Genre? Or not? (was Re: Wasted Charms & other magical devices (Time Turner))

[Elizabeth Dalton]

No: HPFGUIDX 32769

zoehooch wrote:
> 
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., Elizabeth Dalton <Elizabeth.Dalton at E...>
> wrote:
> 
> > (who does think Rowling is doing a fine job with the series,
> considering she
> > says she hasn't read much fantasy, but thinks she would have done
> even better if
> > she had a little more experience with the SF&F genre.)
> 
> I'm not so sure about that statement. One of the things I dearly love
> about the series is that is nothing like the genre books, but are
> good, well-written and well-developed novels. 

As someone who's read a *lot* of "genre" fiction, I think you (and Grey Wolf)
are selling the category short. Yes, there are plenty of hackneyed
"tall-elf-short-dwarf-wizard-with-beard" stories out there, but there's plenty
of good, well-conceived, well-written fiction out there, too, written by authors
who would be (I believe) just as popular and successful if there were no fantasy
or science fiction genre marketing category. Orson Scott Card comes to mind. So
does Ian Banks, or C.J. Cherryh.

Trying to argue whether the HP series is "genre" fiction or not is akin to
arguing about whether it is children's literature or not, for many reasons. One
is that it can expose the prejudices of some people against some categories of
writing. Here, I use the word "prejudice" to mean "an opinion formed based on
incomplete and often incorrect knowledge." (Sorry if that sounded pedantic--
I've been reading Lemony Snicket while waiting for OoP. ;)

Elizabeth
(who makes no bones about the fact that she prefers SF&F to most other kinds of
fiction writing, and believes that that is *why* she likes Rowling's work so
much)