tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post3324213110754073964..comments2024-03-28T18:32:05.933-04:00Comments on bensozia: J.K. Rowling and Hermione GrangerJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01037215533094998996noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-70766304863373748882010-12-13T12:28:05.020-05:002010-12-13T12:28:05.020-05:00I heard complaints from a friend years ago about R...I heard complaints from a friend years ago about Rowling's aristocratic bent, and I acknowledge the point. Her world is one in which some people are born special and the rest are sort of pathetic; among the aristocrats (wizards), the main political debate is whether plebes (muggles) have a right to their pathetic lives or can be hunted at will.<br /><br />But most fantasy writing relies on invoking the spirit of the medieval or ancient past, and since that past was resolutely aristocratic, aristocracy is hard to avoid. And how can you have a heroic tale without heroes, e.g., people who are special? Our inheritance, both folkloric and literary, holds that only certain people are wizards, and that makes any book about wizards elitist to some degree.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01037215533094998996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-30410717816119739862010-12-13T08:32:34.505-05:002010-12-13T08:32:34.505-05:00I read this a little while ago and I'm still n...I read this a little while ago and I'm still not quite sure what to make of it. There are plenty of smart, interesting women in the series - Ginny, Mrs. Weasley, Minerva McGonagall, Luna, etc.. I don't really buy this argument that the entire series is Rowling justifying her own acceptance into the ruling classes. Especially if the argument is: Harry is a pureblood, Ron is a pureblood, Hermione isn't, therefore Hermione is Rowling's projection of herself and is "an explanation of why J.K. Rowling should be allowed to hang around with the nobility." Also: even if it is, it's fun to read, so who cares?<br /><br />Still, Harry and Ron's essential uselessness throughout the series did make me wonder why the books weren't called "The Amazing Hermione Granger" stories. And WHY did she keep letting them copy her homework?Bundle Brenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05424907817844625482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-52350379196171371162010-12-12T19:04:43.328-05:002010-12-12T19:04:43.328-05:00Perhaps what this shows is there's no relation...Perhaps what this shows is there's no relationship between morality and art. If narcissism and wanna-be snobbery inspire Rowling, so be it.<br /><br />I'm puzzled by the positive nod to Twilight. First, the Twilight books are dreck (he said, having never read any of them). Second, another phrase for "sexual yearning" of the twilight school is "teen self-hatred"--which is of course simply an expression of wounded narcissism. Add that to the aristo-wanna-be ancestry of English-language vampire stories, and I fail to see where the difference lies, except that Rowling wants to be noble to affirm that she's smart and witty (hence, worth reading), whereas the Twilight person wants a noble lover because only he can reassure her that she's not just another middle-class drudge.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08993570411881726772noreply@blogger.com