|
JULY 10, 2003 at 4:51 PM
The Booker prize-winning author A. S. Byatt was accused yesterday
of dumping "a goblet of bile" on JK Rowling by insisting that Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was lacking the skill of the great children's writers. Expectedly, backlash has begun:
Byatt's argument is just what you'd expect from someone shouldering the mantle of high culture. To show that she's not a total killjoy, Byatt allows that Rowling's books are entertaining and reveal "a sure instinct for childish psychology." To answer the bigger question of what explains the series' huge success with adults as well as children (uh, because J.K. Rowling is a master of narrative?), Byatt decides that the books represent "comfort" for their readers, embodying Freud's notion of "family romance" (finding the surrogate family where we are appreciated for ourselves) and the chance to regress to a safe world where good and evil are readily identifiable and we feel that we are given control over the unpredictable.
From the BBC:
Byatt has reportedly been called a snob after her editorial column appeared in the New York Times on Monday.
Of the latest Harry Potter book, she wrote: "It is written for people whose imaginative lives are confined to TV cartoons, and the exaggerated (more exciting, not threatening) mirror-worlds of soaps, reality TV and celebrity gossip."
Incidentally, if you look closely at the right side of The Telegraph's article, they link to HPANA!
Reader Comments (43)
Your Thoughts
click to write...
Copyright © 2002-2010 HPANA. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. 
HPANA is an unofficial fan site, in no way affiliated with J.K. Rowling,
Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury Publishing or Warner Bros. Entertainment. All
trademarks and copyrighted material are the property of their respective owners.
About HPANA | Movie 6 | Send a news tip | Contact us | Privacy policy
Marauder
Points: 3954
jade says:
Congrats HPANA for the link.
Posted Jul 11, 2003 at 1:18 PM EST
Wizard
Points: 502
Padfoot05 says:
I hate those people like that I can't stand them they are just jelaous
Posted Jul 11, 2003 at 1:18 PM EST
Hufflepuff Princess
Points: 24832
Waddi Wasi says:
Thank you, Lerah99. Maybe Grawp can use her for target practice? TrueBluePotterFan is right, though. Let's not dwell on it, we know we're better than her non-existant legion of fans.
Posted Jul 11, 2003 at 2:41 PM EST
Student
Points: 233
magic_cat111587 says:
WHAT A FREAKIN SNOB SHE'S THE ONE WHO DOESN'T KNOW WHAT CHILDREN'S LITERATURE IS. BOOK 5 KICKED BUTT. I BET THIS BYATT LADY WOULDN'T KNOW A GOOD BOOK IF IT KICKED HER ASS. (SORRY FOR THE LANGUAGE IT JUST MY ANGER)
Posted Jul 11, 2003 at 3:12 PM EST
Hufflepuff Princess
Points: 24832
Waddi Wasi says:
So much anger. Well, anyway.. it looks as though Byatt's words aren't the goblet of bile. She is!
Posted Jul 11, 2003 at 6:07 PM EST
Points: 79
egyptspy says:
maybe if her comments had some actual literal evidence to support her opinion, she wouldn't come off as a jealous *ahem* ...witch. i don't understand why someone would come right out and insult millions of harry potter readers like that. it's so stupid. no doubt she's gonna regret insulting j.k. rowling.... she has the most loyal fans, and she has millions of them. i bet she'll be getting quite a few howlers.
Posted Jul 11, 2003 at 7:15 PM EST
Auror
Points: 2289
Snufflesmom says:
She is obviously a literary snob, anyone who calls Proust her favorite author, has to be a snob. I have read both authors she mentions as her favorites and found the dry and boring really. She is a person who wants to be noticed and attacking JKR gives her some publicity and so let her have her 15 minutes of fame. Lord knows she couldn't get it any other way
Posted Jul 11, 2003 at 8:58 PM EST
Points: 180
MUGGLEBORN6 says:
Well, I don't know about anyone else, but while reading the Harry Potter books, I found that I had actually turned off the t.v. So what if I like to sit down and watch the soaps, reality t.v or cartoons. Isn't that what t.v. is for, to take my mind off the real world. I'm sure that Miss High and Mighty sits around reading newspapers and books that do not interest me, well more power to her, but that doesn't mean that's what I have to do. If I want to sit around reading Harry Potter becasue it gets my "feeble" imagination working, that should be of no concerne to her. So let her enjoy her snooty reading. I'll be enjoying HARRY POTTER all I darn well please.
