[HPforGrownups] Rowling's language

[Ali Wildgoose]

No: HPFGUIDX 24918

Neil wrote:
>I'm sure I'll get jumped on for saying this, but JKR is not the most poetic
>of writers.  I'm know she is capable of poetic phrasing, but she often
>chooses instead the combination of straightforward language you describe.
>This is clearly important in the appeal of the books to children, and
>suggests to me that JKR intends to be inclusive of younger readers, even if
>she isn't writing specifically for them [obligatory get-Penny-off-my-back
>disclaimer].   Whatever the formula is, it works.

Children aren't the only ones drawn in by an easy read.  Many of the adult 
fans I've talked to in the bookstore I work at comment on how nice it is to 
be able to sit back and enjoy a book, without having to constantly struggle 
with a complex narrative style.  I know that in my personal experience, I 
have a much harder time "getting into" books that I have to fight to read - 
Shakespeare is brilliant, but I often have to read his plays multiple times 
before they strike any sort of personl chord with me.  Rowling's simple, 
spproachable language makes her characters and storylines more approachable 
as well.  You feel an almost instant kinship with Harry and his cohorts, 
grasping their essance in a paragraph or two and then getting on with the 
business of being thoroughly caught up in their adventures.

That, and all this is MUCH easier for fanfic writers to emulate ;}

muahaha

Ali

http://home.nyu.edu/~amw243 :: Diagon Alley
Harry Potter for Slightly Older Folk

Ali

http://home.nyu.edu/~amw243 :: Diagon Alley
Harry Potter for Slightly Older Folk

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