But the thing to realize is that all the other readings (including the naive, right-leaning pro-Gryffindor and Dumbledore one) are also present. And none of them - not even the shadow reading, and certainly not the pro-Gryffindor surface reading, hang together completely. No, the anti-fantasy one doesn't really hang together, either.
I don't expect any work of art to have a simple message one could write out on a teabag. But I do expect it to have coherence and an effect on the recipient; I expect it to communicate something. Rowling's work remains muddled to me. Furthermore, if she intended the anti-fantasy message, I don't like it. But I have to admit, if she intended that message, I can at last let go of the books because I can see where the author was coming from. I don't have to agree with her in order to understand her.
But I am not at all sure that she did intend this meaning. I wish I could be sure. It would be a huge relief to me if I could be sure that readers are not supposed to like Harry.
BTW, the pro-Gryffindor, pro-Dumbledore and Harry reading is essentially fascist.
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Date: 2009-07-29 03:47 am (UTC)But the thing to realize is that all the other readings (including the naive, right-leaning pro-Gryffindor and Dumbledore one) are also present. And none of them - not even the shadow reading, and certainly not the pro-Gryffindor surface reading, hang together completely. No, the anti-fantasy one doesn't really hang together, either.
I don't expect any work of art to have a simple message one could write out on a teabag. But I do expect it to have coherence and an effect on the recipient; I expect it to communicate something. Rowling's work remains muddled to me. Furthermore, if she intended the anti-fantasy message, I don't like it. But I have to admit, if she intended that message, I can at last let go of the books because I can see where the author was coming from. I don't have to agree with her in order to understand her.
But I am not at all sure that she did intend this meaning. I wish I could be sure. It would be a huge relief to me if I could be sure that readers are not supposed to like Harry.
BTW, the pro-Gryffindor, pro-Dumbledore and Harry reading is essentially fascist.