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#1 2012-12-01 21:41:49
J.K. Rowling Vs. JRR Tolkien
I my opinion, You can't even compare Rowling with Tolkien, but I did it anyway because I'm bored. I find it interesting how there are so many things similer about Harry Potter and LOTR. I have only heard things from friends, but to me it sounds like Rowling was just ripping ideas off Tolkien, such as a big spider thingy, and, of course, JK's pen name. I don't even want to read Harry Potter because of how much JK took from Tolkien. Please share opinions about the AUTHORS, not about if I should read H.P. or not.
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#2 2012-12-01 21:45:08
- veggieman001
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Re: J.K. Rowling Vs. JRR Tolkien
Uh... it doesn't really seem like to me that J.K. Rowling ripped much off Tolkien (especially considering their stories are almost nothing alike). And many authors have initialed pen names; it's not really a big deal.
I think Tolkien is definitely the better and influential author, although nowadays Rowling is more popular and I would agree that she is a good writer as well.
Last edited by veggieman001 (2012-12-01 21:45:46)
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#3 2012-12-01 21:49:51
Re: J.K. Rowling Vs. JRR Tolkien
could you give specific examples about what exactly rowling took from tolkien
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#4 2012-12-01 21:58:49
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Re: J.K. Rowling Vs. JRR Tolkien
I think comparing authors is a tricky task because every writer is different, and every reader is different.
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#7 2012-12-01 23:13:27
- veggieman001
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Re: J.K. Rowling Vs. JRR Tolkien
dav99 wrote:
777w wrote:
could you give specific examples about what exactly rowling took from tolkien
Look at this. I Think it's pretty convincing.
http://www.mugglenet.com/hpvslotr.shtml
While many of those things are common, many (such as goblins and elves) are very common in fantasy works and others have very different purposes in the plot (such as deceased parents, creepy hooded creatures, inherited invisibility device) that I don't really see them as being too similar.
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#8 2012-12-02 05:49:42
Re: J.K. Rowling Vs. JRR Tolkien
there's something called inspiration
it may be taken from a big influential fantasy novel or it can come from norse mythology (which if you're going to accuse rowling of copying lotr you may as well accuse tolkien as copying eastern european mythology)
and some of the similarities on the page you linked to are tremendously trivial
the only ones i'd give any merit to are dangerous willow tree, small creature who talks in third person and scar on forehead
cause a bird and a fish could fall in love/but where would they live?
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#11 2012-12-02 09:07:29
Re: J.K. Rowling Vs. JRR Tolkien
jukyter wrote:
there's something called inspiration
it may be taken from a big influential fantasy novel or it can come from norse mythology (which if you're going to accuse rowling of copying lotr you may as well accuse tolkien as copying eastern european mythology)
and some of the similarities on the page you linked to are tremendously trivial
the only ones i'd give any merit to are dangerous willow tree, small creature who talks in third person and scar on forehead
What about the big spider that was kinda like Shelob.
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#12 2012-12-02 09:13:35
Re: J.K. Rowling Vs. JRR Tolkien
dav99 wrote:
Again, Who do you like better, not why you think my claims are wrong.
if this topic is for discussing whos better and not for explaining why your claims are wrong then stop making claims and discuss who you think is better!
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#13 2012-12-02 09:26:11
Re: J.K. Rowling Vs. JRR Tolkien
dav99 wrote:
jukyter wrote:
there's something called inspiration
it may be taken from a big influential fantasy novel or it can come from norse mythology (which if you're going to accuse rowling of copying lotr you may as well accuse tolkien as copying eastern european mythology)
and some of the similarities on the page you linked to are tremendously trivial
the only ones i'd give any merit to are dangerous willow tree, small creature who talks in third person and scar on foreheadWhat about the big spider that was kinda like Shelob.
in western society spiders are (iirc) the most common fear
so a big spider would be those fears magnified
if you're going to write even a somewhat scary novel, you're going to want to tap into that spider action
'a spider scuttled over her foot'
'was that a spider he could see?'
cause a bird and a fish could fall in love/but where would they live?
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#15 2012-12-02 12:39:37
Re: J.K. Rowling Vs. JRR Tolkien
dav99 wrote:
IJK's pen name.
JK was not her idea. She was told by one of her managers(I'm not sure if that's who.) To use her first name, then her middle name so that younger boys would read it. She didn't have one, so she used one of her relative's. She is not ripping anything from him. It's called a coincidence.
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#16 2012-12-02 13:25:54
Re: J.K. Rowling Vs. JRR Tolkien
You really can't compare Rowling to Tolkien anyway.
They both write completely different types of book. Tolkien wrote hardcore high fantasy, and Rowling wrote children's fantasy.
The storylines are completely different.
You just can't compare them.
'Cause I'm NUMBER ONE.
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#17 2012-12-04 07:43:55
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Re: J.K. Rowling Vs. JRR Tolkien
How did J.K. Rowling rip anything off Tolkien? Rowling's pen-name(JK) was something her publishers made her do so that the book would be appealing to boys as well as girls. Not something she stole.
Though Tolkien is on an entire other level, I do enjoy Harry Potter vastly.
Her full name is Joanne Rowling by the way. Not Joan Kathleen Rowling.
Well if you wanted honesty, that's all you had to say. I never want to let you down or have you go, it's better off this way.
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