Posted on 07/31/2005 1:32:27 PM PDT by kiriath_jearim
Sunday, 31 July 2005, 10:41 GMT 11:41 UK Pratchett anger at Rowling's rise
Author Terry Pratchett has complained that the status of Harry Potter author JK Rowling is being elevated "at the expense of other writers".
Pratchett, one of the UK's most successful novelists with 40 million books sold, said the media ignores the achievements of other fantasy authors.
He also took a sideswipe at Rowling for saying she did not realise Harry Potter was fantasy until it was published.
His comments came on Rowling's 40th birthday, also Harry Potter's birthday.
In a recent interview with Time magazine, Rowling said she was "not a huge fan of fantasy" and was trying to "subvert" the genre.
The magazine also said Rowling reinvented fantasy fiction, which was previously stuck in "an idealised, romanticised, pseudofeudal world, where knights and ladies morris-dance to Greensleeves".
Pratchett, whose first fantasy novel was published 34 years ago, wrote to the Sunday Times saying the genre had always been "edgy and inventive".
"Ever since The Lord of the Rings revitalised the genre, writers have played with it, reinvented it, subverted it and bent it to their times," he wrote.
"It has also contained come of the very best, most accessible writing for children, by writers who seldom get the acknowledgement they deserve."
He also expressed surprise at Rowling's comments that she only realised Harry Potter was fantasy after the first book was published.
"I'm not the world's greatest expert," he wrote.
Birthday celebrations
"But I would have thought that the wizards, witches, trolls, unicorns, hidden worlds, jumping chocolate frogs, owl mail, magic food, ghosts, broomsticks and spells would have given her a clue?"
Rowling's latest book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, sold almost nine million copies in the UK and US in its first 24 hours of release on 16 July.
Meanwhile, Rowling celebrated reaching 40 on Sunday, the same day she has given as her young creation's birthday.
The author's website displayed pictures of a birthday cake and birthday card with the words: "Happy birthday Harry Potter."
Fans have been trying to deduce how old he is, with one site saying the boy wizard has now turned 25.
Envy is an ugly thing.
I would follow Carrot past the Gates of Hell and back again, and would report it all to Mr. Vimes. Pratchett writes his characters with great depth and beauty, and in his own way makes me feel their joys and pains no less than Rowling...but it's still the difference between Gilbert & Sullivan and Carmen.
Granny was very careful of asking questions in Ankh-Mapork. She knew that in a city like this, curiosity didn't mearly kill the cat. It killed it, tied rocks to it, and dumped it in the river."Or
"The Ardchancellor of the Unseen University had very powerful intellect, but it was powerful like a locomotive; forceful, unstoppable, and very hard to steer."
Xanth: One good book, followed by ten pretty good books just like it, followed by twenty bland ones just like it with the same exact formula, followed by.....ZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
Heh... I once saw a praise quote from Piers Anthony about Terry Pratchett that managed to be condescending and insulting at the same time. When good ol' Piers invents a second plot and a fourth character, tell me.
Meanwhile, Discworld's full of characters as memorable as those which inhabit Rowling's world, but in different ways. Am looking forward to a new Guards novel immensely.
Love Douglas Adams and will try the Pratchett books.
It's so much better if one doesn't know too much about authors personally. (that goes for movie stars and singers, too)
I once worked for an acclaimed poet. It sure ruined his poetry for me!
Soon all writers will be unionized so that we can all get a standard product to gather dust.
I'd have to agree with that. My one addition is that I'd definitelyt reverse my normal policy regarding books to films and hope that Pratchett had no involvement with the screenplay but that's beacause he doesn't really have the bitter edge you need for that now. Gilliam on the other hand is perfect for that subtle mix of farce and fear...I hope its true - it'd be the best news I'd had in a long time.
I miust confess I'd like to see him do a Discworld novel to a different format in terms of structure and length - ie not racing it along to same breakneck conclusion in the smale length as he always does but breaking it across two books or one much larger one. On his best day he's very good but duplicating his patterns brings out his worst attributes.
How sad I am...I just googled "good omens gilliam" and the most recent info I found was from 2002. Seems as if the project is DOA. Sad, sad, sad! He would have done a marvelous job with the book.
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