, that his book 
is part of a series that has certain requirements and restrictions. 
(He's also a featured speaker at Nimbus! /obligatory Nimbus plug)