Defend OOTP against my horribly Muggle mind!

[artcase]

No: HPFGUIDX 76363

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "feetmadeofclay" 
<feetmadeofclay at y...> wrote:
> Dear Grownups... 
> 
> I have a question to ask of those here...  
> *edited for space* and I have 
> to ask if Rowling's world is not about the depth and power behind 
> magic and what it brings - what has Rowling to say to me?  And is 
she 
> saying it...

First, I would like to say that what JKR is doing is not literature, 
in a true sense of the word if you subscribe to post Joyce mentality. 
However, she does weave a good yarn. And THAT makes the series good. 
Gramatically, they are amatuer at best with subject/verb agreement 
problems all over the place, prepositional phrases that meander, and 
basically poor sentence structure. That said, one must remember, she 
did not graduate from Oxford with a masters or equivalent in English. 

I find many occasions where I explain to my children (while finishing 
GOF) exactly who did what in a sentence. She remedied this to some 
extent in OOP, but still clings to unnecessary adverb (think "-ly") 
words) useage. In time that will change as she grows as a writer. 

One last word about the depth and power behind the magic. OOP made 
me "live" in the HP world in my imagination. That warrants a thumb's 
up. While JKR is no Tolkien (when comparing mastery of the English 
language) she is IMO gaining ground on Mark Twain.

Here's a thought to consider when "depth of character" is mentioned:

Gertrude Stein had coined the term "Lost Generation" to describe the 
young men who had served in WWI and were forced to grow up "to find 
all Gods dead, all wars fought, all faiths in man shaken." There was 
a truly poetic way to describe what HP will be facing in the next two 
books. 

*Just something to think about*

Art