[HPforGrownups] Dragons: Rowling v. McCaffrey

[Yis M Koslowitz]

No: HPFGUIDX 24355

Alright, I hear what you are saying. I still don't see them as cuddly -
they do have teeth and fight. McCafferey is generally more interested in
feminine things - interpersonal relationships, particularly the close
human/other love - the perfect acceptance/soulmate thing. That is a
stereotypically female preadolescent fantasy. So the premise is somewhat
touchy/feely in that sense. 
But why do JKR's dragons have to be dinosaurs? Can't they just be enraged
beasts of any sort - governed by instinct - in this case to protect their
young. I don't see them as particularly malevolent when not threatened.
They don't hunt out humans to kill, in the way that Calvin's dinosaur
does. And by the way, Calvin does have that perfect soulmate/other in
Hobbes. 
In which case, I will borrow a concept from another series - David
Eddings Belgariad, where the sorceress Polgara speaks the language of the
birds but realizes they really don't have much to say. The HH doesn't
have much to say - a bellow of rage covers it all. 

Robyn, still Weyrbred, and perfectly capable of breathing fire. 


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Donald heard a mermaid sing, Susy spied an elf, 
But all the magic that I've known,
I've had to make myself - Shel Silverstein
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



On Fri, 17 Aug 2001 04:53:54 -0000 "Caius Marcius"
<coriolan at worldnet.att.net> writes:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., Yis M Koslowitz <tkoz1 at j...> wrote:
> > One sentence rant - Anne McCafferey's dragons ARE NOT CUDDLY!
> > Robyn, who is Weyr bred.
> 
> To quote from Gregory Feeley's "13 Ways of Looking at a Dinosaur" 
> (from the 1993 anthology Dinosaur Fantastic)
> 
> It is preadolescent boys who like dinosaurs, just as preadolescent 
> girls may develop an interest in horsesGirls want to ride horses, 
> but boys want to be dinosaurs. Dragons may seem related to dinosaurs 
> 
> in popular culture, but the most beloved dragons around, those of 
> Anne McCaffrey's novels, are basically leather-winged horses, ridden 
> 
> by humans dressed in boots and jerkins who enjoy such telepathic 
> rapport with their mounts as the books' predominantly female 
> audience 
> can only yearn for. The quintessential dinosaur-loving kid, on the 
> other hand, is the comic strip's Calvin, who imagines his hometown 
> in 
> every sandcastle he tramples.
> 
> Dragons are often intelligent, and sometimes can speak: small wonder 
> 
> that amity even cooperation can be imagined between their kind and 
> ours. Dinosaurs are, almost by definition, a primordial force: 
> destructive, intractable. The one novel I know of to bring together 
> the two creatures, Roger Zelazny's Roadmarks, tellingly unites a 
> female dragon with a male dinosaur. ("He's not much on brains," she 
> confides, "but what a body!")
> 
> END QUOTE
> 
> Rowling's dragons are clearly dinosaurs.  I can easily imagine 
> Calvin 
> devouring Harry Potter, while remaining put off by McCaffrey.
> 
>      - CMC
> 
> HARRY POTTER FILKS 
> http://home.att.net/~coriolan/hpfilks.htm 
> 
> 
> 
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