Rowling and Dianna Wynne Jones

[Skimmel_98]

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No: HPFGUIDX C5577
From: Skimmel_98
Subject: Rowling and Dianna Wynne Jones
Date: 8/2/00 4:02 am  (ET)

While in Russia I ran into a book review of the Harry Potter books in a
local tabloid called The Exile. Don't get too excited about the impact
of the review. The Exile is as disreputable a rag as any tabloid anywhere
in the world and few if any folks will be influenced by their opinion.

Ultimately they attack Rowling as a plaigarizing the works of Dianna
Wynne Jones. I am not familiar with her work but a quick search of the
internet confirms the existence of the author and the books cited.

To quote with only slight editing ( to fit Yahoo limits ) :

Consider Jones's 1975 novel, Eight Days of Luke. Eight Days of Luke
begins when David, the hero, returns from boarding school. David is an
orphan being raised by his Great Aunt and Uncle, who are despicable,
whining, begrudging, dimwitted hypocrites. (Like many British women
writers, Jones is at her best depicting the everyday horribleness of
respectable people.) David's relations ignore him while fawning over
their fat, spoiled whingeing son, who bullies David with their full
support. This regrettable state of affairs changes, as you might imagine,
with the arrival of Loki. At the end of the novel, with David saved by
his magical new friend, we learn that his relations have been keeping his
inheritance from him and embezzling its income for their own ends. They
flee, and David comes into his own.

And now, the plot of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Harry
Potter, an orphan, is being raised by his horrible aunt and uncle,
who exemplify suburban stodginess and meanness. They force Harry to
live in a closet under the stairs (Rowling tends to overdo things a
bit), incessantly scold and belittle him, and fawn on their son, a
fat, spoiled, whingeing brat who torments Harry with impunity. Harry's
salvation comes when he is taken up by magical friends and summoned to
a magical boarding school, learning in the process that his relatives
have been keeping his fortune from him.

Anyone interested in reading the review will find it at :
http://www.exile.ru/books/review95.html

To some extent the criticism that Rowling has borrowed a lot of elements
from the popular culture is justified. Wizards and witches and the entire
magical menagerie have been around as long as there have been people. A
school for wizards isn't a new invention with Rowling either. That
doesn't bother me at all. I don't insist on entirely new concepts with
every book. But the idea that she has lifted the plot line from another
author's work does bother me. If it's true.

Is there someone out there who knows this Dianna Wynne Jones' books well
enough to know if this is a reasonable characterization of Eight Days
of Luke?