Posted Jul 12, 2003 at 9:12 AM EST
Metamorphmagus
Points: 37946
tonks black says:
That lady is just crazy..she just wishes she was as popular and rich and loved as JKR. those kind of people are the kind that make me wonder why humans even exist..
Posted Jul 12, 2003 at 1:19 PM EST
Points: 39
The Get Up Kid says:
I found that more patronizing than anything else. Who is she to decide what is good? What people should be reading? Does she think that people who read Harry Potter (adults and kids alike) read nothing else? I don't know about the rest of you, but Harry Potter completely rejuvenated my love of books. I read a lot and I can tell the difference between pretention for the sake of pretention and 'dumbing things down.' And quite frankly, anyone who begins quoting Freud just reeks of pretention to me.
But to address the point: '..the chance to regress to a safe world where good and evil are readily identifiable and we feel that we are given control over the unpredictable.
Has she read the books at all? If she has, she really hasn't taken them in at all. One of the things about the Harry Potter universe is that there is no definable line between good and evil. Surely Snape is evidence of that?
And 'regress'? Does she not write post Victorian era or something akin?
Posted Jul 12, 2003 at 5:22 PM EST
Points: 1450
Gopotter2004 says:
As long as she is publically flogged, I don't mind what she says. She has freedom of speach.
~~~~
ATTACK HER! That outlandish, silly, mangy, lousy, filthy, rotten, stupid little git!
(I have the same right.)
Posted Jul 14, 2003 at 11:02 PM EST
Heir of Slytherin
Points: 5499
Spazzingduck says:
"Lacking the skill of great children's writers?" Excuse me, but Harry Potter has been voted "Best Book" for this and that so many times I have lost track a long time ago.
"It is written for people whose imaginative lives are confined to TV cartoons." If it was for people who sit in front of the TV all day, they would be too lazy to read Harry Potter in the first place, so I'm not really sure what that's supposed to mean.
And if she starts bringing Freud into this, all I can say is that she needs to find something else to do with all that spare time.
Posted Jan 13, 2004 at 7:50 PM EST
Professional Beater
Points: 20891
feltonluver says:
Well you know what I think...I think that byatt is a goblet of bile! That book was my absolute favourtie, anyways haha yes she is like umbridge!
Posted Feb 29, 2004 at 8:52 PM EST
Mediwitch
Points: 2608
nickyole1 says:
If this lady is an author, amy be you would think that she is doing this for some publicity? I don't know. I don;t like her, and I am not going to agree with anything she says.
Posted Jul 18, 2004 at 2:33 PM EST
The Gryffindor Guy
Points: 2727
z Jamie Potter z says:
She is comparable to Umbridge and should be fed to the centaurs for afternoon tea!!
Posted Mar 19, 2005 at 8:39 AM EST
Squib
Points: 193
Hermione Jane ; ) says:
Who is this nutter who wrote this crap and what authority does she have to say that HP is "bad writing" or whatever it is she wants to call it? Totally a publicity stunt. And she refers to Freud in her critizism, right? Well, wasn't he supposed to be a bit of a nutter, too?
Posted May 27, 2005 at 8:15 PM EST
Squib
Points: 193
Hermione Jane ; ) says:
Wise Man Domingo is right. If you look at her picture when you click on the link ("accused yesterday") above, you see that her face is sort of wide and flabby like Umbridge.
Posted May 27, 2005 at 8:24 PM EST
Squib
Points: 193
Hermione Jane ; ) says:
I know I keep reposting! I'm sorry, but I REALLY, REALLY hate this woman. And I just thought of something. We're all saying that she looks like Umbridge, right? Well Umbridge comes from the word "umbrage," which means, "resent, indignation, or offense." She's totally jealous, resentful (as her namesake reminds us) of Jo's popularity.
Posted May 27, 2005 at 8:27 PM EST
Back to top of page