Rowling too successful?

[jezzaz]

Harry Potter.... I'm pretty much the IDEAL audience for it.

When I read the first book, I was still young enough to half-wistfully half-feverishly hope for some version of a hogwarts letter the summer after I turned 11 years old. The books got complex at the same rate in which I became complex, so that explains the untouchable status that HP has as far as all my old books.

I think one thing that JK has that no one else has much of is Continuity.

She knew what she was doing from the very beginning, and callbacks happen all the time. You can read the HP books for the tenth time and still realize something that you didn't before.

Like how Crookshanks is actually half kneazle, and that explains why he is so intelligent.

Or the sneakoscope in the third book, they thought it was broken, and that's why it kept flashing randomly. Then you find out that it was flashing whenever it was around scabbers, who was a man in disguise.

Or that EVERY SINGLE ONE OF TREWLAWNY'S PREDICTIONS CAME TRUE.

Do you know how strange that was? A character that was universally considered to be the biggest fraud, and then you go back and everything she said was true in one way or another.

The HP continuity was the best and most unique part of the series. That combined with timing and the public just deciding to love it the way it was loved.

Yeah, I'd definitely agree with that. I think it is pretty amazing how she held the salient points that mattered over seven books, and, as you say, dropped hints.

The thing is, though, anyone can do that. I've done it in my ingrams stuff. There are going to be six stories, I know exactly where it's going and how it ends and I've been dropping hints all the way in all the stories.

The interesting thing I think, for JK Rowling, is she had it all planned out. But there was no way to know she'd have the success she did. No way to know that she'd have seven books out of it.

While it's great that she had the arc in place, and referenced it, lets also not forget that if you know that's what you are intending to do, you could do it, and so could I. She's just very lucky that she hit the way she did, so this stuff gets analyzed this way.

Anyone who doesn't believe luck has a part to play in success is destined not to repeat it. But to her credit, she does recognize this, and as a person, from what I've seen, she seems pretty damn cool.

 

[StrangeLife]

She's just very lucky that she hit the way she did, so this stuff gets analyzed this way.

Of course being the right person in the right place at the right time is the key to her success. But that goes for most other highly successful people. Bill Gates couldn't start all over and do the same thing again.

But Rowling still did a better job than your average fantasy writer. Her writing is skilled, her characters are credible and even the non-essential ones are more "alive" than most authors are able to manage. And as Cruel2BKind points out, the consistency of her universe is so pervasive that it appears real when you read the books.

If you compare Rowling to another cult-author - J.R.R. Tolkien - the latter comes up short. He created an amazing world that has inspired scores of books, games and movies, but his characters are flat and boring and the Lord Of The Rings trilogy is over-long and not well written.

 

[Saxon_Hart]

I have to wonder...I have heard her say that the Harry Potter story was based on a bedtime story for her kids, I have to wonder if she doesn't have anything new in the tank to write about. Maybe she's the literary one hit wonder.

 

[lovecraft68]

That's not entirely true, LC. Paper, printing and distribution costs are quite high. Digital books add in a variable that layer complexities into settling on print orders. Most books will print fewer copies than they might have in the past. The marginal cost of those fewer copies are the lowest, so the savings aren't as much as one might think. Cutting corners is necessity. There has been a sea change in the industry.

And cutting corners means less expense. That's what that expression means pure and simple. They are trying to save money as well as rush things out into the market. Cheap and dirty.

 

[Swilly]

And cutting corners means less expense. That's what that expression means pure and simple. They are trying to save money as well as rush things out into the market. Cheap and dirty.

True, but that is a function of how the world has changed. Same thing has happened to magazine publishers. They go to smaller trim sizes and lower paper weight because they have to. Those choices create a lot of angst within these companies. Its more about survival than excess profits.

 

[StrangeLife]

I have to wonder...I have heard her say that the Harry Potter story was based on a bedtime story for her kids, I have to wonder if she doesn't have anything new in the tank to write about. Maybe she's the literary one hit wonder.

History is full of literary one-hit wonders. Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird), Margareth Mitchell (Gone With The Wind), Anna Sewell (Black Beauty) and the Moby Dick dude, whose name I've forgotten, come to mind.

It remains to be seen whether Harry Potter will stand the test of time...

 

[jezzaz]

Of course being the right person in the right place at the right time is the key to her success. But that goes for most other highly successful people. Bill Gates couldn't start all over and do the same thing again.

But Rowling still did a better job than your average fantasy writer. Her writing is skilled, her characters are credible and even the non-essential ones are more "alive" than most authors are able to manage. And as Cruel2BKind points out, the consistency of her universe is so pervasive that it appears real when you read the books.

If you compare Rowling to another cult-author - J.R.R. Tolkien - the latter comes up short. He created an amazing world that has inspired scores of books, games and movies, but his characters are flat and boring and the Lord Of The Rings trilogy is over-long and not well written.

