The hot question is, of course: What now for JK Rowling? How can she possibly top the best-selling children's books in history? How can she match the weight of expectations about her next move? Will she write something quite unexpected - a history of the Franco-Prussian war, say, or a grown-up three-decker family saga set in Scotland? (Either would, of course, become a massive best-seller.) One imagines the senior management at her publishers, Bloomsbury, sitting around the boardroom table, gently trying to steer her towards a new seven-part childhood chronicle, but without becoming too, you know, insistent about it - nobody is likely to apply pressure to the glamorous goose that has laid seven enormous golden eggs. In fact, so nervous are they of giving the slightest offence to their star author, nobody at her publishers or her agent's office will talk to the press about Jo Rowling at all. (Read it all here, but be sure you have your motion sickness bag at hand.)
Oh, puh-leez!
Are these books good from a literary standpoint? I don't really care. I read the first 3 and they were OK and entertaining. There is a lot of mediocre literature and I may not like it, but I'm glad to see writers not turning their back on their muse. I can appreciate that nonreaders began to read when Harry hit the shelves.
It is the aggressive marketing that disgusts me. And more than that, the attitude that somehow J.K. Rowling invented, revolutionized, or rekindled the art of writing good books for children. That she's been called the best British writer (presumably not just of children's books,) beating out Harold Pinter and (this one really hurts) Terry Pratchett. Seriously, before J.K. Rowling, even before Terry Pratchett (tee hee) there was excellent literature for children in the middle grades. If they weren't finding their way to it, somebody was dropping the ball.
And guess what. There will continue to be excellent literature for children even if J.K. Rowling never sets pen to paper (finger to keyboard?) again.
(In the interest of full disclosure, I will admit that I placed an advance order for 2 copies of the new book -- and in order to get my children to buy it at the independent feminist bookstore instead of the deep-pockets mega-book store offering the 40% discount, I resorted to bribery, offering to pay half. If they weren't buying it there, I wouldn't pay anything for it, not even the $2 rental fee for new books at the library.)
Glad I got that off my chest. I am fully expecting some razzing from Poodle Doc -- to whom I have this to say: Go ahead and add Madonna to that list of my dislikes to razz me about. Along with Nicole Kidman, Harry Potter and Borders. I need to branch out ... Have I mentioned that I always thought Paul Simon was a bit of a phony? And don't get me started on Trader Joe's!
8 comments:
Yeah, well. I've read them all, and I like them. The last couple could've used a bit of editing, but it's a popcorn book for me.
And yes, the marketing is ridiculous. BUT, it is marketing a BOOK. Not a trashy movie, not food full of trans-fats, not a hyper-violent video game, not a god-awful MTV program, but a book.
At least we ordered our copy from Powells.
I learned a lesson this year about some marketing, at least. Sesame Street, the TV show, is heavily subsidized by the marketing of all the stuff: toys, books, videos, etc.
I don't hold it against you that you like Harry Potter ... I kind of enjoy being the curmudgeon, actually. This is what my husband noticed about the last couple of books: the print is bigger than normal and the margins are quite wide so you get the impression of reading a tome ("I'm on page 1002!") but if it were printed normally, the books would be much shorter.
And yeah, they are books, and that is a good thing.
Yay Powells. (Poodle Doc's son spent the week at Gathering complaining that there were no good books in the FGC bookstore, and couldn't his dad take him to a Borders?)
Oh my God...........the pain.........blasphemy.....I feel........faint............think....I.....need....a....potion....can...barely survive until....July 21.......midnight.......aaauuuggghhhhh........
Just eat your ear wax flavored jelly beans and you'll be fine. I bet they're not REALLY ear wax. If they were, Feather Foo the really weird cat, would eat them. She LOVES ear wax.
To Mr Ether: The print is so big in the later editions because it's obvious that you bought the LARGE PRINT EDITION!!!
I happen to like the taste of ear wax. Well, time to pack the kid in the car and go off to Borders, then maybe get some Japanese mussels at Trader Joe's, pick up the new Madonna album, the Paul Simon album and of course a new Nicole Kidman DVD. Have I left anything out? Oh, Poodledoc, Jr reminds me of your animosity towards The Golden Compass, soon to be a major motion picture, staring....you know who.
You're probably right about all the media attention and hype, but I like the books. True, I did notice that more editing was needed, but the story continues to be enjoyable. With the lack of reading amongs young people, it is good that these books have come along. And I am looking forward to getting my copy, though my 17 year old and I will have to take turns.
BUT, since I now feel the need to be a crab about something, the BINDING on these "tomes" is cheap and cheesy and gives way by about the third reader.
Not too in a family of four.
Oh, and Paul Simon?
Lost his talent when Garfunkel left him.
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