|
JKR discusses many things in new interview 
MARCH 26, 2008 at 8:57 PM
Posted by GERI
Source: News Tip
Earlier this month writer and comic Adeel Amini
had a chance to sit down with Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling in a Starbucks in Edinburgh. The interview, now online, includes Ms. Rowling's thoughts on her favorite book in the series, fame and complements, Dumbledore, lack of anonymity and many more interesting tidbits.
Rowling on anonymity:
Truthfully, it's gone up and down. There are definitely moments in the ten years that I was being published that I would have given almost anything to have the anonymity back, but those were the bad times and they never actually had anything to do with people coming up to me in Starbucks. Because people coming up to me in Starbucks are always charming. Always.
You know, as far back as I can remember... I wouldn't need all the fingers of one hand to think of anyone who's ever approached me who has been in any way rude - I'm setting aside the eBayers, what I call the eBayers, they're very aggressive, but that's not about being a fan, that's about making as much money as possible so they can be quite scary - but there were times when I would have given anything to have the anonymity. I felt under siege at certain times. I never expected journalists to come and bang on my front door. There was a period in the middle where it was very stressful.
Rowling on which of the books she would go back and change:
There are two books I would go back and do a good Director's Cut on: Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix. Order of the Phoenix is definitely overlong but, like Chamber of Secrets, they're both transitional chapters in the overall story, so information has to be given in both of them, and Harry has to visit places in both of them. Now that seven's out you can see that he had to have gone to the Ministry of Magic, he had to know that there was a Basilisk under the school, there were certain things he had to know and information he had to get and so in a series like that you do end up with transitional chapters. Phoenix should have been tightened up. I was in a state of advanced exhaustion when I was writing that, I was very heavily pregnant as I came to the end of it and I just ran out of energy. It definitely needs a clean-up job.
You can download the complete interview here or read it on Facebook.
Thanks to Harry Latino for the tip.
Reader Comments (68)
Your Thoughts
click to write...
Copyright © 2002-2008 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 | Book 7 | Send a news tip | Contact us | Privacy policy
Order of Merlin, 2nd Class
Points: 1753
Veela~Girl says:
Can you imagine the luck of this journalist to meet Jo at Starbucks and get this opportunity! Great article though! Jo was charming as ever and gave a lot of interesting information. I liked her comments on fundamentalism and critics of Dumbledore being gay. They made me very interested to find out more about this new 'politcal fairytale' that she is writing. Understandbly though, I think it will be quite some time until we see the final product.
Posted Mar 27, 2008 at 8:23 AM EST
Squib
Points: 167
Artep says:
Me neither J.K., me neither...
Posted Mar 27, 2008 at 8:58 AM EST
Keeper of Harry's Fate
Points: 7962
TheOneWhoMustBeNamed says:
Interesting comments. Not surprised with the tune up aspects. She mentioned she might like to go back and fix some things. Hopefully she won't.
Posted Mar 27, 2008 at 9:37 AM EST
Student
Points: 266
marcjosef says:
I really love the 4th and 5th book like all of you... just to share
Posted Mar 27, 2008 at 10:30 AM EST
Auror
Points: 3933
RON's all up in heRmiONe says:
I really do love her interviews, they're so good to read. I loved GoF and OotP. OotP was indeed extremely long, but it all fit together. There wasn't a dull moment in that book where I could say "that should have been cut", "that was boring."
I would have loved DH to be as long as OotP. You know, instead of DH ending(excluding the epilogue) with Harry in Dumbledore's office, I would have loved to see DH ending with a few days after Harry defeated Voldemort, seeing how Ron and Hermione would react to each other after their kiss... What I really wanted to read in DH was Ron/Hermione acting like a couple, snogging, hugging, cuddling...like JK Rowling described Harry with Ginny when they were going out. Oh, or after Fred's funeral, that would have been a good ending spot, but if Jo wanted it to end with him in Dumbledore's office, it's alright. It really was an amazing book-I'm surprised I haven't read it again, I really should.
