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Post by newslang on Oct 21, 2007 20:50:20 GMT
But she doesn't know anything! As my grade 11 English teacher enlightened us: Nothing exists unless it's written down! If she says it now it has no meaning BECAUSE the books are finished.
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Post by sarah on Oct 21, 2007 20:59:06 GMT
i quite agree with you Victoria
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Post by minda on Oct 21, 2007 22:13:43 GMT
what really bothers me with this whole thing is that it's the eccentric old fart who probably was too weird for his own good who's supposed to be gay, it would be much better -in my opinion- if McGonagall was lesbian anyone else, students, whatever.. just not the weirdest person in the whole story
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Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2007 22:22:24 GMT
I've always found the mark of a good writer to be someone who lets the reader interpret things for themselves. I'm not saying a writer is only good if they do that, but it displays a certain literary intelligence to me. To Kill A Mockingbird is wonderfully subtle, and all the more accomplished for it (since it's narrated through the eyes of a child, why should she know exactly what's going on all the time?). Etc.
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Post by stationtostation on Oct 21, 2007 22:36:49 GMT
I didn't enjoy To Kill A Mockingbird much it was far too moral. I can't stand books with moral "messages" I prefer more ambiguity and shades of grey. I think it was a bit black and white, goodies and baddies all told not remotely subtle (in that respect) and not amazingly interestingly written. I was very intrigued by Boo Radley though, much more so than the main trial plot and I was kind of just waiting for more stuff about him though the main "racciisssmm iss baddd okkaayy?!" meat of the book. Then I was disappointed with the resolution, as it sort of contracted the "gentle recluse rather than local bogey man" thing they where going for by having him knife someone to death.. ok in real life what he did would be essential self defense but its not real life, its fiction and they're could have been a better conclusion to things rather then being so obviously dramatic.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2007 22:46:03 GMT
I didn't enjoy To Kill A Mockingbird much it was far too moral. I can't stand books with moral "messages" I prefer more ambiguity and shades of grey. I think it was a bit black and white, goodies and baddies all told not remotely subtle (in that respect) and not amazingly interestingly written. I was very intrigued by Boo Radley though, much more so than the main trial plot and I was kind of just waiting for more stuff about him though the main "racciisssmm iss baddd okkaayy?!" meat of the book. Then I was disappointed with the resolution, as it sort of contracted the "gentle recluse rather than local bogey man" thing they where going for by having him knife someone to death.. ok in real life what he did would be essential self defense but its not real life, its fiction and they're could have been a better conclusion to things rather then being so obviously dramatic. I didn't think it was hugely preachy, like I said, I found it to be more subtle. Okay so some of it was obvious - the white Ewells were all a lowlife bunch of inbreds, whilst the black community was made up of dignified, wise, polite, upstanding members of society and whatnot. I thought it was fascinatingly-written. What about Mrs Dubose? Creepy old lady swearing and frightening kids turns out to be a drug addict. Jem is a bit of a tit sometimes, but I stand by my opinion that Atticus is one of the greatest literary characters I've ever come across. The way Boo Radley is built up, Harper Lee had to introduce him at the end, it's a typical convention, but it would have been somewhat unsatisfying for the reader if she hadn't. And it had to be in a dramatic way; if he'd just stepped out of his door and waved, I would have been disappointed. The trial doesn't come into play until halfway through the book, it's like everything we've been taught up until then is brought together for the end of term exam. I've learned all my life lessons from that book and the last 5 minutes of every episode of Scrubs.
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Post by mimicry on Oct 22, 2007 2:12:34 GMT
But she doesn't know anything! As my grade 11 English teacher enlightened us: Nothing exists unless it's written down! If she says it now it has no meaning BECAUSE the books are finished. But she has written it down, she has boxes upon boxes of notes about her characters' backstories, quirks, and little details that often don't make it into the books. The books were very plot driven. She included details that were relevant to the plot. Was Dumbledore's sexuality relevant to the plot? No. Is it part of his character? Yes.
