Background Material in HP

[ravenclawlady]

Original Yahoo! HPFG Header:
No: HPFGUIDX C4622
From: ravenclawlady
Subject: Re: Background Material in HP
Reply To: [Yahoo! #4567] Background Material in HP
Date: 7/19/00 3:05 pm  (ET)

::Preparing for flames::

I'm going to step in for the pro-background camp. I do agree that most
people have read the first three books. But the background serves not
only to introduce new readers to situations and characters, but also to
remind those who haven't picked up an HP book for several months.

In my teens and early twenties, I was an avid V.C. Andrews fan, though
not nearly at the level I am now for J.K. Rowling. What is it about
female authors who use initials, anyway? But I digress.

For Andrews, I eagerly picked up each book as it came out, and devoured
it in one night (sound familiar?). But once I finished it, I usually just
put it aside, until the next in its series came out. I did not occupy
the interim months with V.C. Andrews discussion groups or fan-fic, nor
did I host a web site dedicated to her work. Not that I wouldn't have,
if I'd had use of the Internet then.

Because of this, each time I read one of Andrews' sequels, the previous
books would have faded into the back of my memory. Oh, I'd be up on
the major story line, but would have forgotten many of the subplots
and minor characters. I'd spend the first several chapters muttering
"Who is this again?" or "I'd forgotten that trait about so-and-so!"

If I read the HP books that way (as I suspect most fans do), I could
easily see myself forgetting a couple of the Weasley brothers or mixing
up some of Harry's professors. Even with Ron, Hermione, and Hagrid,
I might forget some points of their personalities.

Maybe a good compromise would be for Rowling to put the information into
a preface. If you're new to the series, or need a refresher, you can
read it. If the other books are clear in your mind, skip the preface
and go right to the story.

My 2 knutes (or maybe sickles),
Melanie