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JK Rowling - an average writer, that had one good idea, and got lucky?

I'd like to add my $0.02 and say she's nowhere near the likes of Pullman, who is brilliant. Harry Potter is too...limited. There's no substance to it beyond it being compelling. I read the first 5 books in a week last summer, and granted, they are exciting, but I have no specific memories of any of them. Nothing stuck.

His Dark Materials, however, truly blew me away and I remember very specific parts that I consider to be very clever and well thought out.

Reply 21

prospectivEEconomist

16

Ok pullman is great as well. I have read his dark materials and HP, nothing else.

Reply 22

Master Polhem

15

She wrote about a gay grandmaster magician. Superb in my opinion just superb she is.

Reply 23

Guy Secretan

18

She is kind of like Take That for books whereas Pullman is more like The Beatles or something.

Reply 24

Valkyrja

14

Do you know what? I think a lot of you are missing the point of JK Rowlings writing.

What she did was make literature accessible to people again, the billions of people who have bought her books come from all levels of society. Not since Enid Blyton has an author united so many people and encouraged reading in those who are not actively encouraged to read at home. I had my own library of books growing up, I was not rich by any stretch of the imagination, but I loved books and stories, unfortunately I have to say I am the exception to the rule, growing up in working class wales there were definitely a lot of people at my school who had never read a book at home even at the age of 16. In my opinion although JK rowling is not an amazing 'writer' in the technical snobbery sense, she is a fantastic story teller....and I would rather read a 'badly' written fantastic story than an excellently constructed literary masterpiece that wasn't too wonderful on the story telling front.

Reply 25

iispeng

Red_Sky

Why so? I have read quite a lot of literature, and love most of it. But there is something about LOTR that drives me stark raving bonkers! I tried, I failed, I hate to admit that I couldn't even read more than a few pages! :no:

same here plus i never really know where to start (whether i should read the prologue or not). i must say im quite suprised about the negativity towards rowling cos i thought the harry potter bok were great although i felt she made a mistake by not killing potter probably to make everyone happy.

can someone tell me other books that pullman has written

Reply 26

Red_Sky

junoreacter

Patience Luke. Grown restless , you have *in yoda voice*

Did you watch the film/s before or after reading the book? If you start after, the book is tremendously predictable and since its so long , you can't wait for it to be over

You make a very good point, I am often guilty of this! I think 'oooh wow lets watch that' and then reading the book seems like a great idea in principle but when I get down to it, I often kind of give up. I hate to be defeated by books though, thats why I'm never going to start War and Peace! :p:

I'm not sure if I even like the LOTR films, I kind of do :drool:

Elijah Wood :wink:

With his bright blue eyes and his lovely voice..... :o:

But at the same time they are kind of....dull? (Yes, I like Elijah...but 9hours worth??! I think perhaps not) :smile:

Reply 27

The_Lonely_Goatherd

20

Never read any Pullman, but I agree with the thread title. They are good books, inventive and well-constructed plots, but her actual writing style isn't anything special.

:smile:

Reply 28

Fusion

20

I got bored of HP during the third book when I realised it's just the same old story repeated.

Reply 29

Red_Sky

Valkyrja

Do you know what? I think a lot of you are missing the point of JK Rowlings writing.

What she did was make literature accessible to people again, the billions of people who have bought her books come from all levels of society..

And that is brilliant, I love the fact that more children are reading and that Harry Potter is a cool thing :cool:

(not like in my day when I didn't admit my own bookwormery to my friends) But the debate isn't over whether this is a good thing or not but whether JK Rowling got there through skill or luck....(to which I would argue a bit of both)

Reply 30

sophie192

She's not the best author there is but the Harry Potter series is a good read. Its enjoyable and unique (kinda!). She has written seven books, I don't think it was luck.

Reply 31

Red_Sky

iispeng

can someone tell me other books that pullman has written

Assuming you mean apart from 'His Dark Materials' then something in the back of my mind takes me back to reading a book about a rat that was by him (I may have that completely wrong) Not much help, hopefully someone else can do better!! If not maybe try amazon, looking through a search?

Reply 32

yusufu

16

iispeng

same here plus i never really know where to start (whether i should read the prologue or not). i must say im quite suprised about the negativity towards rowling cos i thought the harry potter bok were great although i felt she made a mistake by not killing potter probably to make everyone happy.

Voldemort should've lived after destroying Harry in mano a mano combat :wizard2:

Reply 33

Excalibur

15

iispeng

can someone tell me other books that pullman has written

The Sally Lockhart quartet is probably his other famous series - The Ruby in the Smoke, the Shadow in the North, the Tiger in the Well and the Tin Princess. The first two has been dramatised by the BBC. They do pale slightly next to the outstanding HDM trilogy but they are still an excellent read.

As for the original question - I disagree. Sure, her writing style and plot aren't the most sophisticated or original (and her death scenes can be cringeworthy), but I take my hat off for the sheer amount of creativity and thought that went into constructing the HP world; there was something about her books that captured people's imaginations like no other could for a long time and the characters came alive. And despite saying that her writing style isn't the best, there was still something about it that just compelled you to keep reading - a HP book never felt too long for me, and even if it dragged at parts I never felt like I wanted to put the book down. I think that that, the ability to keep a reader hooked on your work, is an important characteristic of a talented writer.

And I also agree with Valkyrja - HP made reading accessible to a wider audience again. I know so many people who hardly read a book before meeting HP, as well as those whose love of reading had been triggered/catalysed by HP (myself included, I suppose).

For all its flaws (and I do agree there are many), I think HP is something special and just saying it's luck doesn't cover it.

I'm currently trying to work out what the good idea was, but leaving that aside, I don't think it was luck, though that will always play some role in the success of a book. She wrote mildly humorous books in reasonably clear prose with involving if predictable plots. As books aimed at children, I think they're bloody good. You could argue that there are (far) more original books for children, better written books for children and funnier books for children, but Harry Potter does everything it needs to do and combines this with a degree of social interaction that isn't seen in most of the best fantasy novels.

Reply 36

RyanT

15

I agree with the OP - I've seen much better writers, but JK Roling is good with ideas.

Reply 37

LukeatForest

13

The idea makes the writer, not the style. She is, therefore, not an average writer. Her style may be average (though that's debatable - it's certainly an 'effective for the masses' kind of style), but some people seem to think that style is the be-all and end-all of writing. Incredible ideas are infinitely more important to the extent that a brilliant idea can disguise even a poor writer. I personally think JK Rowling's an above average writer with incredible vision.

Reply 38

SarahhhD

8

She got lucky, It was the draw of magic, but I still love the books.
Twilight is fantastic aswell. :smile:

Reply 39

Joanna May

15

I like Harry Potter, but her writing style isn't brilliant. The plot keeps me interested so I read them, but every so often something bad in her writing jars me. I read all seven though, so clearly it's not a problem.

JK Rowling - an average writer, that had one good idea, and got lucky?

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