JKR is a Death Eater? (was:Re: Hobbsian worlds; Crime & Punishment)

[lupinlore]

No: HPFGUIDX 145946

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Caius Marcius" <coriolan at w...> 
wrote:
>
<SNIP>

Granting much of what you say, you seem to think the 
> narrative incongruities cannot but suggest some flaw (deep-rooted 
or 
> otherwise) in JKR.

A personal flaw in her, you mean?  Not at all.  As I believe I said, 
it is human nature to be inconsistent and conflicted, even (and 
perhaps most especially) at the deeper levels.  On the other hand, 
I'm not inclined to regard JKR with the awe many feel she deserves.  
She is a writer who, like all writers, has strengths and weaknesses.  
Her strengths are often very pronounced -- for instance in basic 
character creation or in world description.  Her weaknesses are also 
sometimes very pronounced -- for instance her consistency and logical 
plotting aren't always very good, and she has a habit of getting 
herself into corners and then using a lot of hand-waving and deus-ex-
machina constructions to get herself out.  Where the balance between 
her strengths and weaknesses comes down will, IMO, be determined by 
how the Potter series as a whole comes together after Book VII.

The "contradictions" you list above will endure 
> that generations yet unborn will go online (or whatever our clever 
> posterity do) to debate the "true" meaning of the Potterverse, just 
> as Shakespearean scholars stil come up with the most widely 
> contradictory theories. 
> 

Okay, that may be true.  I doubt Shakespeare, or even Tolkien, has 
much to worry about with regard to JKR -- I think she's more in the 
category of L. Frank Baum or perhaps C.S. Lewis in his worse 
efforts.  But there are flaws in Shakespeare as well, and in Tolkien 
and Dickens and anyone else you want to name.  Nobody is perfect, nor 
exempt from criticism for the flaws in their work.


Lupinlore