Defend OOTP against my horribly Muggle mind! (no howler)

[feetmadeofclay]

No: HPFGUIDX 76421

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "evangelina839" 
<evangelina839 at y...> wrote:
> Art wrote:
> 
> > 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.
> 
> My god. That was harsh. IMO, everything that's written is 
literature.
> But then, I'm just 
> really uneducated and choose books by subject rather than impressive
> language.

Well I choose books many ways.  Sometimes at random.  I bought a book 
the other day because it was on sale and I liked the cover - NO 
KIDDING.  Turned out to be a beautifully written book that I wouldn't 
have otherwise have read.  

So I think it is unfair to just say it has to be one or the other. 
Wouldn't writers in any area want marry a good story (whatever that 
means) with great language.  Afterall it is a written form so 
shouldn't the way you tell the story be important too.

Of course Rowling doesn't have to be Joyce (whom I have not read 
because I am still waiting until I grow up.)I wouldn't want her to 
be. But I personally found her prose lacked hampered my interest. 

If I may ask you - What impressed you about the smiling sky?  What 
does that mean to you.  I would love to know.  


> 
> > 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. 

I see that as a pretty damning statement. Or perhaps I merely too 
absolute about things.  

But isn't that what editors are for.  To bring out the best in her 
style and push her to produce her best work.  Is it just that she 
hasn't a good enough editor?

I certainly think Rowling has talent.  No doubt about that. She's 
able to convey her enthusiasm on the page and that in and of itself 
is a talent that others I think struggle to do and often fails.  She 
seems to do so effortlessly.  And I believe that is what in the end 
drives us to need to turn the page.  Her absolute confidence that 
what she is writing IS exciting comes out in her style somehow in a 
way I have never been able to exactly pin down.

So while I think Rowling has talent, I believe she often doesn't 
moderate herself as much as she should.  She's a little self 
indulgent as a writer and I think that OOTP certainly shows that in 
length alone.  Perhaps all she needs is a good editor to reel her in. 


And everyone has the right to an opinion on what they read.  It is 
not owned by the academic elite.  As a reader, it is the author's job 
to entertain in some fashion.  I firmly believe the only thing you 
need to be able to judge is literate!  

Golly.