Possible JKR "Inspirations" (was Re: Interesting Fact)

[erinellii]

No: HPFGUIDX 81087

JDR:
> At the end of the article, it says that Gaiman ends the "Books of 
> Magic" series by having his main character's stepbrother going off 
to 
> Hogwarts, as a little salute to JKR. The other author cited very 
> graciously supposes that JKR read her books when she was a child 
and 
> metabolized them.
> 
> --JDR


Dianna Wynne Jones would be that author, and, actually, I thought 
that was pretty funny, because I've read most of hers and they are 
the least like Harry Potter of the three authors mentioned in that 
article.  They are about witches and wizards, and one of them (Witch 
Week)takes place in a boarding school.  That's it.  The boarding 
school isn't even specifically for wizard kids, just some kids in it 
happen to be wizards.  Well, first off, half the classic books 
written in Britain have boarding schools.  More than half, most 
likely.  That's just normal over there.  And there are many, many 
books about wizards and magic as well.  
  That's not to say that her books aren't very good.  They are.  But 
she also says that they take longer to read than the HP books, which 
is just pure nonsense.  I finished each of the Chrestomanci books in 
an hour, an hour and a half, tops.  She's done a very good job of 
capitilizing on the HP wave, but she is not one of JKR's sources. 
   JKR has been pretty upfront about books that influenced her as a 
child. For instance, read "The Little White Horse" by Elizabeth 
Goudge if you want to understand more about Luna Lovegood and her 
possible role in Books 6 & 7.  Luna is like a straight-up tribute to 
the heroine of that book.  And read "Emma", by Jane Austen, which JKR 
also has said influenced her enormously.

Erin