A year in the Life of J.K. Rowling

Urbane Guerrilla · 07-18-2009, 02:24 AM

When I noticed my rereadings of Harry Potter were catching up with my rereadings of Lord of the Rings -- easy to do, as HP is a fast read for adults and LotR is slower even for adults -- that caught my attention. Here clearly is a literary event: kiddie lit, but literature nonetheless. Rowling does have a faculty for transparent prose, except for the mildly distracting usage of LOUD PHRASES IN ALL-CAPS when SMALL-CAPS or italics would do more smoothly.

So no loathing here. I read the first book to find out what all the fuss was about. The wife and I ended up swapping the copy we bought back and forth each chapter in our hotel room. It's still the only HP softback we have. We didn't try getting that exclusive lotsa-bucks hardback edition with the JK Rowling pen art in it to replace anything. She draws a good convincing Harry but doesn't do so well with Dudley.

Some of us will be reading the first books aloud to our kids. They're likely to be ready to read the later books for themselves.

07-18-2009, 02:24 AM	#9
Urbane Guerrilla Person who doesn't update the user title Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Southern California Posts: 6,674	When I noticed my rereadings of Harry Potter were catching up with my rereadings of Lord of the Rings -- easy to do, as HP is a fast read for adults and LotR is slower even for adults -- that caught my attention. Here clearly is a literary event: kiddie lit, but literature nonetheless. Rowling does have a faculty for transparent prose, except for the mildly distracting usage of LOUD PHRASES IN ALL-CAPS when SMALL-CAPS or italics would do more smoothly. So no loathing here. I read the first book to find out what all the fuss was about. The wife and I ended up swapping the copy we bought back and forth each chapter in our hotel room. It's still the only HP softback we have. We didn't try getting that exclusive lotsa-bucks hardback edition with the JK Rowling pen art in it to replace anything. She draws a good convincing Harry but doesn't do so well with Dudley. Some of us will be reading the first books aloud to our kids. They're likely to be ready to read the later books for themselves. __________________ Wanna stop school shootings? End Gun-Free Zones, of course.

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