By Matthew
I’ve been asking myself if there are any parts of Rowling’s writing that are, to me, particularly good or at least noteworthy from her usual.
The passages that are a change from Harry’s first person perspective always seemed refreshing to me. From off the top of my head these are found in the start of Philosopher’s Stone, Goblet of Fire, Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows.
The beginning of Goblet of Fire is one passage that has really stood out – the history of the Riddles and the background of Frank the soldier, now gardener, followed buy the discussion in the local pub.
This passage has always sat very well with me, very understanding of Frank and his war experience, the variety of townsfolk, their attitudes and the atmosphere of The Hanged Man. I’ve started to think I like this so much because it almost seems like it could have been lifted from The Lord of the Rings, specifically when Bilbo’s character and excentricities are being discussed by all and sundry at The Ivy Bush on the Bywater road.
So, have you come across parts of Rowling’s writing that you particularly like or have given you a similar… deja vu?
Joivre on 
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{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
I would probably say Rowling’s treatment of the locket horcrux in Deathly Hallows. Anyone who wore the locket horcrux would be angry; their personality would change. It reminded me of the Lord of the Rings where the Ring wore on Frodo and started changing him, scarring him because of the burden of carrying that evil object of Sauron. I thought it was brilliant when the locket opened and Voldemort’s soul was playing on Ron’s emotions by showing basically a lie: that Harry and Hermione had feelings for each other. Ron passed that temptation and destroyed the locket horcrux.
For me I think The Cave and Lightning Struck Tower chapters in HBP have to stand in a class by themselves, b/c the Gospel parallels to Maundy Thursday/Good Friday were so blindingly clear, and I first read them in late Lent. Dumbledore may not have been Jesus, as we were certainly reminded in DH, but he did an excellent facsimile in his last 6 hrs.
I have favorite lines, a few from HBP and many from DH, most of which I’ve already quoted.
Passages?
One of my favorite passages isn’t even in the book: it’s the covered bridge scene from PoA, where Harry and Lupin talk about Harry’s mother. There is such a sense of peace within the storm, regret of things past, and hope for the future. Great dialogue, great reading by Thewlis, and great sense of time and place – time out of mind.
There is a passage in HBP which seems to me to have been written for another book, which I enjoy, with a faint sense of regret that JKR hadn’t written that other book. It’s when Dumbledore uses Harry as bait to enlist Slughorn. Dumbledore as puppet-master is pretty close to the surface there, and Slughorn, of course, recognizes what he is doing, but still can not resist because Dumbledore has identified and is taking advantage of his Achilles’ heel.
There are many other passages, Harry digging Dobby’s grave – I can see him digging furiously, moved beyond pain and fear by his grief and rage, the child Riddle meeting Dumbledore for the first time, watching him coldly and warily – boy is that an interesting frequency JKR accessed there – Dumbledore’s conversation with Draco on the Astronomy Tower -Christopher Walken in the Suicide Kids comes to mind – but there are two which stand out for me above all.
The walk in the forest, with its mood of dread, resignation and a courage which comes from an unknown source – but of course the source walks with him, so it’s not unknown – well, that walk is familiar to all of us from a much older source. But to put a human face on that, the face of a boy whom we have come to know and love, and to make us grieve for what is to come and shiver with its deeper implications – I don’t have the words to describe how that scene moves me.
And my favorite of all, because it is more sustained, and hitting almost as pure a note, would have to be King’s Cross. And I have seen that scene many times before -the hero suspended between life and death, talking with the dead in limbo. She gets so much of it right: the familiar yet otherworldly setting, the grotesque element – the flayed child-Riddle whimpering under the bench, the sense again of time out of mind, the sense of intimacy with someone who was in the past always guarded and distant, the sense of longing for the next step, and reluctant return to what is known.
I have said that JKR is not a great writer. But she has flashes of greatness that will make me go back to books again and again.
reyhan wrote:
“I have said that JKR is not a great writer. But she has flashes of greatness that will make me go back to books again and again.”
And therein lies her greatness. Not that the writing is particularly great, especially in the early books, but that her works draw us back to them.
Far from being burnt out on them, I’m rereading them again. Just getting ready to start on GOF. I think this is a testament to the way Jo brought life to the characters.
These are people you care about & want to know more about. I think that’s part of her problem with giving interviews now. Everybody wants to know all this background stuff, because she made us care so much about the characters, even the seemingly minor ones. She doesn’t want to disappoint people, even though it might be best if she kept quiet.
One of my favorite passages is the last two or so paragraphs of Deathly Hallows. Why? Because the conclusion leaves you wanting more but yet satisfied with what you have & has that type of happily ever after ending, but without the chintzy fairy tale quality, i.e. everything is perfect from now on.
It resonates with me the same way the ending to Lord of the Rings & Chronicles of Narnia does for me. Now, Narnia has that happily ever after quality because they enter heaven, so it doesn’t really count as a cop out ending but as a natural conclusion.