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Post by newslang on Oct 22, 2007 2:23:33 GMT
But is it part of his character really? I feel that if it was relevant to his character in the books than it should have been included. If not, then I believe, like Sarah said, it should be up to the interpretation of the reader.
For now, she has just about as much right to say something about one of the characters in the book and call it true as I do. When the encyclopedia thing is let out, I think it's still up to interpretation since I still believe she just makes it up as she goes along, BUT at least it won't be an arbitrary answer from some kind of press conference.
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Post by mimicry on Oct 22, 2007 2:56:25 GMT
It wasn't a press conference, it was an event where she read the book, answered fans' questions, and there was a signing afterwards. (The question was something like "Since Dumbledore believed in the power of love, has Dumbledore ever fallen in love?")
And made it up as she went along? They sure turned out cohesive for being stream of consciousness then, eh?
Edit: And I do believe that the fandom treatment of canon is slightly different than than an academic critical analysis of canon.
Edit Strikes Back: And I do think that things should be left up to readers' interpretations, but it also very neat to hear about the creator's prespective about her creations. For instance, after I finished reading DH I thought that it made perfect sense for Dumbledore and Grindelwald to have had a romantic relationship that ended in tragedy. And now, lo and behold, she says that it is indeed true.
And it was relevant to Dumbledore's character in the book (due to Grindelwald) but she didn't explicitly say it because it's not a big deal. It would have changed the feel of the books if in the first chapter she said "This mysterious wizard man was wearing a purple robe because he got the gay!"
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Post by chloelovespw on Oct 22, 2007 8:23:11 GMT
well, dumbledore was always a snazzy dresser
and oy, this means that the canon-proof as/s ship has a chance of being canon if AD/GG's canon i mean, house/wilson became slightly canon! IT'S ALL ABOUT CANON, CANON, CANON THESE DAYS.
and i guess there isn't really anything wrong with being canon shipper, it's just that i like my rainbow-raft-with-a-stick as/s ship instead of, you know, the huge queen mary II ship that is ron/hermione.
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Post by Dalia on Oct 22, 2007 9:29:30 GMT
hey, I wasn't online for a while, what happened to the community room?
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Post by Hypnotic.Gaze™ on Oct 22, 2007 9:59:48 GMT
Im getting crazy with The Tudors.
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Post by indiequeen on Oct 22, 2007 10:21:49 GMT
i erm...changed my avator
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Post by milindris on Oct 22, 2007 11:24:30 GMT
i erm... exalted you
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Post by mynameisHughGrant on Oct 22, 2007 11:32:35 GMT
firstly, i don't understand the point of telling us dumbledore is gay. In some readers minds, maybe he already was anyway. The beauty of the written word is bringing a little bit of your own imagination into it anyway
i stole nearly all my gcse english books from my school, i do feel a little guilty too, since i don't REALLY want a script for an inspector calls or a copy of of mice and men. I nwish i'd stolen the poetry anthology though, i miss poetry.
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Post by madeline on Oct 22, 2007 11:58:14 GMT
I want to watch fight club.
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Post by birdwhistle on Oct 22, 2007 12:18:33 GMT
You should. Although bearing in mind the ending's a bit different from Palahniuk's.
Hey, looks like Alicia deleted her account. There goes another one. :-\
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Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2007 12:21:38 GMT
I did TKAMB at school - i actually kept the book we were given (and meant to hand back) because i thought it was beautiful. I have since lost it, but its the thought that counts... Scout and Atticus were my favourite characters. Have you seen the film? Yes, it's perfect.
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Post by Clare on Oct 22, 2007 12:24:02 GMT
I have an overactive imagination.
"Where do you work?" "Oh, I work in the sewers. I harvest trolls for a living." "...No office romance, then?" "Well, you know, this troll lassie made eyes at me, but I told her I was gay. Gay for. You know. Humans."
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Post by lltoastll on Oct 22, 2007 14:08:59 GMT
I under calculated my departure time for class this morning and now class has started 10 minutes ago.
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