From katherinemacfarlan at ...  Tue Sep 23 17:11:46 2008
From: katherinemacfarlan at ... (Kat Macfarlane)
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2008 10:11:46 -0700
Subject: Let's Try This Again: Which Came First, the JKR or the Barr?
Message-ID: <48D92352.3060501@...>

Hello, All--

I think and hope that I am finally able to post to TOC again, after a 
summer without Internet access and other horrific setbacks. I've missed 
you! Please note that I now have a new email address.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

I just finished reading Nevada Barr's _Track of the Cat_, and spotted 
what I thought was a lovely nod to Hagrid. The line "Fluffy...It's a 
joke we have" had to be a dead giveaway, right?

And then I got to checking publication dates, and it turns out _Track of 
the Cat_ was published in 1993, whereas  _Harry Potter and the 
Sorcerer's Stone_, in which Fluffy the three-headed hell hound figures, 
didn't come out until 1998.

So what's going on here?

Did Nevada Barr read _Sorcerer's Stone_ and do a quick rewrite? Was dear 
Karl originally (heaven forbid!) an ogre? Is J.K. Rowling a Nevada Barr 
fan? Did she lift Hagrid and Fluffy from _Track of the Cat_? Or is this 
just one of those mind-boggling coincidences? (For what it's worth, my 
over-active brain has spotted what look like other Barr/Rowling 
interfaces; HWMNBN Himself seems to put in an appearance in _Hard 
Truth_, red eyes and all, busily threatening and corrupting children and 
doing in a few adults  too along the way.)

If anyone can shed light on this situation, I would very much appreciate 
it. Including Ms. Barr herself if she feels so inclined.

Bibliophilic purrs,

Gatta
Quantum me cogitis omnes!


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]




From arrowsmithbt at kneasy.yahoo.invalid  Fri Sep 26 19:21:02 2008
From: arrowsmithbt at kneasy.yahoo.invalid (Barry Arrowsmith)
Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2008 19:21:02 -0000
Subject: Let's Try This Again: Which Came First, the JKR or the Barr?
In-Reply-To: <48D92352.3060501@...>
Message-ID: <gbjcmu+221u@...>

 > 
> I just finished reading Nevada Barr's _Track of the Cat_, and spotted 
> what I thought was a lovely nod to Hagrid. The line "Fluffy...It's a 
> joke we have" had to be a dead giveaway, right?
> 
> And then I got to checking publication dates, and it turns out _Track of 
> the Cat_ was published in 1993, whereas  _Harry Potter and the 
> Sorcerer's Stone_, in which Fluffy the three-headed hell hound figures, 
> didn't come out until 1998.
> 
> So what's going on here?
> 

 Wotcher.
Unlikely  there's a connection IMO. Nevada Barr isn't widely read  over
here in the UK even now, and there would probably have been even fewer
UK readers back in the mid 90s.

However....  is Ms Barr a fan of A. E. Van Vogt, I  wonder? Because there's
a very nasty psyche-gobbling cat-like monster in 'The Voyage of the Space 
Beagle' (and the shorter story 'Black Destroyer' that was expanded into TVotSB)
- that is if this tired old brain ain't gone wonky yet, referred to as 'Fluffy' - and 
that book has been around since 1950.

Interestingly, it's also credited with being the inspiration for the film "Alien',
though that's pushing it a bit far, I think. Either that, or they changed the plot 
a helluva lot.

Kneasy




From ewetoo at ewe2_au.yahoo.invalid  Sat Sep 27 13:32:54 2008
From: ewetoo at ewe2_au.yahoo.invalid (ewe2)
Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2008 23:32:54 +1000
Subject: [the_old_crowd] Re: Let's Try This Again: Which Came First, the JKR or the Barr?
In-Reply-To: <gbjcmu+221u@...>
References: <48D92352.3060501@...> <gbjcmu+221u@...>
Message-ID: <91d14f320809270632j71cf5c27wb5d991d1afe66cc2@...>

On Sat, Sep 27, 2008 at 5:21 AM, Barry Arrowsmith
<arrowsmithbt at ...> wrote:
>
>  Wotcher.
> Unlikely  there's a connection IMO. Nevada Barr isn't widely read  over
> here in the UK even now, and there would probably have been even fewer
> UK readers back in the mid 90s.
>
> However....  is Ms Barr a fan of A. E. Van Vogt, I  wonder? Because there's
> a very nasty psyche-gobbling cat-like monster in 'The Voyage of the Space
> Beagle' (and the shorter story 'Black Destroyer' that was expanded into TVotSB)
> - that is if this tired old brain ain't gone wonky yet, referred to as 'Fluffy' - and
> that book has been around since 1950.
>
> Interestingly, it's also credited with being the inspiration for the film "Alien',
> though that's pushing it a bit far, I think. Either that, or they changed the plot
> a helluva lot.
>
> Kneasy
>

And now I have the mental image of Ripley softly singing "Here Fluffy,
where are you where arrreee yooooou" in search of the Alien :-\

-- 
Emacs vs. Vi flamewars are a pointless waste of time. Vi is the best



From katherinemacfarlan at ...  Mon Sep 29 09:46:03 2008
From: katherinemacfarlan at ... (Kat Macfarlane)
Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2008 02:46:03 -0700
Subject: [the_old_crowd] Re: Let's Try This Again: Which Came First, the
 JKR or the Barr?
In-Reply-To: <gbjcmu+221u@...>
References: <gbjcmu+221u@...>
Message-ID: <48E0A3DB.6020305@...>

Dear Kneasy,

Thanks for shedding light! I will try to find a copy of Van Voyt's SB 
and check it out. However the parallels between Karl and Hagrid, quite 
apart to the reference to "Fluffy", are too tempting to ignore. I wish 
Nevada Barr would respond and clear things up.

Purrs,

Gatta

Barry Arrowsmith wrote:
>
> >
> > I just finished reading Nevada Barr's _Track of the Cat_, and spotted
> > what I thought was a lovely nod to Hagrid. The line "Fluffy...It's a
> > joke we have" had to be a dead giveaway, right?
> >
> > And then I got to checking publication dates, and it turns out 
> _Track of
> > the Cat_ was published in 1993, whereas _Harry Potter and the
> > Sorcerer's Stone_, in which Fluffy the three-headed hell hound figures,
> > didn't come out until 1998.
> >
> > So what's going on here?
> >
>
> Wotcher.
> Unlikely there's a connection IMO. Nevada Barr isn't widely read over
> here in the UK even now, and there would probably have been even fewer
> UK readers back in the mid 90s.
>
> However.... is Ms Barr a fan of A. E. Van Vogt, I wonder? Because there's
> a very nasty psyche-gobbling cat-like monster in 'The Voyage of the Space
> Beagle' (and the shorter story 'Black Destroyer' that was expanded 
> into TVotSB)
> - that is if this tired old brain ain't gone wonky yet, referred to as 
> 'Fluffy' - and
> that book has been around since 1950.
>
> Interestingly, it's also credited with being the inspiration for the 
> film "Alien',
> though that's pushing it a bit far, I think. Either that, or they 
> changed the plot
> a helluva lot.
>
> Kneasy
>
>  


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]