Oh god yes. This, a thousand times this. I'd take Harry Potter onto a desert island way before I'd even think about taking any of old JR's bollocks.

 

[PennLady]

And cutting corners means less expense. That's what that expression means pure and simple. They are trying to save money as well as rush things out into the market. Cheap and dirty.

It doesn't only mean less expense. It means, or can mean, that they have less money to spend, so yes, they will spend less where they can. Any company will cut expenses where it can to maximize return. That's business and that's fine. But it isn't as simple as you make it out to be.

There are a lot of factors that go into printing books, and just because publishers are cutting corners in some areas doesn't mean they're pocketing all of that money as profit.

 

[Cruel2BKind]

Oh god yes. This, a thousand times this. I'd take Harry Potter onto a desert island way before I'd even think about taking any of old JR's bollocks.

A million times yes.

Out of all those classics, the only other one I would consider would be 'to kill a mockingbird'.

And if I actually get to choose, also everything Stephen King ever wrote, Everything Markus Zusak wrote, Everything G.R.R.M. ever wrote, and the complete 'Wheel of Time' epic.

 

[JagFarlane]

A million times yes.

Out of all those classics, the only other one I would consider would be 'to kill a mockingbird'.

And if I actually get to choose, also everything Stephen King ever wrote, Everything Markus Zusak wrote, Everything G.R.R.M. ever wrote, and the complete 'Wheel of Time' epic.

Ditto on the 'Wheel of Time' epic! Was pleasantly surprised at how well Brandon pulled off finishing it, enough so that I bought his Mistborn series.

 

[jezzaz]

Ditto on the 'Wheel of Time' epic! Was pleasantly surprised at how well Brandon pulled off finishing it, enough so that I bought his Mistborn series.

I'm going to have to read this series, aren't I?

Groan. You bastards. As if I didn't have enough to do

 

[Cruel2BKind]

Ditto on the 'Wheel of Time' epic! Was pleasantly surprised at how well Brandon pulled off finishing it, enough so that I bought his Mistborn series.

I say complete because I've only read it up to twelve.

I need to find or buy the whole series so I can just start at the beginning over a summer break or something and just fuckin PLOW through the whole thing. I couldn't possibly just start on the thirteenth one now.

I hope I can find it cheap, because I really can't afford it right now...

 

[JagFarlane]

I'm going to have to read this series, aren't I?

Groan. You bastards. As if I didn't have enough to do

Oh it's only 14 books long...

I say complete because I've only read it up to twelve.

I need to find or buy the whole series so I can just start at the beginning over a summer break or something and just fuckin PLOW through the whole thing. I couldn't possibly just start on the thirteenth one now.

I hope I can find it cheap, because I really can't afford it right now...

AMOL has been out long enough that I've occasionally seen copies for sale at the local Goodwill for a couple of bucks.

 

[StrangeLife]

I say complete because I've only read it up to twelve.

I need to find or buy the whole series so I can just start at the beginning over a summer break or something and just fuckin PLOW through the whole thing. I couldn't possibly just start on the thirteenth one now.

I hope I can find it cheap, because I really can't afford it right now...

I would definitely not suggest that you torrent it cause that's bad. Just saying...

 

[PennLady]

I'm going to have to read this series, aren't I?

Groan. You bastards. As if I didn't have enough to do

I'd take Michael Moorcock's Elric saga (at least the original six), "Good Omens," and probably Jane Austen.

Could not stand Wheel of Time, and I read six of them. So no, you don't have to read it.

 

[MSTarot]

I'd take Michael Moorcock's Elric saga (at least the original six), "Good Omens," and probably Jane Austen.

Could not stand Wheel of Time, and I read six of them. So no, you don't have to read it.

I liked the Elric books but he was just so naive for a person who grew up in the society that he was the emperor of that I just couldn't couldn't see it. And god help you if you were his friend. Might as well just throw yourself on Stormbringer and get it over with.



I liked the "Wheel of Time" for the most part. I liked the character building in the three main male characters. I didn't care for a single one of his female characters though.

The scene that set that in stone for me was when Mat rescued the three girls from the Stone of Tear, where they were being held powerless. Where they grateful?

Nope. They treated him like dirt then spent the next novel trying to steal something from him.

Between that and the fact that "anyone" they would meet would get about 500 pages devoted to them, just got so damn old. They meet a stable boy in a a no nothing town and he gets a novel worth of back story to tell why he''s working at the stable. Then every few books he will put back in an reappearance to let you know he hasn't died yet.

There was a lot in the books I did like though so it's worth the read if you can spare a few months.

 

[PennLady]

I liked the Elric books but he was just so naive for a person who grew up in the society that he was the emperor of that I just couldn't couldn't see it. And god help you if you were his friend. Might as well just throw yourself on Stormbringer and get it over with.

