Too much information? (wasRe: JKR's interviews about Snape and in general.

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 140208

Alla wrote:
>snip<
> I am not saying that the interviews would be hundred percent fool 
> proof, but I do think that she knows quite well where she is going 
> with Snape and when she does not refuse to answer  about his 
> character, I guess, I honestly do not understand how is it possible 
> to ignore it completely?



Potioncat:
Well, the interviews are a mixed blessing. (Sort of like reading the 
last page first.) But to me it's like Christmas time at our house. 
The kids are making guesses at what's under the tree. Some times we 
string them on, knowing it will make the surprise even better; 
sometimes we come out right and tell them they're wrong, knowing 
it'll be a bigger disappoinment later if they're anticipating a 
special present that isn't coming. But we don't really deal with each 
guess in the same way. And I don't think JKR does either. Sometimes 
we realise we're about to say too much, or we just did say too much. 
I think that happens to JKR too. 

On a slighlty different thread, ordinary readers don't know the same 
details that we do. Those of us on this list know off the tops of our 
heads how old charaters are, when their birthdays are, that 
Theodore's mother is dead, that the Prewetts were Molly's brothers, 
that Dean's father was a wizard who was killed by LV, that the 
bartender is DD's brother. Do we need to know any of that? We've 
certainly used some of that information in making our theories. Do 
you realise there are tons of fans who never read those interviews? 
It doesn't take anything away from the basic story if you don't know 
those things. Does it add to the story? Does it add to the fun?

The books themselves are full of little details about minor 
characters that make them seem perhaps more important than they are. 
Some of them have their 15 minutes of fame and fade away again. Does 
that muddle the story at all? Or does it provide a backdrop to help 
set the mood or mystery? Should the minor characters be less fleshed 
out?  Did she give us too much about Neville's family in the books? 
How has it helped the story for us to know about Frank and Alice? Do 
we really need to know about Neville's uncle or that Aunt Marge's dog?
 
I know, the 8th book, the one for charity, to tie up the loose ends, 
can be "Harry Potter and the School of Red Herrings".

Potioncat, wishing there was an easy way to check spelling at yahoo.