Terry Pratchett lays into JK Rowling!

[Fahim]

There's also a new controversy making the rounds about TP dissing JKR again I believe a reporter made up his own answer to a question where PTerry did not respond - and the question was again pointedly about JKR and the supposed "animosity" between the two I saw some mention of this (and PTerry's own response to what happened) on the alt.fan.pratchett list. Not that any of this really matters - what they say (or don't say) about each other should really not matter. What matters is what they write - but that's just me

 

[Lyrebird]

I posted a lengthy reply to this, and now it seems to have disappeared! Maybe the spam-buster borked it... A tad too long? Shame, really, considering the time I spent on it and all. I can't be bothered to write all that over again, but I'll restate the following.


I find that pTerry made a reasonable and fair comment.
The quote was obviously presented out of context.
I see no reason to conclude HP is not Fantasy, and every reason to conclude that it is Fantasy. Admittedly, it could additionally be classed as Adventure, Children's Fiction, etc.
If not fantasy, I would like to know what in the world JKR actually thought she was writing!

 

[Joel007]

I tend to copy all the text before I post a long reply, bad experiences

I wonder if pTerry would be amused if he knew that people were still talking about something he said years ago?

 

[Fahim]

I wonder if pTerry would be amused if he knew that people were still talking about something he said years ago?

Oh, he knows They still bring that up all the time on the alt.fan.pratchett usenet groups. Plus, given how well he understands human nature (at least based on how he writes ) I'm certain he knows that this will get talked about, twisted over and over and then talked about some more again for a long time to come ....

 

[Culhwch]

If not fantasy, I would like to know what in the world JKR actually thought she was writing!

What we used to call capital-L 'Literature' when I was at uni, maybe.

AndI'm afraid your post didn't turn up in any moderated queue, so the grelins must have gotten it...

 

[Winters_Sorrow]

What we used to call capital-L 'Literature' when I was at uni, maybe.

AndI'm afraid your post didn't turn up in any moderated queue, so the grelins must have gotten it...

And the gremlins ate the "m" so they must be feeling hungry. Who's turn was it to feed them this month?

 

[Culhwch]

What, you've never heard of a grelin? Maybe not, they're native to Australia. Make gremlins look like kittens.

 

[High Eight]

What, you've never heard of a grelin? Maybe not, they're native to Australia. Make gremlins look like kittens.

They're a cross between bunyips and drop bears.

 

[High Eight]

There's also a new controversy making the rounds about TP dissing JKR again I believe a reporter made up his own answer to a question where PTerry did not respond - and the question was again pointedly about JKR and the supposed "animosity" between the two I saw some mention of this (and PTerry's own response to what happened) on the alt.fan.pratchett list. Not that any of this really matters - what they say (or don't say) about each other should really not matter. What matters is what they write - but that's just me

You cannot hope to bribe or twist
- thank God! - the British journalist.
But seeing what the swine will do
Unbribed, there's no occasion to!

 

[Gothic_Angelica]

what JK Rowling said was pretty funny if very inaccurate

You go Terry Pratchett! lol

 

[TiwazTyrsfist]

It seems to me that Prachett is just poking fun.

I mean seriously, consider the man's sense of humor. If he we trying to be biting he'd have written a letter that would have made you cringe with every sentance from the barbed and razor sharp sarcasm.


His letter is more, to my reading, a sort of "okay, whatever..." response.


As for Rowling, we'll see. Give it a year after book seven. Either she'll come out with something else good, or she'll produce a dozen flops, and in five years we'll return to the world of Harry Potter for a new set of books, ala Frank Herbet second dune trilogy.
I.E. "Oh crud! The royalties are running dry and I'm almost out of money! Quick, write something you know will sell!"

 

[DarkBunni]

she didnt realise she was writing a fantasy?....O_O well i just lost all respect for her lol!
VIVA LA TERRY!

 

[DarkBunni]

As for Rowling, we'll see. Give it a year after book seven. Either she'll come out with something else good, or she'll produce a dozen flops, and in five years we'll return to the world of Harry Potter for a new set of books, ala Frank Herbet second dune trilogy.
I.E. "Oh crud! The royalties are running dry and I'm almost out of money! Quick, write something you know will sell!"

omg lol! I dont know who franky is but you just OWNED him! lol XD

 

[Vladd67]

I imagine that JKR is trying to seperate herself from what she regards as a lesser market in the same way Iain Banks' sci fi is published under Iain M Banks. I remember reading that his publishers felt his mainstream readers wouldn't touch his work if they thought he was a sci fi writer. Who knows maybe she is hoping for a change in direction. I also would like to see her write something non Potter under a pen name and wonder if it will sell so well?

 

[Pyan]

I.E. "Oh crud! The royalties are running dry and I'm almost out of money! Quick, write something you know will sell!"

She'll have to have gone something if she ever needs to write another word....!

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/10/07billionaires_Joanne-(JK)-Rowling_CRTT.html


The World's Billionaires
#891 Joanne (JK) Rowling
03.08.07, 6:00 PM ET

Age: 41

Fortune: self made

Source: Harry Potter

Net Worth: $1.0 bil

 

[Who's Wee Dug]

Pyan, that's $dollar billionaire not quite a £billionaire but she is on the way for that, give her a couple of years and certainly by the time the last film comes out.

 

[The Sweeper]

The first three-four Harry Potter books I enjoyed, but then I found the quality of the books declining. By the 7th I was just reading it to finish the series. I read them all in a week, so I compared them quite soon after I read them.

 

[Hypes]

Both JK and Terry Pratchett offer nothing new to the fantasy genre but make the most money. However, JK's young readers will increase the readership of fantasy.

Wow, Lace, that's absolute rubbish! It's almost like the good old days.

JK Rowling, while her books have made a lot of teens read more (whether they keep on reading is another matter), it's true what other posters are saying, she's simply regurgitating an old and worn theme, hardly adding anything new. In fact, I'd be so bold to say she's simply dumbed down the popular classical fantasy story arcs (which are quite dull to begin with) and made it readable for a generation which is barely literate. Getting them to read is pretty much the only achievement which I'd laud her for. It's treating the symptom, not the cause.

Pratchett, on the other hand, earns his living in the borderlands of fantasy writing, providing a social commentary and a reading pleasure not a lot of writers can match. And for me, that's what fiction is for, whether plain old fiction, sci-fi or fantasy, they should provide a new perspective on things we might not see clearly in the muddled backdrop of our everyday life, or issues which are otherwise too sensible to dissect and analyze (and perhaps even solve). Sure, you might enjoy the odd simply entertaining book once in a while, but the ones that stick with you are the ones that do this. And through the Discworld series Pratchett does exactly this. Although in a very unsubtle, but effective fashion.

Getting someone into Pratchett might be a tad more difficult than getting them to succumb to the Harry Potter bug, but it's an addiction that will almost certainly stick and take you deep down the rabbit hole. JK Rowling leaves you waiting in Kansas.

 

[Tysha]

It's treating the symptom, not the cause..

Well said! Now, there is nothing good left about Rowling's work.. You've ruined my only appreciation of her creation... (oh! look it's rhymes! I'm a poet! )

 

[Hypes]

You are very welcome!