Isn't that the same way Pug was, too? Initially, at least, he was just average. On Dec 21, 2011 11:37 PM, "Raymond E. Feist" <[email protected]> wrote:
> > On Dec 21, 2011, at 8:38 PM, Jamila Rose wrote: > > And that is exactly what JK was going for.. the anti hero.. I think that’s > why so many kids love the books.. because lets face it.. Harry is average.. > for a wizard at least. Another reason the books reach a wider audience, is > it doesn’t require you to create a whole other world with your > imagination.. because its built within our reality. A kid can quite easily > sit in school and daydream that the Hogwarts express is on its way to > Hogwarts or that that owl is delivery post. I think that’s why you find > that the books from the Narnia series, that are the most popular are the > ones where the pevensie children are focused on. > ** ** > Personally I know both Ray and JK are classified as fantasy writers, but > the worlds they work in are completely different so I can’t compare them. I > will however say this.. I know Ray you are a big fan of Tolkien.. however I > much prefer to read your books over and over again.. then to tackle LOR > again.. love the Hobbit.. but I much prefer how you space out your facts > and history over multiples and multiples of books.. and not jam pack > everything into 3... Don’t get me wrong Tolkien was a master.. but I've > never quite forgiven him for his criticisms of his good friend C S Lewis! > > *'* > > > Actually, you're almost right. Harry is a prodigy, and turns out to be > THE wizard. What he is at the start of the first book is the nerdy kid > who's bullied. Rowling grabs your sympathy by having him be the kid > confined to living under the stairs and a bratty cousin who's almost a > cliche of bratty cousins. The genius of that bit was the uncle and aunt > were motivated, ultimately, by a mix of concern for Harry's (and their own) > welfare, rather than any dislike of him. He was an unwelcome burden, and > where Rowling made it work was that they didn't hate him; they just didn't > love him. So, he was a boy alone and in the first book he finds his world > and the people in it who (figuratively and literally) become his family. > It's not just friends, but eventually it's mentors, father figures, the > ultimate grandpa, and finally a wife. > > So the linkage is that every kid feels like an outcast, at least some of > the time. Even the most social kids often are that way for fear of feeling > like an outcast. Or if they're the "in kids" most of them look at the > outcasts and secretly feel sorry for them, even if they never show it. > It's a magnificent trope for reeling kids in, and reminding adults of what > it used to be like. And it played all over the world, because being a kid, > well, it kind of sucks most of the time. > > Tolkien on the other hand is from another world. At least another time. > His teachers were all 19th Century Oxford Dons and the like, and he had > the classic British upper class Public School and University Education. He > revered the classics, and took a great deal of his inspiration from > Goth-Germanic lore and especially the Elder Eddas. He wrote what he did for > two reasons, to approach myth as a linguist and predicate his cultures on > language (which is why you've got galloping great batches of information on > the various elven dialects). He also wanted to create a "Myth for Britain" > which was a bit of a brag, as they already had a perfectly good one in King > Arthur. Tolkien grew up in a literary culture that had no mass media, > except for the city newspaper,and weekly/monthly magazines. He probably > saw some silent films as a boy in his early teens. There were no radio; the > BBC was formed when he was 30. He was pushing 60 when TV arrived. So he > learned his craft at a time when readers wanted lush detail and lots of > background. Read him the way you would read Sir Walter Scott. > > Me, I'm a modern writer and know that my readers want dialogue, narrative, > and description in that order, and if I don't get on with the bloody damn > story in a couple of pages putting down the book and checking their > Facebook pages or Twitter. > > Best,R.E.F. > > ---- > www.crydee.com > > Never attribute to malice what can satisfactorily be explained away by > stupidity. > > > > > >
