Harry's B-day Re: Riddle and Grindelwald in 1945
macfotuk at yahoo.com
macfotuk at yahoo.com
Sun Aug 8 02:01:01 UTC 2004
No: HPFGUIDX 109310
<snip>
> We find Jo Rowling making atrocious mistakes
<snip>
Sincerely perplexed by poor math skills,
> RMM
> www.hermionegranger.us
<snip>
Geez give the woman a break! She is fantastically gifted at
storytelling and fantastically bright too (her plots) but yes she
does not give a toss for numbers and pedantic, nictpicking match-ups.
Always when JKR 'gets it wrong', and yes there have been LOADS of
examples, it is for the sake of the story.
Things like no first year had ever been a quidditch player before HP
is for literary impact, not factual accuracy so that someone
plotting back that Alicia Spinnet must be in year X is nonsense.
Likewise, the elder Weasley kids are long gone but totting up the
numbers doesn't make sense with Gryffindor not having won the house
cup for years. Why is Luicius so old producing his first-born
(Draco) when others must be so young (Percy as Minister of Magic
assistant and HP's own parents almost being teen pregnancy victims).
Lots and lots and lots doesn't match up in the interests of the
story which is, after all, what we love. All the aha! gotcha must
drive JKR mad or bemuse her mightily.
Why has noone at Hogwarts ever had a flying lesson after the first
day when Harry caught the remembrall? Why has Harry never asked
about his parents, grandparents etc from wizards who must clearly
know this info and have no reason not to tell him? Why are ALL his
relatives, muggle or wizard, dead in a world of long-lived people?
Not because JKR is hiding anything (apart from what she must) so
much as Harry appears more tragic and isolated with no folks apart
from the dreadful Dursleys. It is patently preposterous that 100,000
wizards can attend the Quidditch world cup final and yet all wizards
know all others by first name, one school suffices for the entire UK
and Snape couldn't have time (not convinced on this but it's an
argument that's been made) to teach all those who need to be taught
potion at Hogwarts.
One of the best examples of things not adding up is:
There are five boys per house per year (roughly) - 40 students per
year @ 7 years (1-6th then upper 6th) = 280 students max in all of
Hogwarts. This is about half the number popularly percived to be the
case and besides means the wizard cohort of the UK is rather tiny.
Certainly not large enough for there to have been mass celebrations
in every town - the Dursley's at least - the day HP became 'the boy
who lived'. Maybe numbers are massively depleted because of the 1st
war, but the point is it's stupid to count. JKR is always a writer,
always writing for literary impact and never for strict accuracy.
Sorry if this sounds harsh, but the books are fantasy. Speculating
about them is fun but it IS NOT REAL, none of it. JKR makes it real
with her fantastically skillful writing but even she doesn't want us
to be so up it that we lose touch with it being fantasy, and so
allowed to have literary license. I know it frustrates the US
audience that it is so UK-based, but it is equally frstrating to me
as a Brit that the magic world does not sem to have much of Eastern
mysticism in it, such as Chinese wizards, Inidian fakhirs, Shamen,
nd so on. It just does not fit the plot and the setting.
I am NOT trying to be a killjoy, cynic or anything else here (I am
as much into analysing this stuff - to my partner's amazement) as
the rest of you, but whenever numbers and consistency start to be
required you REALLY have to take everything with a liberal pinch of
salt. We are all trying to guess what's in JKR's mind, not least
because she's told us the books have enough clues to allow us to do
this - it doesn't mean she'll make it easy. The number of red
herrings is enormous.
Many have compared her plotting to Agatha Christie who, IMO, never
gave much away until the very last page and when you found out what
the key link was with which to solve the mystery it was SO tenouous
and buried in the red herrings that few would have guessed it, even
if it did often appear very early in the particular book.
I wonder what Dickens (who wrote a few of his most famous works in
serial form) might have made of his fans guessing what he'd do next
with his characters in the profusion that the modern day internet
affords. I believe I am right in thinking that there was equal
hysteria ahead of each of his chapters and people queueing at docks
to meet the boat bearing the latest episodes of his works.
There was a horrible thread about JKR dying before she managed to
complete the series but I hope she (or her publishers) has found
some fan fiction author she likes sufficiently who could take up the
aegis (and her completed last chapter) to fill in books 6 and 7 in
her absence - god forbid! To ensure the series was completed even if
only in the 'this is what was supposed to happen' vein. With child 3
on the way I wish her the longest and happiest of lives and hope she
does never try to top HP (and why would she need to, at least as
JKR, though the writer in her will need to express itself often and
variously I hope perhaps under some other pseudonym). This would be
like Christopher Tolkien tidying JRR's notes into a series of
interesting (to fans) books like the Silmarillion that noone
expected to have the literary ability of the original masterpieces
but which nonetheless filled in the back story clamoured for. Not
that I'm in the camp that compares JRRT and JKR - they are quite
different and share only the strand of fantasy/escapism. I wonder if
Warners and her publishers don't have massive life insurance
policies though sadly you can bet Jessica and David won't be the
beneficiaries.
Anyway, leave her to get on. I find it fantastic that she's an
internet fan and has her own web site to let us who thirst for books
6 and 7 know that (a) she's progressing and (b) snippets/hints to
keep our active imaginations going during the wait. I hope
jkrowling.com doesn't end up taking so much time she can't do the
books even though I'm constantly frustrated it hasn't been updated.
BTW - should JKR ever read this - when is Voldemort going to get
REALLY nasty? Yes I know you said there'd be more deaths, but for
obvious reasons he was pretty quiet during OotP. Must we wait until
book 7 for all the dirt on Lily, Petunia, James and Snape? The
opening chapter(s) of OotP was(were) certainly shocking on Petunia
but then it was left hanging. So like you - but yes you have a plot
to hide, even while expounding it slowly book by book to its final
denoument.
Aarghhh - will *I* live long enough, let alone our heroine (JKR)?
Have to hope so with three of my own not yet ready for Hogwarts.
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