Author Terry Pratchett Comments on J.K.Rowling

Jul 31, 2005

Posted by: SueTLC

Uncategorized

Author Terry Pratchett has written an unfavorable note published in a newspaper complaining about J.K.Rowling. His complaint is that the status of the Harry Potter author is being elevated “at the expense of other writers”. He writes in the Times:

WHY IS it felt that the continued elevation of J K Rowling can only be achieved at the expense of other writers (Mistress of magic, News Review, last week)? Now we learn that prior to Harry Potter the world of fantasy was plagued with “knights and ladies morris-dancing to Greensleeves.”

In fact the best of it has always been edgy and inventive, with “the dark heart of the real world” being exactly what, underneath the top dressing, it is all about. Ever since The Lord of the Rings revitalised the genre, writers have played with it, reinvented it, subverted it and bent it to the times. It has also contained some of the very best, most accessible writing for children, by writers who seldom get the acknowledgement they deserve.

Rowling says that she didn’t realise that the first Potter book was fantasy until after it was published. I’m not the world’s greatest expert, but I would have thought that the wizards, witches, trolls, unicorns, hidden worlds, jumping chocolate frogs, owl mail, magic food, ghosts, broomsticks and spells would have given her a clue?

Terry Pratchett
Salisbury, Wiltshire

Mr. Pratchett, author of a series of fantasy books including the Discworld novels, is apparently upset at comments made by J.K. Rowling in an interview published recently in Time Magazine.





The Leaky Cauldron is not associated with J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., or any of the individuals or companies associated with producing and publishing Harry Potter books and films.