Pottermore-

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

Okay - I confess; I joined Pottermore, out of sheer curiosity. I want to know if, by any strange chance, I will sort to Slytherin, and also what sort of wand I get. Still, some things struck me at once (I've spent about 20 minutes exploring the first chapter):

When describing Number 4, Privet Drive, Rowling said that she chose the number four because she disliked that number, finding it hard and unforgiving. I believe those were the exact words! Do you suppose that feeling is limited to the number four, or might it extend to other numbers?

On a more serious note, she based the look and floorplan of the house on that of a house she lived in herself - and got wierded out because, without discussing it with her, the filmmakers got the floorplan exactly right.

And - this is fascinating! - she had to argue with the publishers, who wanted to convert all the British measurements into metric ones. She also said that Wizards can do complex calculations magically. Can they, really? Then why did we never see them doing this?

Oh, dear. Maths.

But I'm very glad that she talked the publishers into keeping the old fashioned measurements. Can you imagine a metric Wizarding World? I can't.

Comments

[wolf-willow31.livejournal.com]

Interesting ideas. Thanks. There is indeed an unfortunate prejudice against Imaginative Fiction in our culture. And yes, now that I think about it, Grimm's Fairy Tales do teach some sound moral lessons, unlike HP. Although JKR makes an attempt at a moral message about racism and fascism, it's very clumsy and it misses its target IMO (in fact, I think it would be fair to say that it shoots itself in the foot).

Yesterday I heard a talk by the sci-fi author Robert J Sawyer on how to write good Imaginative Fiction, and without launching into a major essay here, I noticed that HP failed on every point. All the characters (with the exception of Snape, and possibly the Malfoys), and the wizarding world itself, end up pretty much the same as they started out, with no real change at all.

I like your observation that Harry et al. are like the scions of a rich and powerful family who are never allowed to fail … That switches them into the position that JKR no doubt intended Draco to occupy. Fascinating.