Back in February, we told you Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling was a guest at the James Joyce Awards in Dublin, Ireland. Thanks to La Gazetter du Sorcier there is a new report online containing a many of her remarks at this event. Answering a range of questions, Jo again says she intends to “write an Encyclopaedia which would hopefully incorporate a lot of back story I couldn’t… or flesh out back story that wasn’t in the books.” JKR was also asked if she thinks of the actors when she writes. Jo said “to be honest no, the only actor or actress who has ever, ever intruded while writing was Evanna Lynch, who is absolutely perfect as Luna. And I must admit I have heard her voice in my head when I wrote the book.”
Specifically on the topics of the books, J.K. Rowling reflected on the theories that she heard while writing the series and mentions several in particular, notably ” when Neville visits his parents in St Mungo’s and his mother presses sweets wrappers on him, which I always saw as a poignant moment… There was a theory that she’s passing secret messages on the sweet wrappers. There have been loads of them. But Dumbledore being Harry from the future is definitely my favourite of all the insane theories. But then you have people, I had people as early as Prisoner of Azkaban, the third book. I remember a woman saying to me : “I think Snape loves Lily”. I was “Oh my God what the hell did I give away ?”. But so people, people got stuff very unnervingly right. Often. Yeah.”
Jo also says she would like to go back and tighten up “Order of the Phoenix,” (“I must admit I was feeling the strength of the pressure a bit during that phase, and I think it shows in the book”) and mentions one hurdle she had to deal with when writing the series, stating : “The one thing, the difficulty I did sometimes have was I made a rule so tight it was sometimes hard to navigate around it myself. So not being able to Apparate in and out of Hogwarts was a pain in the back. Because it was necessary, I had to put that limit to make it a safe place. But finding a way to get in and out of Hogwarts was always a bit of a challenge. I was quite proud of Aberforth again, the tunnel. I like Aberforth. And his goat. [laughing] Yeah, Dumbledore pales into insignificance.”
Of interest are her comments regarding the plot lines and several of the characters. The Harry Potter author said some of the less crucial story lines were not always planned right from the begining and evolved as she went along, “But the big ones, the Dumbledore storyline, the Snape storyline were always there because you — the series is built around those.” Further comments on the importance of Snape and Dumbledore came from a question about the development of their story lines. Jo said:
“with Dumbledore quite deliberately, you find out little about Dumbledore’s own private life because his interactions with Harry are always about Harry, which sets up the fact that in the seventh book Harry thinks “but why did I never ask ?” He’s gone now and he’s never even thought of saying : “so how about you ?” you know, at the end of one of those conversations which I think is something that happens after the grief, the regret that he didn’t ask. And I think also that Dumbledore had always been such an almost god-like figure to Harry in some ways, that he felt he couldn’t ask him personal questions.
Snape, on the other hand, I had to drop clues all the way through because as you know in the seventh book when you have the revelation scene where everything shifts and you realize why Snape was… what Snape’s motivation was. I had to plot that through the books because at the point where you see what was really going on, it would have been an absolute cheat on the reader at that point just to show a bunch of stuff you’ve never seen before, you know… “Oh by the way, in the background this was happening.” So I did know. It was a complicated plotting process but by the time Philosopher’s Stone was finished, I definitely knew all the big things about Snape and Dumbledore because in many ways they’re the two most important characters in the seventh book… Well, other than the trio, Harry, Ron and Hermione.
This was a good interview, I enjoyed reading the whole transcript. There is one thing that has always bothered me though. She really seems to dislike Ootp and calls those who mention it as their favorite book a “weird sub-sect” of Harry Potter fans, and thinks of those who like it as being “dark”. I must admit, it is one of my favorites of the series, however, I hardly consider myself to be dark or weird (I’m actually pretty cheery and boringly normal). I like the pace, the mystery, Harry’s emotions, the action, and Umbridge was entertainingly evil. I couldn’t put it down when I started it. Am I wrong or alone in liking it? JKR always mentions it, sometimes I feel that she really dislikes that book.
I got the Snape “good” theory right, but I got the reason wrong.
Of all the outrageous theories out there, the one I dismissed out of hand was Snape loving Lily. It was too cliche’d for me.
I shouldn’t be surprised though. The reason I loved the books so much was Jo’s ability to surprise me.