You know the tale goes on, but it’s ended for you. So, like I said, the best stories leave you wanting more but satisfied with the conclusion you have.
I have several passages that I think are particularly moving, but I will only mention two here:
The death of Cedric and Dumbledore’s tribute to him at the banquet. I have mentioned before the trauma of the murder of a young man who was killed because he was doing a kindness, and I felt that the praise for Cedric somehow described my young friend. My third child had long battle with ALL Leukemia, and during our stays in the hospital and clinic I grew to know and love several other teens that had cancer. Not all were as blessed as my son, and I also mourn for those young people who had to face the reality of their deaths before they even had a chance to live.
As I mourn for Cedric every time I read that passage, I mourn for David and all those young people who live in my mind and my heart.
I am reminded that my worries and concerns are really petty compared to the choices that those young people had to make to keep faith in God, even a God who can heal, but never healed them in this life.
The other passage that struck me was in DH, when the doe guided Harry to the frozen pond with the snow. The symbol of the doe has always been special to me, for many years ago at a prayer meeting I was given the prophecy: “you shall be like Naphtali, bearing beautiful fawns”, and when I regard my children I regard them as my beautiful fawns, given by God. I had commented that my patronus would be a doe.
The beauty of that chapter, the beauty of the doe, the reconciliation between Harry and Ron, were very striking to me.
Excuse me, but I meant to write in my first comment “young people had to make THE CHOICE to keep faith in God”.
Mary Jo,
I agree with you about the passage where the doe guides Harry to the frozen pond and sword. It had an unearthly beauty. Thank you for reminding me: I’d forgotten about it.
I am very glad your son is ok. You were blessed.
Dumbledore’s tribute to Cedric was moving when I first read it. Subsequently, I can’t help but wonder how much he was using it as propaganda to warn wizardom about the return of Voldemort. Perhaps I’m being unfair to Dumbledore, though. I think that this was one of JKR’s “planned” deaths: Cedric, Sirius Black, Dumbledore, Dobby, George (or was it Fred?), Mr. and Mrs. Lupin: they all died for a reason: to make the point that innocent and good people die during war (Cedric, George/Fred); to provide Harry with support during his walk in the forest (Black, Remus); to focus his mind and resolve (Dobby); and to allow him to find his own strength(Dumbledore). It doesn’t make the deaths any less moving, but I can see the puppet strings.
I find people’s reflections very interesting. There are certainly “stand out” passages in Rowling’s writing.
One of the things I was hopeing we would get onto is if there is any particular passages that seem be written in an entirely different style to the rest of her writing- as if it were a relic from earlier writings or perhaps after a break from writing at all.
Know what I mean?
Matthew
You misspelt “favorite”.
Not in the Queen’s English.
Matthew
I am constantly at war with the Word Spellchecker, which insists on correcting my spelling of favour and honour if I set it on English(US) and offense if I set it on English(Canadian). I leave it on English(US) and ignore the red underlining.
I do think that the tone matures as the story progresses: the conversations with Dumbledore’s contemporaries are not at all like the conversations between the adults in the earlier books.
JKR did say she wrote the ending fairly early on. But she also said that she changed a few things, the last word, for example, which was no longer “scar”. Is that what you’re looking for, Matthew?
Reyhan,
I didn’t have anything specific in mind. Thinking about Tolkien, I know he spent many more years writing and doing many re-writings of his stories, it is fairly easy to identify passages that seem to fit better into the… saga-like writing of The Silmarillion. I was wondering if anyone has identified parts that give a similar impression.
I too felt that the books “grew up” as the years went along. The understanding and knowledge of the 17 year old “of age” Harry is so much greater than the boy in PS. And that is as it should be! That also concerns me how the books have been marketed, consistantly, for the same age group as PS was.
Matthew
I don’t know.
I was just browsing through the end of DH and it seemed to me that the tone of the writing changes after Harry’s final duel with Voldemort. He sounds more adult afterwards, and the conversation with Dumbledore’s portrait is very laid-back, and elliptical, with hidden undertones, like a continuation of their conversation at King’s Cross. Whereas the conversation (if it can be called that) with Voldemort sounds much more raw and obvious. And less mature, somehow.
Is that deliberate? Or were the passages written at different times?
Like I said, I don’t know.
Reyhan,
I think the differences in the three passages you mention demonstrate Rowling’s ability. The King’s Cross scene and the portrait scene are relaxed, detatched from the fight. Harry and Dumbledore are able to speak of bigger things.
But the showdown with Voldemort has that directness because Harry is speaking to his audience as well as Voldemort. There are things that need to be said. And as smart as Voldemort is, there are some things He Just Doesn’t Get and they need to be explained Clearly And Simply. I think the two styles within a few pages are marks of a mature writer.
Matthew – I agree about the style of writing maturing with Harry. In a review for our church paper I said that the original target audience of Philosopher’s Stone grew up alongside Harry over ten years. I could not recommend a ten-year-old start now with Philosopher’s Stone and finish Deathly Hallows a month or two later.
There are themes in the books young readers need to grow into.