[HPforGrownups] Re: Suspension of disbelief - Being dependent

[Lynda Cordova]

No: HPFGUIDX 182472

Betsy Hp:
What I'd want is for the author to not just merely hand-wave away
the "should have been". The writer is trying to draw me into her
world, to make me believe it. So put some effort into it. Come up
with a reason for Voldemort to have driven the WW to its knees. Make
him so powerful/crafty/charming/whatever that a handful of creative
and inventive people *couldn't* stop him.
Then set him loose upon your world.

Lynda:
I went into the series knowing that the story was about a boy named Harry
Potter who was the "hero" of the series. I knew that in the story Harry
Potter was probably going to be the one who needed to come out of the story
victorious for lack of a better word. To create a story, JKR needed certain
elements. A villain=Voldemort, a hero=Harry. Support teams for both sides.
The Death Eaters for Voldie and the Order of the Phoenix for Harry. Both
sides have other supporters as well. Lesser known or less powerful
characters who support the hero or the villain. And then there are the
others. The people who are just kind of hanging around, waiting to know what
to do.

Rowling established in SS that Voldemort was a powerful wizard that had
brought the WW to its knees, that the only one who had survived his killing
curse was Harry. That for whatever reason, wits, sheer charisma, or just
plain destiny, no one had yet been able to stop Voldemort. The overwhelming
hint (anvil) that Harry was the one to do that is implicit.

Now, could Rowling have done some things differently and better? Yes, I
think so. She is not my favorite writer, nor the best I've ever read. But I
still think she did a good job with the story she told. SS was, after all
her first published story and I did find that her writing improved
throughout the series, as happens with every decent new writer I read.

Lynda


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