The Bookshelf on JKR's Website and a Request for Help

[Andromeda]

No: HPFGUIDX 127955


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "antoshachekhonte" 
<antoshachekhonte at y...> wrote:
> 
> Tamee said:
> <large snip of good stuff>
> > I think the strongest parallel between Sayer's detective stories 
and JKR
> > apart from the liberal use of misdirection and the creation of 
some
> > memorable characters is the theme of choosing what is right over 
what is
> > easy.  Lord Peter pursues truth regardless of the personal 
consequences.  In
> > one book, it looks like either his brother or his sister may be 
guilty of
> > murder.  In another, he risks losing Harriet in pursuit of a 
deadly poison
> > pen.  In another, the very act of his meddling precipitates the 
murderer
> > into committing more crimes.  Always, there is the determination 
to see
> > justice carried out.  It's the kind of determination I see in 
Dumbledore,
> > and in Harry too, even when he's wrong, at least he's determined 
to do
> > what's right despite the consequences.
> > 
> > Tamee
> > mostly lurking nowadays and a great fan of Sayers, JKR, and Jane 
Austen.
> 
> Antosha:
> As another fan of JKR, Jane Austen and Dorothy Sayers, I agree 
with everything you say 
> here--all three women write compelling stories about characters 
who MAKE THEMSELVES. 
> Peter Wimsey by all rights should be what he appears to be at 
first glance--a supercilious 
> fop. In fact, he is a brilliant, principled, deeply interesting 
character.
> 

<snip>

> 
> Antosha, who has to run out and find a copy of Busman's Honeymoon 
(my old one ran off!)

Andromeda now:
 Aahh, but it (B.H.) never lives up to Gaudy Night, no matter how 
many times you reread it.  How wonderful to hear that Sayers and 
Austen are on Jo's bookshelf: they were my two favorite authors way 
back in, well, a very long time ago.  And I haven't attempted a 
comparative literature essay in nearly as long a time.  But both 
Tamee and Antosha made some excellent points.  Perhaps another 
connection might be simply in the writing style.  Both authors tend 
towards a rather dry sense of humor in their writing, managing to 
simultaneously create a lighthearted overall tone while touching on 
deeper human emotions and social mores.  You get the sense of 
writers who don't take themselves too seriously, yet may have 
important things to say, indirectly.  I think our Jo follows a 
similar pattern. Her language, aimed at a younger audience, I 
suppose, isn't as beautiful as Sayers or Austen's, but I definitely 
see her style as growing out of the tradition of these two marvelous 
writers.

-Andromeda