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

[oryx_leucoryx]

House plans are weird. The house I currently live in has a very similar plan to the one I grew up in, except the front door of the current one is where the balcony was in the old one. So I don't find it surprising that using a written description would result in something close enough to what Rowling had in mind.

The number issue is typical Rowling - her personal idiosyncratic preferences become a judgmental statement about the world. And doesn't it remind you of all those times Harry feels the world is mocking him by having weather that doesn't match his mood?

As for measurements - she could have the Muggles use metric if that matches British usage in the 1990s (but anything from previous generations should be Imperial), but the wizards wouldn't use metric. Hmm, continental wizards would though.

[nx74defiant.livejournal.com]

When describing Number 4, Privet Drive, Rowling said that she chose the number four because she disliked that number, finding it hard and unforgiving.

Four is hard and unforgiving? That is weird.

On a more serious note, she based the look and floorplan of the house on that of a house she lived in herself

The Dursley house is her house. Petunia is JK Rowling!

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

A bit more about the Pottermore experience - the sorting quiz was interesting, and I ended up in Ravenclaw, as I expected. But -

If you mention Slytherin in a positive way, question anything, or say anything sarcastic (I've done all three), your comment awaits moderation. If you are straightforward, say something positive, or express enthusiasm, you get the message that your comment will appear soon. I've seen that message too.

Controlling, much?!

[granatapfelrot.livejournal.com]

she joined the society of weights and measures specifically to annoy her sister
Well, that might explain Lily putting her sister down in that weird letter to Sirius.
Being this vengeful can't be healthy. Everyone who ever even thought about maybe annoying Mrs Rowling a little bit has to 'get it' somehow. Scary.
The number 4 thing is simply not something I understand. I find the concept of sorting numbers into nice ones and not nice ones totally weird.

[mmmarcusz.livejournal.com]

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.


Presumably they copied the very detailed floorplan derived from the books by the Harry Potter Lexicon - chance of a countersuit? ;) http://www.hp-lexicon.org/atlas/britain/atlas-b-privet.html

[pearlette.livejournal.com]

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?

This phenomenon can be described In one word: synesthesia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia

JKR would seem to be a synesthete.

[radicalhighway.livejournal.com]

The Measurements backstory rubs me off quite thoroughly.

The whole thing opens with quite that bitchy retort you mention, where JKR says witches / wizards can magically calculate whatever they want so this isn’t a problem, implying only Muggles can be so stupid as not to know how to count, the reason why they had to change in the first place, and because they’re not special. Still, this is relatively minor and not most blatant WTF you’ll ever encounter on this particular piece.

At some point JKR explains says she agrees Britain should have switched to the metric system and believes the imperial system is indeed, out-dated and superfluous. However, she explains she kept the imperial system because while the British Muggles shifted to the metric system, wizards / witches are traditionalist and archaic, and it does give a feeling of old society that is isolated. So far, so good, and hey, this is quite a thoughtful detail that I personally enjoy too!

This is where the major WTF for me starts though. JKR goes on, telling a personal anecdote. At some point, she received a letter from some old group that supported the imperial system, inviting her to join them. She was going to decline, because she had not kept the imperial measurements out of some kind of political statement, and furthermore, because she disagreed the switch was wrong to begin with. Again, so far so good! But then... she didn’t decline the offer, and accepted it instead. Why? Because she thought it over (someone please hold me) and realised joining would anger her sister (thoroughly against the imperial system for some odd reason that isn’t explained).

Where to even start on this mess? This is blatantly antagonistic of JKR towards her sister, someone from her own family. Is it just me who looks at this and looks at the Dursleys and isn't so surprised that it all turned out that way? I assume the two sisters don’t have a bad relationship, but even if they did, what does JKR get off at, humiliating her sister this publically? Because she gloats about angering her sister as she had expected, and there’s the added penalty that JKR is quite famous, so she humiliated her sister in front of everyone that knew and didn’t know the both of them. Furthermore, JKR pretty much folded on something she believed in and mocked an otherwise genuine organisation’s beliefs (which should be respected), just so she could get a cheap shot at her sister. I’d say again that she goes on and gloats on this behaviour. You know who JKR reminds me of? Lily Evans, a character portrayed as forever inconsiderate of her sister's feelings, in fact, being quite narcissistic all about herself, even though JKR never planned for that bitch to come out that way.

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your comment! I hadn't wanted to bring it up, originally, but I did mention her teasing her sister, and you might find the conversation that followed interesting.

Basically, I agree that having the wizards retain a complicated and old-fashioned system of measurement is a nice bit of world-building. But I, too, am rather freaked out by everything Rowling said afterwards. Why would you tease your sister this way in public?!