JKR's priorities and how they affect interpretation

[avonlea0112]

No: HPFGUIDX 31951

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "cindysphynx" <cindysphynx at h...> wrote:
<Snip> 
> Interesting idea, David.  It got me thinking about which areas of 
the 
> HP world JKR's workmanship is less seamless than other parts.  I 
> think you are correct (assuming that I read your comments 
correctly) 
> that JKR doesn't tend to have many "glitches" in her 
> characterizations.  I can't think of any obvious flaws there.  
> Characters generally act as they should.
> 
> The glitches come, for the most part, in the plot development and 
> only secondarily in the magical devices.  
> 
> Plot development glitches include issues like Lupin and the clouds, 
> Moody's failure to hand Harry a toothbrush.  Device glitches are 
> things like inconsistent properties of portkeys and the Marauder's 
> Map.  
> 
> I wonder why this is?  Is it an unavoidable part of fantasy 
> literature that the author is only human, so he/she will have 
> glitches in the way the device elements work together?  Are the 
plot 
> glitches the sort of thing that a more experienced or talented 
author 
> would have caught?  Are there more magic device glitches or plot 
> glitches, and which type of problem is worse? I really haven't made 
> up my mind; any thoughts?
> 
> Cindy
> 

IMO, JKR is first and foremost a storyteller.  She's not trying to 
create a seamless world like Tolkein did.  Her work is more along the 
lines of C.S. Lewis (Narnia.)  The inconsistancies don't bother me 
much because I appreciate the books as a good story first and 
literature second.  I'm glad she's not as much a perfectionist as 
Tolkein - I really don't want to have to wait decades between books!

BTW, I think plot glitches are worse, because they can jeopardize the 
believebility of the story, while magical device glitches can be 
explained away by saying the're magical and therefore possibly 
inconsistant in ways we don't understand.

~Avonlea~