open letter to JKR

[susanmcgee48176]

No: HPFGUIDX 155692

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "rebecca" <dontask2much at ...>  - 
the only books that have ever radically changed 
> anything in societies were books like the Bible, the Torah, and the 
Koran. 
> For example, Gone With The Wind (which happens to be one of my 
favorite 
> books) didn't really highlight the plight of slaves during the 
Civil War, 
> Uncle Tom's Cabin presented that much more effectively if you ask 
me.  The 
> DaVinci Code *is* fiction, and many of the "facts" Dan Brown put 
forth on 
> his website about it and in interviews are not entirely correct. 
(And no, I 
> do not subscribe to a particular faith and base my opinion about 
the book in 
> a very open frame of mind. Even scholarly Elaine Pagels, one of 
Brown's 
> supporters, acknowledges that.)   While I personally get the 
message of 
> Stranger in a Strange Land, I think it is poorly written and fault 
Heinlein 
> for his inability to make the reader get emotionally and 
psychologically 
> involved with the world and characters he created. If an author 
can't do 
> that, then to me he/she has failed to convey the message properly.
> 
> You cited Gulliver's Travels - where you aware that it was edited 
by the 
> publisher because some sections were too overtly inflammatory for 
the Whig 
> controlled Parliament at the time? Like Swift's publisher, I 
believe that 
> sometimes *less* detail is far more compelling in this regard. JKR, 
like 
> other authors before her (CS Lewis, Tolkien, and Pullman) writing 
epics or 
> coming-of-age fiction, has used allegory effectively to make her 
views 
> known. Equating bigotry with class or blood prejudice in a 
fictional world 
> to me is far more effective in swaying reader's opinions or start 
them 
> thinking on topics such as equality for all rather than depicting a 
> controversial (like it or not, such a thing probably would be so to 
some 
> people) specific set of  real-life people in the series.
> 
> Rebecca
>


Rebecca, I think your challenges to my choices of examples are 
helpful..I should have thought more before posting my examples.

I do not agree that the religious books really changed things..I 
think they were chronicles of change already having happened.

In fact, Uncle Tom's Cabin DID have a HUGE effect on attitudes of 
people -- fueling the anti-slavery movement. I would also argue that 
Gone With the Wind reflected and codified the revisionist notion that 
the slave owners were (mostly) good guys who were treated badly by 
the conquering Yankees. (there's an excellence book Lies My Teacher 
Told Me by James W. Loewen that goes into these issues in much more 
detail). I like Gone With the Wind much more than Uncle Tom's Cabin 
despite the fact that I don't like GWWW's politics.....(btw)...

Re: the Da Vinci Code..I am aware that he doesn't get a lot of stuff 
right..what I think he DOES get right is the Church's suppression of 
the female in all kinds of different ways. Whatever we think about 
Mary Magdalene, almost everyone thought she was a prostitute despite 
the fact that that is never stated in the Bible. And, it was not 
widely known before the DaVinci code, that there is a gospel with her 
name on it that paints a very different picture of the early church 
than is in the Bible....my point here is not that the DaVinci Code is 
wonderful or accurate, but that it has triggered critical thinking 
about religion.

Re, Heinlein's book...it had a major effect on public attitudes about 
sex and generated a religion that exists to this day...

Other examples of books that had major effects on public thinking are 
Rachel Carson's the Silent Spring and Unsafe at Any Speed...

Art both affects and reflects reality...in my humble opinion.

Thanks for the opportunity for dialogue.

Susan

(Harry Potter for Grownups Over 40 is a low volume list..if you're 
interested please email me at SusanGSMcGee at aol.com)