Omniscient Author/In defense of JKR)

[cynthiaanncoe at home.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 25848

Luke wrote:

>In most cases, the relationship between narrator and 
> symbiote character is quite close, and such is the case in HP.  But 
> you can't use that to relationship explain away things that don't 
> happen by saying the character didn't see them so the narrator 
doesn't 
> report them, unless they happen outside the presence of that 
> character.  It just doesn't work like that, unless there's 
precedent 
> to it set up at other points.  Without the precedent it violates 
the 
> Authorial Theory of Misinformation (again, still need to explain 
> that).
> 
Luke,  If you have time, I'd love to hear more about the authorial 
Theory of Misinformation.  I had always thought that an author can 
omit unimportant details (character opens a door when leaving a 
room), but that the author is "cheating" if he/she explains away plot 
holes by saying, "Oh, there are a whole bunch of critical facts 
missing."  Of course, I know you can explain this better than I can.

PrefectMarcus wrote:

>I keep reading about all the flints in GoF and what a sloppy job it 
> is.  I respectfully disagree.  Other than the famous wand order and 
a 
> typo here and there, what irreconcilable conflicts are you 
referring 
> to?  What slop?
>

Personally, I think GoF wasn't really very sloppy.  The thing is 700+ 
pages and intricately plotted.  A few minor glitches got through 
(e.g. the number of times Harry was under the Imperius curse).  All 
of those are forgivable, and are things most readers wouldn't catch 
on a first read, and therefore don't impair the enjoyment of the book.

Then there are other things that could have been avoided with a few 
simple edits.  One of these (for me) is the fact that champions don't 
think to obtain the dragon egg using a Summoning charm.  A quick 
dialogue change would fix this.  Then there was Harry's failure to 
use a Summoning charm to obtain the Marauder's Map when his leg was 
stuck in the stair.  I would have liked to see him mentally chastise 
himself for not thinking of this faster.  

By my measure, then, the really horrible one is the only one that 
jumped out at me on my first reading:  the wand order.   I will say 
this, though.  I don't entirely understand why everyone is so unhappy 
about the way this was fixed.  Perhaps someone will enlighten me.

Cindy