Woman of the Week #2 - Joanne K. Rowling

[{ Emilia }]

Right, it's Harry Potter time.

Love her or hate her... she is the first female author to become a billionaire through book sales.

Now is that a sign of quality? I honestly don't know!

I have refused to read Harry Potter until book 4 was released but eventually I was just curious enough to check them out and I went on to read them all.

Is it great literature? I don't think so.
But she managed to capture the audience, to inspire dreams and establish a mythology that is now part of pop culture:

Hogwarts, Dumbledore (yes, he's gay!), quidditch,... we all know these terms even if we've tried to ignore HP as much as possible.

What do you think of her writing?

I think her writing improved later into the series. At first her plot structure and pacing seemed very off to me.
There are a few things that annoy me, though: The constant negative depiction of government and administration is one thing. The repetitive use of tedious plot devices is another.
But ultimately I enjoyed the novels for what they were.



What do you think of her as a person?

I suppose she's a social democrat. She has criticized conservative British PM David Cameron on numerous occasions for dismantling the social safety net. She supports gay rights even though Dumbledore's homosexuality never actually made it into the books.

She achieved something extraordinary. A generation of kids and adults has grown to love her world of magic and her work seems to have inspired one of the big pop cultural fandoms. HP is one of the big 4 I guess:

 

[Rhaven]

JK can write a good tale. Her Harry Potter saga has made her millions. I've enjoyed the books and even the films.
The question does remain though, can JK write anything other than Harry Potter?

 

[YellowSubmarine]

I can't tell much about her as a person in general, but I will say that I was disappointed and offended when she played along with her publishers in an attempt to take away people's right to read.

My personal conviction is that people should have the freedom to use, share and improve art as they please, and that copyright should be a limited tool for creating an incentive for the artists, a compromise, not some inalienable privilege that should guarantee the artists full control of their works. J. K. Rowling and her publishers have gone against that on multiple occasions, and I believe that the Harry Potter lexicon was one of those that got more prominent news coverage. Those also do not speak well of her, but since this is all common practice nowadays and given that she had little choice there, I wouldn't blame her. Seeking a court order to ban the reading of her books though? That one certainly crossed the line.

That said, she would seem to be a more likeable person than the average public figure that gets discussed here, so I don't think her zealous attempts to control her writings should necessarily paint her as a bad person. Unfortunately, news like that are all the only thing that made an impression on me, and I think that she should be happy with her success and should not participate with her publishers in the attempts to control the Harry Potter readers. Or better yet, go and write something else.

 

[The Dominion]

Although making Dumbledore gay in post was the weakest way to interject such a character, her books are otherwise mostly well written in regard to character development and personality. It's the emphasis on vivid characters that make the HP books so appealing, and why Stephanie Meyer's drivel should never be compared to them. Rowling has earned her fortune.

I really don't know anything about her as a person, I just like her books.

Unfortunately, Star Trek still get's my vote. The TOS triumvirate > than the Boy Who Lived and friends.

 

[iguana_tonante]

I have refused to read Harry Potter until book 4 was released but eventually I was just curious enough to check them out and I went on to read them all.

I had no interest in HP at the start, but then a few people recommended it to me: since I respect their opinion and we often like the same stuff, I checked it out, and I ended up enjoying it. Book 1-2 were silly fluff for kids, but from 3 onward they became quite enjoyable. It's a great world and a great tale.

As for her writing, it's quite cluncky at times and the over-use of cliché can be annoying, but I can overlook it for the originality.

On a personal level, I am aware she's socially quite progressive, and a bit of a left wingers, so I appreciate that. But I don't know much about her beyond the basics.

 

[RogerWaters]

I enjoyed her books, my kids loved her books. She is one of the reasons my eldest son is as big a reader as he is. I don't know she can write anything else, but I'll give her a try.

 

[Shanndee]

I was about to omit voting until I realized you can vote for more than one! It didn't appear to be a fair comparison between Trek and LotR...very, very different worlds!

Anyway, I think as an author JK Rowling is an entertaining storyteller. She built a bright and colourful world populated with characters who had depth and changed over time as a result of their experiences. She gave me characters I cared about. However, I think she has room to improve as a "writer". I often found her style heavy handed and cliched.

As a person I admire her greatly. The fact that an unemployed single mother was able to build herself and her family the kind of stability that this success has garnered is amazing. She is also responsible for getting children to read again, and in this tech savvy world I was afraid that was impossible. So, for beating the odds and helping children learn to love reading I give her a huge

 

[sojourner]

Man, if I could write a book that makes 1 tenth of what she's made, I would be happy. She's done well for herself.

 

[Pingfah]

If you could write a book that made 1/10,000th of what she has made, you'd be happy I would think. That's still $100,000 at least.

 

[Kemaiku]

I don't know much about Rowling herself but I love the Harry Potter series, so I at least admire the work she's done and the world she built within the books.

 

[trekkiebaggio]

I haven't read the Harry Potter books but my best mate is pertty obsessed with them. I think it's great she persevered with her story even though she got a lot of rejections, and her determination and patience were certainly rewarded.

 

[sidious618]

Rowling is a good young adult author and she created a spark in her novels that most young adult authors can't do. I'm not a huge fan of the HP series, I never read past book 5 as I find them getting more and more drawn out (3 seemed to be the best), but there's no doubting that she had a huge impact on the literary world.

 

[Balrog]

I enjoyed the HP series very much. I started reading them right before the first movie came out. I think the first three books are especially fun and have a good message for young kids. The later books were intriguing, but were dreadfully longwinded.

I have great respect for her. She came from little to build a multibillion dollar franchise. That's quite a remarkable feat in the literary field. Plus, it got kids reading! Say what you will, kids who started with Rowling moved on to Tolkien, Clarke, etc., and that's a good thing.

My heart is still with Trek, though, followed by Rings. Kirk's my childhood hero, and I was a D&D geek too.

 

[Mr Silver]

She made way too much money and gained way too much fame for something, that while entertaining and well written was nothing in comparison to other literature.

But yeah, fair play to her because she took an idea and made it into a franchise whilst struggling with the realities of life.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I don't know much about her, but I liked the Harry Potter books. Certainly if she's a supporter of creator's rights, she would get a Thumbs Up from me. In this poll, though, Star Trek gets the vote.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

She made way too much money and gained way too much fame for something, that while entertaining and well written was nothing in comparison to other literature.

But yeah, fair play to her because she took an idea and made it into a franchise whilst struggling with the realities of life.

Hm, and what have you done to contribute to popular culture, or even just humanity in general?

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I piked out in the middle of the fourth book and have yet to return but I did enjoy the world very much. I love a well done world more than the plot a lot of the time. I also admire people who achieve that level of success through hard work, canniness and probably some luck. She seems pretty sensitive and respectful of her fandom too which is a big plus.

 

[Mr Silver]

She made way too much money and gained way too much fame for something, that while entertaining and well written was nothing in comparison to other literature.

But yeah, fair play to her because she took an idea and made it into a franchise whilst struggling with the realities of life.

Hm, and what have you done to contribute to popular culture, or even just humanity in general?

You could direct that question at many people on this forum, including yourself. The point is, she has received a heck of a lot of recognition for something that pales in quality to many writers of fiction - both past and present.

I guess I'm just saying that I think she's overrated and simply got lucky, although I thoroughly respect the fact she has used her fame to raise awareness for charities and other important world issues.

 

[Hound of UIster]

And there is even a question of whether she created Harry Potter or not.

There is quite a bit of evidence that she stole most of the concepts from Neil Gaiman.

 

[Skywalker]

J. K. Rowling is a woman?!