Posted on 07/18/2005 9:57:30 PM PDT by Eurotwit
We can only imagine ....
A pre-requisite for writing such a diatribe as this should be to at least read the subject matter to which one is referring to. If the author had read the Harry Potter books, he would discover that the protagonists in the book had nothing handed to them.
Harry Potter and his friends didn't just pick up their wands and wave them around as this piece implies. They had to undergo several years of intense studies at Hogwarts and a lot of practice to get to the point where they could even attempt the heroics described in the books. Not to mention the enormous obstacles and adversity that they had to contend with.
Yeah, it's only fiction, and children's fiction at that. But this author is r-e-a-l-l-y stretching here to link the Harry Potter books with the decline of the Western civilization.
I fell in love with The Hobbit when I was ten, because it was so completely different from what the other kids were reading, and I was seeking out stuff that would continue my love of Baum and Dahl. I wanted fantasy, and found it in the Hobbit. Bilbo became my favorite character (still is to this day) and was desirous of sending a fan letter to Tolkien, but found out from the librarian that he had passed away three years prior to my discovering the book. Then she said those magic words : "he wrote even more about hobbits..." and LOTR became a whole new world to me.
I do agree with those who have said they couldn't stomach Tolkien's writing - to a point. Anytime he wrote through the eyes of the hobbits, I was enthralled. It was when he deviated into the "language of the Men" or Elves that I found my attention slipping into disgust or boredom.
I realized a brilliant thing about Tolkien's book though not too long ago. One can tell which hobbit is "telling the story", and the POV is very much line with the personality of the hobbit. Merry's POV is very businesslike and extremely formal, almost sounding like he is writing the medieval textbooks or Biblical passages. Sam is very down to earth and pragmatic. Frodo does exactly what happens to him as the story progresses : disappears and subverts himself to reaction, which just highlights the fact that his every step closer to Mordor erases more of his original personality. Pippin is my favorite, because his POV is very similar to Bilbo's and can tell a good story, with a few smart remarks thrown in for good humor.
That's what I love about Tolkien, and I find it rare that a fantasy writer can do the same.
I love Ursula LeGuin's writing for the exact opposite reason I like Tolkien though : she is very precise and elegant in her choice of words. She doesnt use a whole lot of description, but what she does say speaks volumes.
And then, there is Patrick O'Brian....
I would never say that JKR's Potter books were in the same league as those authors, but there are some merits to what she has done.
Very true.
It is possible to love both Jane Austen AND Harry Potter. I belong to an Austen internet community where the webmistresses have set up an entire temp board just to discuss HBP.
Rowling herself loves Austen. She's said it on several occasions. Besides, where else could she have gotten the name "Mrs. Norris" for Filch's cat? Anyone who knows Austen knows that this name fits that cat PERFECTLY.
It's a particle accelerator. You just lost geek cred, bud.
"But what passes for high culture has never been lower"
Well, we have one point of complete agreement.
"abysmal, ghastly rubbish."
That's pretty kind, actually.
"I would suppose that in 100 years people will still read Rowling's books and, for example, some of Steven King's"
I'd take that bet, if I thought I would be around to collect.
"But the people who win Nobel prizes for fiction today, will then be read only by specialist academicians, and insufferable snobs."
Well, I mean, really, the Nobel people (with the possible exception of the hard sciences) are among the moral lepers I mentioned earlier.
I'll bet we'd have some surprises if we were able to see what will survive the test of time.
Mental equivalent of a Snicker's bar? I always say cookie. :-)
And guess who else didn't wear pants? Donald Duck. AND he has 3 kids!
The tendency of the previous Pope was not to say much, even about things that you'd think were practically begging to be addressed. The new one is more garrulous. I fully expect that when (not if) he addresses Potter he will be pretty down on it.
I lost interest in the second paragraph. Who the hell writes this way? The title should be a giveaway that the author is a pompous ass.
He's a Roman Catholic. Or, a Comin' Wratholic. Take your choice.
Help is available, Mr. Spengler. Dial 1-800-GET-A-LIFE.
Really? Wow!
I guess the wonks at the Ernie Douglas Institute of Advanced Dorkosophical Studies will be asking for my membership card back.
I have a lot of catching up to do in Ghostbusterosophy 101!
Is there a Cambridge Companion to Ghostbusters? Does it come with flying green Jello?
Courtesy of The Ernie Douglas Fan Club
Isaac Asimov once classified such notions into six broad "Security Beliefs":
1. There exist supernatural forces that can be cajoled or forced into protecting mankind.
2. There is no such thing, really, as death.
3. There is some purpose to the Universe.
4. Individuals have special powers that will enable them to get something for nothing.
5. You are better than the next fellow.
6. If anything goes wrong, it's not one's own fault.
I always figured DD was some kind of degenerate. I'm taking back that nefarious HP book and locking my kid in a closet until he gets older.
In the real world, geniuses are a tiny percentage of the population. Are you opposed to education programs specifically designed to hone their special ability?
LOL! You ought to expand that into an article. I bet you could get it published.
"Now, Chip, if I catch you or Ernie reading my Playboys or any of those
sick Harry Potter books again, you can kiss those electric guitars goodbye!"
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
My Bill just checked another HP out of the library today. (Anoreth turned up her nose.) I have a Regency Romance, talk about the decline of civilization :-) ... but wait, aren't Jane Austen's novels Regency Romances?
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