Mailwatch(ed) Forum

The third book was genuinely excellent. The later books didn’t really come close, with the exception of book 5 in the creation of Dolores Umbridge. A genuinely horrific villain, because like so many genuine villains she’s so ordinary and just uses the main villain for cover or even justification for their actions.

See also: Patel/Braverman and Johnson/Sunak.

Now I think that shows JK's brilliance and ordinariness at the same time. Umbridge as a frustrated, authoritarian nasty is a stock character, and as such comes from Pratchett's Narrativium stable, but she is drawn very well and thus moves from the cliché into the creative. The same could be said for Malfoy(s), Weasleys and many others.

Interestingly, a few years back JK Rowling published a short(-ish) story on her website for free that updated with a chapter a day or so - The Ickabog. It wasn’t particularly complex a story, but felt much leaner and tighter than anything she’d written for ages and had a genuine moral message about how lies and paranoia can snowball when driven by greed and corruption.

It’s far, far more like the original Potters than the later books. I suspect in no small part because it was written without a view of becoming a blockbuster film that needed huge set pieces.

Judging from this tweet Charlotte Proudman didn't get past the first chapter.

I, for one, welcome our new elite, white, male, heirachical rulers.



look at them being all white, male and hierarchical.

The Weeping Angel wrote: ↑Fri Mar 03, 2023 9:30 pm Judging from this tweet Charlotte Proudman didn't get past the first chapter.

What makes it even funnier is she has Cambridge academic listed in her bio.

The Weeping Angel wrote: ↑Fri Mar 03, 2023 9:30 pm Judging from this tweet Charlotte Proudman didn't get past the first chapter.

That'd be perhaps because she says that she didn't get past the first chapter, I'd guess. :-/

Abernathy wrote: ↑Fri Mar 03, 2023 11:37 pm

The Weeping Angel wrote: ↑Fri Mar 03, 2023 9:30 pm Judging from this tweet Charlotte Proudman didn't get past the first chapter.

That'd be perhaps because she says that she didn't get past the first chapter, I'd guess. :-/

It's been a while since I read the books to my sons.
If I recall correctly, Harry began the story as an orphan living with his snobbish uncle and auntie.
Uncle was a carbon copy of Harry Enfield's "Considerably richer than Youw" nouveau riche Midlander.
He slept in the cupboard under the stairs, because cousin Dudley occupied both bedrooms, one to sleep in and one for his toys.

It takes an incredible level of cultural blindness, and lack of google skills to draw the conclusions she expressed in her tweet.

It's on par with the planks described in our Amazon answers thread.

Proudman would never have said that about a writer if she didn’t have a beef with them. Stick to the beef, I think.

Bones McCoy wrote: ↑Sat Mar 04, 2023 7:16 am

Abernathy wrote: ↑Fri Mar 03, 2023 11:37 pm

The Weeping Angel wrote: ↑Fri Mar 03, 2023 9:30 pm Judging from this tweet Charlotte Proudman didn't get past the first chapter.

That'd be perhaps because she says that she didn't get past the first chapter, I'd guess. :-/

It's been a while since I read the books to my sons.
If I recall correctly, Harry began the story as an orphan living with his snobbish uncle and auntie.
Uncle was a carbon copy of Harry Enfield's "Considerably richer than Youw" nouveau riche Midlander.
He slept in the cupboard under the stairs, because cousin Dudley occupied both bedrooms, one to sleep in and one for his toys.

It takes an incredible level of cultural blindness, and lack of google skills to draw the conclusions she expressed in her tweet.

It's on par with the planks described in our Amazon answers thread.

Pretty much one particular eyebrow raising claim is the claim that Harry is a genius. Harry is far from a genius and often has to rely on luck to win.

Has she got confused between Jacob Reece Mogg and Harry Potter?


It's understandable.
These self styled "saviour of humanity" honkies all look alike to me too.

Good thread outlining the thinking behind Charlotte Proudman's tweet.

Am I the only person on the planet not to have read a Harry Potter book?

Watchman wrote: ↑Sun Mar 05, 2023 8:02 am Am I the only person on the planet not to have read a Harry Potter book?

***raises hand*** Me too.

And me.

Abernathy wrote: ↑Sun Mar 05, 2023 12:46 pm

Watchman wrote: ↑Sun Mar 05, 2023 8:02 am Am I the only person on the planet not to have read a Harry Potter book?

***raises hand*** Me too.

Me three.

I have. But I've never seen Star Wars

I think it was James Acaster who nailed it, saying "you all bought the books, went to the films, visited the website and got sorted into your houses, bought the Lego, and played quidditch on your bikes". People invested themselves emotionally into the whole brand, and now there's a lot of buyer's remorse.

Never read a word by Rowling.

I've read them all (but I'm a prolific reader with no prejudice against YA stuff) and read them to Spike when she was small. I like the Strike novels, I think they are better written, but she's a good writer.

I still prefer Pratchett for fantasy, though. Better written, as he himself would have informed you.