Posted Mar 27, 2008 at 12:00 PM EST
Professor
Points: 1119
snaily says:
It definitely needs a clean-up job. Oh no! Please! It's my second most favourite book of the series! I love it the way it is!
Posted Mar 27, 2008 at 12:38 PM EST
Auror
Points: 2838
Anastasia Popovick says:
I love interviews and hearing what JK has to say about her work. It is interesting to see how hypercritical authors, actors, etc. are of their work. I love the books and movies just as they are...without tweaking or tightening up.
Posted Mar 27, 2008 at 12:43 PM EST
Seer
Points: 15207
Brittany Radcliffe says:
wow, thats like the most she has said recently about everything Harry Potter.
theres a lot I want to know there.
Posted Mar 27, 2008 at 1:32 PM EST
Points: 7799
Rococoed says:
This was certainly a fascinating read, as the questions aren't nearly as redunant as the ones we usually see in the media! This certainly proves to be the most worthwhile read regarding her in ages.
Still, J.K. Rowling, I have to register my astonishment: you're thinking of trimming the Order of the Phoenix and The Goblet of Fire? Please don't be silly. Your books are perfect the way they are already!
Posted Mar 27, 2008 at 2:10 PM EST
Order of Merlin, 3rd Class
Points: 1587
Hermione's younger sister says:
I just went through a lot of the article. If only I had more time to read it all. It was reall interesting. I love hearing what she has to say about her characters!
Posted Mar 27, 2008 at 2:20 PM EST
Prof. of Cultural Literacy
Points: 4129
PowerGranger says:
I read this last night and had to digest it a bit -- so much information! I really love how candid JKR is. I thought it was funny how the interviewer kept saying that her modesty may seem hard to believe but appeared to him to be genuine. It's not like JKR is a publicity hound...I'm not sure why he'd find it hard to believe that she doesn't love being in the spotlight.
Anyway, it's interesting to hear more details about how JKR dealt with/is dealing with Harry's story being over (or is it?!) I used to say I didn't want JKR to write anymore about the wizarding world, but now that she's mentioned how strongly drawn to Harry's son Albus Severus she is.......hummmmm...I wouldn't mind knowing more about him!
Posted Mar 27, 2008 at 2:44 PM EST
Prefect
Points: 387
Aberforth Puckle says:
I think that's the best interview I've ever read. The journalist did a great job
Posted Mar 27, 2008 at 3:19 PM EST
Witch
Points: 823
jade_eyes says:
Jealous!! I would love to interview JK..she amazes me!! I don't think anything about the books needs to be changed, they all have wonderful story lines, and I love all the little side stories that go on in them. It would be awesome if the movies captured everything that was going on in the books!!!
Posted Mar 27, 2008 at 3:19 PM EST
Order of Merlin, 1st Class
Points: 1980
Nataly says:
WOW intwrview.. thanks for posting!
Posted Mar 27, 2008 at 4:32 PM EST
Order of Merlin, 1st Class
Points: 1904
PHOENIX5625 says:
Great interview by Jo. It is great to hear she has started the HP encyclopedia. She can take all the time she needs for the next couple years. it will likely be published around the DH movie.
Posted Mar 27, 2008 at 4:34 PM EST
Ravenclaw Mastermind
Points: 9718
Isilwen Ciryatan says:
I loved this interview and its wide range of topics discussed. It's understandable how Jo wishes to be anonymous again--the pressures to write everything in and finish at certain time was a lot to take on (with a family too!). I really liked what she said about Dumbledore. It is nice now that the series is complete, Jo can gives us this sort of insight that didn't make it to the books otherwise. These new bits on Dumbledore at a younger age add to just how complex Jo writes her characters. As far as trimming down GoF and OotP, I don't see what Jo could have cut down. Like she said, we needed Harry to find the Basilisk in the Chamber and see the Ministry of Magic (imagine how different DH would have turned out). And finally, I'm happy to hear she will probably continue to write some more. Though it won't be out for a while, I can wait. :)
Posted Mar 27, 2008 at 5:07 PM EST
Wizard
Points: 778
Silly Dragon says:
No need for director's cuts in these central books, length is really not a problem. The longer the better. No need for such cuts in Deathly Hallows either, except maybe for the big cut splitting one episode into two films (in order, precisely, to avoid the usual disappointmnt at seeing the "omission" of so many details ).
