JKR using OUR theories

[justanopinion2001 at hotmail.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 25868

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Steve Vander Ark" <vderark at b...> wrote:
> > 
> > She could have easily borrowed one of our explanations and never 
> had 
> > to admit any error at all.
> > <snip>
> > We were all very let down when the error was just fixed with no 
> > comment whatsoever from JKR or the publishers.
> > <snip>
> > But I don't think she's a writer on par with C.S. Lewis or 
Natalie 
> > Babbitt and that's okay.
> > 
> 
> I didn't mean that she would actually use OUR ideas, just that it 
> would have been possible for her to have explained the text just 
the 
> way it was without just saying it was a goof. 
>Snip> 
> Please, don't any of you misunderstand my tone here. I'm not 
> criticizing JKR, just relating a little history and maybe admitting 
> my own errors. 
> 

I've been following this wand order correction discussion with 
interest.  I have to say that I am a little surprised at some of the 
statements made.  Collectively, the tone sounds a little bit 
like "JKR didn't handle this the way she should have (and she didn't 
consult this group), so I'm not going to play any more."  Also, I 
sense a bit of condscension toward newbies ("You weren't there in the 
beginning, so you can't possibly understand, so any new or restated 
ideas about these errors aren't as important because the old-timers 
have worked this all out already").  That's probably not what was 
intended, of course, but it did occur to me.

I thought the point here was for people to discuss the books and 
canon and to enjoy noodling about these issues.  If people are of the 
view that this one, isolated wand order thing is the end of their 
admiration for JKR, well, OK.  If noodling isn't any fun for someone 
because of it, that's unfortunate.  But for me, the error just shows 
how difficult the whole process must be and how tightly plotted and 
well-thought out the books are and have to be.

As for the way the error was fixed, I think people are blowing it out 
of proportion.  If Lily is supposed to come out first, then that is 
what should be fixed.  Adopting a bunch of far-fetched theories to 
cover up a simple error seems to make the problem much bigger than it 
really is.  Giving interviews, holding press conferences, issuing 
press releases is over the top, in my opinion.  Fans like this group 
will find out about the revision (and we did).  The rest of the world 
does not care.  Re-writing other parts of the book to make the scene 
work better is overkill.  In the grand scheme of the book, let alone 
the series, the wand order error is small potatoes.  Just fix it and 
be more careful next time.  That's what they did. I don't think JKR 
owed her fans anything more, and I personally don't have a problem 
with that.

Laura