[HPforGrownups] JKR's Big Mistake

[k12listmomma]

No: HPFGUIDX 174895


> Ok, here's my take on all this "JKR failed us and the series is really 
> crappy" talk that's going on, and I swear to god, this is my final word on 
> this topic.
>
>  In my opinion, JKR's big mistake wasn't her plotholes, her 
> inconsistancies, her red herrings or her unresolved moral issues. Her big 
> mistake was writing books that were so darned good that she sucked us into 
> her world so entirely, and we took over. We have picked over these books 
> until nothing is left but shreds of paper and little chunks of binding 
> glue. We have dedicated years of our lives to analyzing these books, 
> waiting desperately for the next one, and reading and rereading until our 
> books are literally crumbling (my own copy of GoF is no longer readable 
> because all the pages are loosed from it's binding). We have created in 
> our own minds and between each other, plots that will never be written, 
> questions that need to be answered, and clues that "MUST MEAN SOMETHING". 
> We have taken HP into a whole other place, a place JKR could never have 
> forseen and could never have been prepared for. Her big mistake was that 
> her books are so beloved, her fandom so dedicated, that
> NO book could hold up to that kind of critique and analysis. Even JRR 
> Tolkien made mistakes - and as much as I love HP and JKR, she ain't no 
> Tolkien - if you get my point.
>
>  I know there are missing pieces and unanswered (or multi-answered) 
> questions, I know the Hallows were distracting, the wand lore 
> confusing...I am not claiming the story is perfect. But...is it her fault 
> for writing an imperfect story, or our fault for expecting a perfect one?


Shelley:
I cut this off here, so I could answer that question.

I wasn't expecting a perfect book, but all means. And, probably unlike most 
people here, I didn't really develop any pet theories that I was judging the 
book by to say "YES- she used my idea" or "Darn, I was wrong." So, I was not 
judging this book by that standard.

The standard I used, and illustrated in my last post, was only the other 6 
books. If she had kept to the standard of book 6, and no better, that would 
have been good enough for me. I felt she used techniques in other books very 
successfully that she failed to use to wrap up this one, and kept some 
traditions that failed her when she used them in the wrong place in this 
last book. The ending felt so much like she was a brand new writer yet, and 
that was such a huge disappointment, because I expected that "mature writer" 
voice to shine through, all the way through to the end, for this final book. 
I expected that when Rowling told us something at the very end, that I would 
have all the pieces to understand it, and to agree with it, based on her 
writing alone.

I am not judging Rowling harshly, but I do feel cheated that she didn't 
uphold even to her own standard. I still love her, and I will reread the 
books till they fall apart (a number of ours already are, due to poor 
binding!), even if the very ending doesn't get as reread as much as the 
others. I will probably line JKR's pockets with even more money in the 
future with the whole audio series. So, still as a loyal fan, I feel ok in 
telling her that she could have done better.

I don't feel that being a very loyal fan means only saying perfectly lovely 
things about all of her books. I think JKR is quite a mature woman, and she 
can handle the fans being disappointed here and there- after all, she's made 
tons of us cry over Sirius's and Dumbledore's deaths, and she already knew 
she was doing it again when he killed Moody, Hedwig, Fred and the others for 
this book. I don't think Rowling expected everyone to love it- she even said 
beforehand that some of us wouldn't.

Shelley