I do approve of the freedom of the press, but this does not mean journalists can ignore common politeness. Fortunately enough these Starbucks fellows do not lack common sense, and don't need to bang at JK's door to provide us with clever interviews. I really wonder what her next book will be like. She does have a potential for writing,and I'm eager to see how she deals with different genres and subjects.
Posted Mar 27, 2008 at 5:41 PM EST
Order of Merlin, 4th Class
Points: 1376
~*WitherWings*~ says:
Hm Interesting.. After DH, OotP is my favourite book, Im glad she didn't change any of it!
Great interview anyway.
Posted Mar 27, 2008 at 6:03 PM EST
Vader's Veela
Points: 3803
seekerfan says:
Very fascinating. I'd love it if she wrote a book about the process/experience of writing the books.
Posted Mar 27, 2008 at 6:44 PM EST
Professor
Points: 1158
MollyMomma says:
Wow, that was a really long interview. Amazing that you could just bump into her at a coffee shop, ask for an interview, and then there you are. Well done.
Posted Mar 27, 2008 at 6:51 PM EST
Sirius's Veil Thrower
Points: 4309
SiriusBlacksGodDaughter says:
Awesome! I'm glad we've finally got another interview!
~Drish~
Posted Mar 27, 2008 at 7:10 PM EST
Order of Merlin, 2nd Class
Points: 1654
Looooney says:
I really liked this interview because it was intelligent and was a little different for a change. We got some new questions answered and also got to hear more about her experience... and not just the rags to riches bit that is typically romanticized in interviews.
Posted Mar 27, 2008 at 8:06 PM EST
Auror
Points: 2177
Hecate3fold says:
I enjoyed this article very much. In fact I got totally lost in the conversation, like I was a fly on the wall listening to what was being said.
My compliments to the author.
Blessings! Hecate3fold!
Posted Mar 27, 2008 at 8:13 PM EST
Student
Points: 209
NicoleHalliwell says:
I remember reading an interview a couple of years ago that she might revise some of the books, particularly OotP. But in all honesty, I won't buy them. I like the books as they are and wouldn't want to see anything changed.
Posted Mar 28, 2008 at 12:09 AM EST
Points: 72
HeWhoHasAName says:
Hi,
A comment on some of the earlier posts.
The "Director's Cut" is somewhat of a misnomer in that it gives the impression that the cutting process is going to leave you with less when in actuality it may be the opposite.
In film, traditionally the editing process goes something like this. First is the rough cut which matches the script exactly. Then the editor comes and cuts to his taste and then there is the final cut. After the final cut, the version that's released to the public, the Director approves the changes made. That is the Director's Cut in the traditional sense.
The cut JK Rowling is referring to is a "preferred" cut. This would be her ideal edit which is likely to include stuff that in hindsight she thinks should have been left in when she first wrote the books and the editors chopped. Just as with movies, the Director's Cuts are usually considerably longer.
So that said, her "Director's Cut" will be longer books filled with more details and facts. It will also be an opportunity to fix any mistakes she made too.
Posted Mar 28, 2008 at 2:23 AM EST
Order of Merlin, 3rd Class
Points: 1595
zues says:
I'm sure there are other authors who now look back at their books and would like to change things about them. I also think she should leave them the way they are.
Posted Mar 28, 2008 at 3:52 AM EST
Back to top of page