Subject:
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Re: Saw the movie today! (bit OT)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.fun
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Date:
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Thu, 6 Dec 2001 02:12:36 GMT
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Viewed:
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501 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.fun, Dave Schuler writes:
> In lugnet.off-topic.fun, Erik Olson writes:
> > In lugnet.loc.uk, Dave Schuler writes:
> > > Speaking as an outsider, since I haven't read more than a few pages of
> > > Potter (though I'm casually familiar with the overall plot), I would suggest
> > > that one of Rowlings' greatest virtues is that the vast story she's crafted
> > > is one of very, very few 20th century works of Western fantasy that isn't
> > > heavily derivative of Tolkien, the Arthurian myth, or Greco-Roman mythology.
> >
> > I'm an outsider, too, but if you remember what was on the children's fantasy
> > list 20 years ago, there were a tremendous number of books about witchcraft,
> > not derivative of those things either. Susan Cooper doesn't count (too
> > Arthurian) but there were John Bellairs, Mary Norton, Edith Nesbit, Edward
> > Eager, all writing about kids and witchcraft without those things. You might
> > call it the Victorian Witchcraft tradition.
>
> That's not a bad point, and I should have specified "major 20th century works
> of Western fantasy. All of these Victorian Witchcraft writers played their
> part, but honestly none can be said to have had the impact of Arthur, Gandalf,
> or Harry.
That's a little premature.
When I was a kid, *everybody* in my class had read or listened to those
authors I brought up (thanks to reading lists). Tolkien was obscure by
comparison (few are able to conquer Tolkien before age 12. He didn't win any
Newbury awards.)
Anyway, HP is promoted in the post-Star Wars way.
The New Yorker jadedly predicts HP will be as influential as the Smurfs.
Silly, because HP will be around on library shelves for generations. But I
wonder if he will be as quaint as "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" to the next
generation?
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Saw the movie today! (bit OT)
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| (...) That's not a bad point, and I should have specified "major 20th century works of Western fantasy. All of these Victorian Witchcraft writers played their part, but honestly none can be said to have had the impact of Arthur, Gandalf, or Harry. (...) (23 years ago, 5-Dec-01, to lugnet.off-topic.fun)
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