[HPforGrownups] Jane Austen influences(Was: Puzzling Question)

[Herald Talia]

No: HPFGUIDX 24473


OK, Prefect Marcus, sir, don't take any points off my House. 
I'll answer this one and then stop going OT. I promise!!!!!
	What I love about JKR, and you mentioned it a bit, is the
characterization. We meet a character, like Neville, and we think - oh, I
know HIS type - the absentminded British kid - the fluffy slippers, etc.
Then, when we're convinced we have him all neatly categorized, he stands
up to Harry, Ron and Hermione. Even that fits in with the character
profile. Then we hear about the boggart and Snape, and we find out about
his parents. And we think Oh, I actually was wondering about why he lives
with his grandmother, but it didn't seem a pressing concern. And as we
read on, the characters start really assuming complexity, lifting
completely out of their "types" and into real people. That's where I see
Austen's influence. 
	Austen, however, uses her plot totally in service of the
characterization. She does the same thing - her characters, whom we
recognize immediately as "types" start to grow and change, or even stay
the same, but we now have such insight and perspective on them. The plot
seems almost irrelevant to the masterful way she does this.
	Snape is the greatest example of this. Every time we think we have him
pegged, something else comes to light. Hagrid is like this too - he's
just a bumbling fool. But he was willing to be expelled from Hogwarts
solely to protect Aragog. He's perceptive about Ron and Hermione's fight.
There's more to him than meets the eye.  
	JKR is no Austen, and she's not trying to acheive the same things. But
she does social commentary and characterization in similar ways. 
	Do you really think it's JKR's plots that are detail driven, or her
characterizations? I actually think it' s both. Whearas I don't think
Austen was trying to tell a story, I think she was trying to paint a
picture of people. You're probably going to disagree, but I feel that
this is where Austen's strength lies. And whatever else JKR is doing with
her books, she is also telling a very exciting story, hence its
popularity with the "younger set."
	This whole discussion makes me think of this JKR quote: "Many wizards,
talented as though they are in the art of loud bangs and sudden
disappearings, fail to appreciate the beauty of a delicately simmering
potion........I can teach you to brew love and stopper death, if you
aren't as big a group of dunderheads as I usually have to teach." (iexact
quote, my copy of SS is lent out right now.)
I hope I'm not a dunderhead, because what I really do appreciate in JKR's
books are the characterizations, the rest - the clever plays on words,
the action, the whole Potterverse, are ornaments to me. What I love is
finding out more about the complex characters. 
 Robyn
If anyone wants to go OT with me to discuss Austen, I'd love it! :-)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Donald heard a mermaid sing, Suzy spied an elf.
But all the magic I have known,
I've had to make myself- Shel Silverstein
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> When I read Joanne Kathleen Rowling, I see the Jane Austen influence 
> 
> through-out her works.  The very subtle touches.  The refusal to 
> sink 
> to soap-opera melodrama.  The gentle satire and the delicate irony.  
> 
> The meticulous plotting.  The careful introduction of innocuous 
> details that later become critical.  The 3-D characters.  Their 
> subtle, but real growth.  It's all Austen.  
> 
> It came as no surprise to me when JKR stated on several occasions 
> that 
> Jane Austen is her favorite writer.  I remember reading HP for the 
> first time and admiring her Austen-like touches.  Mind you, they 
> don't 
> match the master, but her influence is very much there. I kept 
> thinking, this writer has either read Austen or should read Austen.  
> 
> She had taken the best of Austen without being a slave to her. 
> 
> Do not get me wrong.  I think Rowling is a master.  My point is 
> she's 
> learned from the best.  Now she's shining in her own light.
> 
> Marcus
> 
> P.S.: I would love to discuss Jane Austen, especially her 
> masterpiece, 
> "Pride and Prejudice"; but not here.  It is a bit OT, unfortunately. 
>  
> We've already pushed the limits with our Gandalf discussion.  :(
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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