AS Byatt and the "other" Potters

[Tim Regan]

No: HPFGUIDX 82377

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Hi All,

--- In HPforGrownups "T.J."  wrote:
> I was probably one of 
> only about four people in the universe who had read BOTH A.S. 
Byatt's 
> novels about Frederica Potter AND J.K. Rowling's novels about 
Harry 
> Potter...so the audience of people who'd actually appreciate my 
> fanfic would be quite limited.  On the other hand, it occurred to 
me 
> that one of the other three people in this elite group had 
probably 
> already written a better fanfic than I on the subject (though I 
> haven't found it yet!)
> 
> Any thoughts on this from people who have actually read both 
series??

I loved both series, but unfortunately I don't have many parallels. 
I'd love to read any you've come up with (either in the form of 
fanfic or as a straight post). The only obvious thing is that Lilly 
= Stephanie, since they both die. But Stephanie's electrocuted 
rather than AKed. But we should go back to look for any reference to 
green around Stephanie's death in Still Life. But James was no 
priest (as Stephanie's husband is). I also cannot remember what 
becomes of Stephanie's son?

Then there's the fantasy novel within the novel Babel Tower. That 
was a "fable portrays a sexually uninhibited utopia that evolves 
into a masochistic and totalitarian dystopia" which does sound more 
like fanfic than life at Hogwarts! I thought Babel Tower was the 
weakest of the quartet. She's at her best when writing about all the 
Potter's (imho).

In a funny way there's another similarity between JKR and Byatt, in 
that they are both now scorned by many serious academics. JKR 
because she's too popular and lightweight, and Byatt because she's 
too heavy-handed with the theoretical stuff. I enjoyed the last one 
in the quartet, A Whistling Woman, much more than many of my more 
literary friends, partly because I missed all the theoretical 
references.

Sorry – not much of a reply. Do post the parallels or theories that 
you've teased out of the two series.

Cheers,

Dumbledad.