I think the naivete was the point. Elric was not so much naive as sheltered, all of them were. His people had been insular and fairly isolated for a long time, save for minimal trade with the Young Kingdoms. They had everything they needed, looked down on anyone else, and became decadent.

True point about being his friend. Although that wasn't his fault so much as Stormbringer's.

I liked the "Wheel of Time" for the most part. I liked the character building in the three main male characters. I didn't care for a single one of his female characters though.

I hated nearly all his characters, but perhaps the women especially. IIRC, one of the bases of his world was that men had been responsible for the Breaking of the World, and hence it was a somewhat more matriarchal society. I may have that wrong, but it was something like that. I'm okay with that; it's a neat idea.

I'm also up for an epic book, in scope and length (if the content is good enough). So that didn't bother me.

Now I like strong women characters. And they do not have to be "nice." I'm all for a female villain. But I don't like stupid characters, or idiot ones, and that's what I thought nearly all of his were. I think the one that ended it for me, although I finished the book, was the one where the woman provoked the guy (not Mat, his blacksmith friend, maybe?) into slapping her to prove he was strong enough or whatever. SPARE ME PLEASE.

I figured six books was enough time devoted to it.

Might have to take GRRM's "Wild Cards" series too.

 

[MSTarot]

I think the one that ended it for me, although I finished the book, was the one where the woman provoked the guy (not Mat, his blacksmith friend, maybe?) into slapping her to prove he was strong enough or whatever. SPARE ME PLEASE.

Yeah, that would be Perrin and Faile. he was the type of man raise dot never hurt a woman to defer to women at all times and Faile is from a family of strong wealthy women. Nobles, with kings in their ancestry. Perrin is from a peasant family. Her parents wont accept her being an adult unless he can prove to them that he can control her.

She makes him prove that he can be strong enough to do whatever it takes to rule her. Twisted scene.

I do think there was something in Jordan's past involving women that he was trying to put into his books.

Anyway.

I kind of wished that Rowling had a magical "college" series maybe where the stories could a bit more mature. Get beyond the teen drama to real life as a wizard or witch living in a world full of muggles.

Who knows maybe even a bit of little late night wand work.

 

[Acktion]

...Who knows maybe even a bit of little late night wand work.

I wondered when the old "polishing the wand" gag would make an appearance.

 

[MSTarot]

I wondered when the old "polishing the wand" gag would make an appearance.

"polishing the wand", "riding the broom", "stirring the cauldron", "draining the potion" "Fighting off the big snake in the Chamber of Secrets"

These could go on for hours.


About the only one that doesn't work is, "making the owl post' as that starts to get a bit too kinky.

"getting a drink at the Leaky Cauldron", "taking the back way into Diagon Alley"

then of course their is the story scenes "Harry and Ron together in the car getting the Whomping Willow mad till Ron broke his wand. He had to tape it up to keep it from miss firing after that"

 

[Cruel2BKind]

"polishing the wand", "riding the broom", "stirring the cauldron", "draining the potion" "Fighting off the big snake in the Chamber of Secrets"

These could go on for hours.


About the only one that doesn't work is, "making the owl post' as that starts to get a bit too kinky.

"getting a drink at the Leaky Cauldron", "taking the back way into Diagon Alley"

then of course their is the story scenes "Harry and Ron together in the car getting the Whomping Willow mad till Ron broke his wand. He had to tape it up to keep it from miss firing after that"

Anything you think of can't be worse than the ships created by the fanbase.

I present to you...

Drapple.

http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/238/0/b/drapple_by_littlebloo1-d47wi7b.png

 

[StrangeLife]

"polishing the wand", "riding the broom", "stirring the cauldron", "draining the potion" "Fighting off the big snake in the Chamber of Secrets"

These could go on for hours.

I hope you know what you started. Laurel might have to make special a Harry Potter section soon...



Trelawney: "I just had a vision concerning your immediate future, professor Snape. It involved me assisting you in your class after school hours."

Snape: "Are you sure? Potions can be a very... hard... subject."

Trelawney: "But also very rewarding if you stir the liquids right."

Snape: "Actually the real secret lies in how you grind the pestle..."

Trelawney: "... faster and faster... harder and harder..."

Snape: "....till all your precious herbs are reduced to a quivering paste..."

Trelawney: "...sizzling with latent magical power, just aching to be released..."

Snape: "... in a roaring all-consuming fire... "

Trelawney: "... that goes on and on... an irresistible force.... not stopping until every iota of built-up power is spent... "

Snape: "... and then you grab the pestle and grind some more..."

Trelawney: "Oh God! I can stand this no longer! TAKE ME SEVERUS!"

Snape: "Eh wait! Whoa! We ARE talking potions, right....?"