Yeah, Sue, you are definitely very cheery (though I wouldn’t call you boringly normal. ^_). I always like Order of the Phoenix, too. But when I first read it(or heard it read aloud by my mom), I cried for a long time upon hearing about the death of Sirius. I just couldn’t stop. So, yeah, the only thing I didn’t like about it was the whole Sirius dying bit. ^^;; OotP is arguably one of the more grittier and mature books of the series. It’s a very huge leap from Sorcerer’s Stone, eh? :3
Oh man I could listen to her talk all day. Sometimes I want another book so bad it makes me quite upset that there is nothing planned in the immediate future. Even if it wasn’t about HP, I just wish she would write another book. The interactions between her characters are so realistic that after you’re done reading you feel like you’ve just been hanging out with a bunch of your friends. I miss them. Yes, she should definitely write another book, non-magic if necessary, about three friends and their interactions… (they could be called Larry, Don, and, er Minnie). : )
I don’t think that OotP is that bad. Its def in my top 3 favs out of the 7. I liked the fact that it was a change of pace and so much darker than the other books. The emotional side of that book is amazingly powerful and complex. I wonder what she’d want to change about it?
Sue, I always got the impression Jo liked OotP but was somewhat bemused by its general unpopularity (apparently it’s the book most likely to be bought but never finished in the whole of the UK, and I still hear lots of people complain about its length). I don’t know though, just an impression. OotP is my favourite too and I’m not strange either (I don’t think so anyway…). I thought it was absolutely amazing, provoking outrage, tears and laughter to a degree that, for me, the other books did not (though I loved them all!). OotP always seemed to me to be the book where everything (esp the war/Voldemort etc) takes on a new level of reality for Harry, and the exploration of popularism through Umbridge, Skeeter and the Ministry, was inspired. Plus the depth of emotion, especially in the wake of Sirius’ death – just perfectly written and so devastating! I loved it.
Great to have all these extra snippets of info too, I always love hearing anything about how on earth she plotted all of this, my respect for Jo and the utter genius of her storytelling just grows and grows! What an incredible story-mind!!!
Hello wunderkind26. I am a different “Sue” and I assure you I am boringly normal (as I sit here in Massachusetts reading Zoning Board of Appeals decisions – yay!). Perhaps that is why I liked Ootp – grittier (good choice of words) and more mature. Sirius’ death did not lead me to cry – I don’t know why. There was alot of death I dealt with in real life just prior to reading the book, so I guess I fictionalized it in my mind.
I love JKR’s comments! I was particularly touched by the Harry/Dumbledore relationship, and Harry’s self-doubt about their relationship. I had a fantastic teacher/mentor in high school who suddenly passed away, and I had the same questions as Harry. She got that part note-perfect.
How cool for Evanna? I remember hearing JKR’s reading of OOTP, when she did Umbridge’s voice. Staunton did fantastic in getting the sticky sweetness of the character, but without the super-high pitch of the voice.
Michelle, yes, I’ve been taking note of how intricate the details are throughout the books. Right now I’m on Order of the Phoenix, and there are all sort of references to things in past books that show little things were important even though they sometimes seemed like extras just thrown in, and there is so much foreshadowing throughout (all the books, really).
Sue, I’m like you in that OP was my favorite until Deathly Hallows came out. I don’t think of myself as dark either, but what I liked about it was that Harry was finally feeling the isolation in his life and trying to find a way to deal with it. Jo had her characters dealing with so many things that many teens go through and in a very believable way. It was the honesty of those confusing teenage emotions that made the book one of my favorites. All the characters (and Snape) became more three dimensional than they had ever been. (That was also the reason that all the shipping in HBP didn’t irritate me as it fit well with the characters and their age.)
The other thing I really liked about Order of the Phoenix was that there were so many clearly Christian symbols in the book, especially at the end (the battle at the MoM). Those were things I had seen in the books before, and OP was the one that confirmed that I wasn’t just making it up. The imagery was subtle and so well done that everyone could relate to them and that makes it even better.
In hearing Jo speak about the books, I always get the feeling that she sometimes doesn’t realize some of the things that she put in and just how powerful it is. And that’s not a bad thing, not a criticism at all. The best books are those that take a reader beyond the basic story of the book, allowing the reader to be immersed in a new world, but one that includes all of us as the individuals that we are. In all the Harry Potter books, Jo has made room for everyone, while still telling the story she envisioned. That’s the best part of it all.
There was a blast that made the door rattle on its hinges; Snape was lifted off his feet and slammed into the wall, then slid down it to the floor, a trickle of blood oozing from under his hair. He had been knocked out.[br]Harry looked around. Both Ron an
This was a good interview, I enjoyed reading the whole transcript. There is one thing that has always bothered me though. She really seems to dislike Ootp and calls those who mention it as their favorite book a “weird sub-sect” of Harry Potter fans, and thinks of those who like it as being “dark”. I must admit, it is one of my favorites of the series, however, I hardly consider myself to be dark or weird (I’m actually pretty cheery and boringly normal). I like the pace, the mystery, Harry’s emotions, the action, and Umbridge was entertainingly evil. I couldn’t put it down when I started it. Am I wrong or alone in liking it? JKR always mentions it, sometimes I feel that she really dislikes that book.