Things that you wish were in the Harry Potter novels

[Geoff]

No: HPFGUIDX 192023

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Bart Lidofsky <bart at ...> wrote:

Geoff
> > One of my jobs in latter years was being  a member
> > of the timetable team producing each new annual scheme in time for the
> > Autumn term. As you say, there are always a number of conflicts which led to
> > a lot of head scratching to get a final result so I can see the possible anomalies
> > which you have pointed up. However, since the timetable has very little impact
> > on the overall story and probably goes over the head of most readers, my
> > feeling is to ask whether it is worth agonising overmuch about the problem?

Bart:
> As I have pointed out numerous times, the fact that JKR plants very 
> subtle clues within the stories makes her vulnerable to more scrutiny 
> than most writers. I do recall discussions as to what the work week for 
> the professors is, how many students there are at Hogwarts, what the WW 
> (at least in Britain) population is, and how do we reconcile the small 
> number the math shows us with the level of civilization shown in the WW. 
> I've pretty much summed it up, numerous times as,
> 
>      "There are three kinds of people in the world. Those who can count, 
> and those who can't." - JKR

Geoff:
True but my point was *not* that we don't discuss this but is it worth the 
amount of bandwidth that is sometimes utilised over what is a rather arcane 
bit of study left to people like Bruce and myself who, as members of the 
teaching fraternity are probably given to nitpicking? 

Your response didn't really address my last question, which underlines 
what I have just said. For instance, it is a well-documented fact that JRRT 
was a bit obsessive with the LOTR books and who would. as an example, 
sometimes spend ages trying to reconcile things like what phase of the 
moon would be visible at a particular point in the story. OK, it made 
everything fit together for him, but I wouldn't think to compare such data 
as I was too carried along with the action.

We all know JKR's famous quote (I hope) but in terms of the present thread, 
I think it's a bit of a non-sequitur.
:-|