JKR's Intent - epilogue/ JKR blocks companion book

[lizzyben04]

No: HPFGUIDX 178779

 
> Jen: If that's the case, then Draco is standing on the platform with 
> his family, upholding the primary virtue of the story, so my reading 
> would be that choosing family transcends things like houses at 
> Hogwarts.  Turns out the houses didn't matter that much after all 
> because those who chose family or friends were the 'great' ones, 
> which would include Snape, Regulus, Draco and Narcissa.
>

lizzyben:

Well, I agree that "choosing family" is represented as an ultimate
good (well, expect for Marietta, I guess). But Slytherin values of
ambition & seeking power are "evil" in this universe, and the redeemed
members of the House like Draco or Snape manage to rise above that by
focusing on family or love instead. And it's not so much about
individual Slytherins, who often don't seem ambitious, cunning, or
power-hungry at all, but that Slytherin House in general represents
those evil traits. Family is what matters, not power or success - and
that's a consistent theme throughout the series. 


On another topic... News! Did y'all hear that JKR sued the Harry
Potter Lexicon yesterday? It looks like she now plans to block all fan
companion books.

"Rowling Sues to Block Harry Potter Book"

NEW YORK (AP) — J.K. Rowling and the maker of the "Harry Potter" films
are suing a small publisher in Michigan over its plans to release a
book version of a popular Web site dedicated to the boy wizard.

The suit, filed Wednesday by the author and Warner Bros. in federal
court in Manhattan, claims that RDR Books will infringe on Rowling's
intellectual property rights if it goes ahead with its plan to publish
the 400-page "Harry Potter Lexicon" on Nov. 28.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hIGNIcztySvpGhm95iGPhNL7ov1AD8SKS9FO1

>From JK Rowling's website - 

"Wednesday 31 October 2007
Companion Books

It's common knowledge that I love genuine Harry Potter fansites, which
is why I created my own award to recognise their creativity and ingenuity.

It's also old news that I hope one day to write the definitive Harry
Potter encyclopedia, which will include all the material that never
made it into the novels, and that I will give the royalties from this
book to charity.

I cannot, therefore, approve of "companion books" or "encyclopedias"
that seek to pre-empt my definitive Potter reference book for their
authors' own personal gain. The losers in such a situation would be
the charities, that I hope, eventually, to benefit."

http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/news_view.cfm?id=101

Thoughts, opinions? I'm pretty sure she's got the legal right to do
so, but it surprises me considering how supportive she's been of fan
sites in the past.


lizzyben