Young Adult/Children's Literature

[heiditandy]

No: HPFGUIDX 51137


> -----Original Message-----
> From: karywick <karenwickersham at ameritech.net> 


> I agree that there is never one interpretation for fiction but all of 
> us adults have to remember that these books were never really written 
> for us as the primary audience.  Instead they are intended to 
> be "young adult" ie (young teenager 11-15)literture.  

No, they were not. I call your attention to Penny's wonderful FAQ about
the Universal Appeal of Harry Potter, particularly the section on
whether the books were written for children
(http://www.hpfgu.org.uk/faq/universal.html#Children). 

As it says, J.K. Rowling has said in numerous interviews that she did
not write the books specifically for children or with any target group
in mind. Rather, she says she initially envisioned and wrote the books
as something she would enjoy reading.

<<jkrowling_bn: I prefer to keep writing for myself>>
(http://www.yahooligans.com/content/chat/jkrowlingchat.html)

> I'm sure JKR 
> never thought they would be picked apart and critiqued as much as we 
> do on this web site or as much as some other literary classics taught 
> in colleges.

No, I'm sure she didn't, although we know that at least while writing
OoTP, she's aware that there are nitpicking websites out there. She's
said so in interviews 

>  As a former English teacher, I know that all young adult 
> literature "leads" the reader more than adult literature does.  So 
> although as adults we all get many different interpretations from her 
> books(and there is nothing wrong with that), maybe that was never her 
> original intent? ;)

Actually, I think it's probably much closer to her original intent, at
least by the time of her writing GoF. It's like Phillip Pullman said
last year, "Adults have made the mistake in thinking that todays
children's books deal with little things for little minds. They couldn't
be farther from the truth."

I'm now going to sit back and wait for Ebony to post on the "leads"
issue...


heidi