Friday, August 03, 2007

Harry Grows Up

Yes, I know you have already read several Harry Potter reviews. But you haven't read anything that traces his growth, transformation, etc. etc. In other words, you haven't read THIS!

However, I am quite unhappy with the editing and the page lay-outing of the piece. But then again, one doesn't get published everyday. So, YOOOO HOOOO! And needless to say, lots of thanks to Praveen, my "literary agent" in Tehelka.

18 comments:

R said...

ME FIRST!
After so long.

Yahoooo. Very, very, very happy for you!
Screw the editing bit for now... celebrate!

The Twisted Gourmet said...

Having Always Regaled Rowling You Put On Thereafter The Everclear Revelation!

Jayant said...

Don't blame the editors, please! They work under a lot of pressure, and they really can't always be blamed for everything that goes wrong in the publication. There's not a single magazine or newspaper in the world that goes without any errors at all.

And congrats! Loved the piece! In fact, any Potter fan would love it. The last line is just so perfect. :)

Unknown said...

@ Rohit
YF! I did celebrate...with lots of icecream.

@ Shardul
Loved the wordplay. Can't I have a poem too?

@ Jayant
Really? Editors work under a lot of stress? Hmm...I wouldn't know that because I have worked for only four years as one, and intend to come back to the same field. And much as I agree that there isn't a piece of perfect text, I have greater right than other writers to point fingers at my own brethren.

Unknown said...

@ Jayant again
Forgive my tone in the earlier comment, please. It was the outburst resulting from a sleepless night. (Look at the time I posted the comment for verification.)

And needless to say, thanks for liking the piece.

~ Deeps ~ said...

nice.........knowing u it could have been a lot better or a lot of editing was done on it ?

Reeta Skeeter said...

Wow! What a way to sum it up!

"Harry and his world will be missed for several reasons, but mostly because the magic came, not from spells and potions, but from the basic plot and characters. They made us want to be them, with or without the use of polyjuice potion."

So true :D Loved all the books and liked your story...And yeah don't blame editors, when I was at it, I had no choice but to snip, snip and snip some more. ;)

P.S.: Why does it say August 11 at the end of the page?

That Girl said...

Liked the piece, how you've traced Harry's growth through the series. I've always liked the way Rowling defines her characters so well, a testimony to which is the fact that my favourite characters in HP (Dumbledore, then Snape and Sirius & Lupin a distant third, and the twins somewhere in between but that's sheerly for their sense of humour since Rowling doesn't give them too much space otherwise) are people besides the obvious favourite of most people - the "lead guy". In fact I like them better than Harry, Ron & Hermione.

And I especially loved the way Harry was portrayed in OoTP - angry, impatient, sometimes wallowing in self-pity. That seems like such real human behaviour and when I say real, I mean real as opposed to the stereotypical "heroic" way of dealing with things.

Congrats! :)

Titash said...

Till date I've never read anyone who could brief all the books so beautifully!

Anonymous said...

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

reading the pc now!!!

Unknown said...

@ Deeps
A bit of both...point taken though.

@ Reeta Skeeter
Thanks!
And I have no idea.

@ Amiya
Thank you! You are right...especially the characterization of Snape and Dumbledore had me floored. So many layers and so many frailties. And they are all kick-ass brilliant.

@ Titash and Keka
Thank you!

Komal said...

never read Harry puttar(thatz what we call him in college!)

congratulations :)
and yeah why 11th August?

Jayant said...

@ Woodsmoke: Oh, then it's all right. :P
Na, didn't find the tone offensive. Funny, rather. It was laced with that classic 'Woodsmoke' sarcasm that I find really funny (even if it's aimed at me). :)
And yeah, as an editor, one does tend to find more faults in other editors' work. I know. I wasn't happy with the way my piece was edited either. But then, space constraint can spoil a piece like anything and there's nothing you can do about it. :-/
Oh yeah, btw, I got published too. :D And you can read it here:

http://www.businessworld.in/content/view/2196/2300

Unknown said...

@ Komal
Never read HP? :x
We cannot be friends anymore!

@ Jayant
Thank you! "Classic Woodsmoke" is pleased. :D

Read your story, commented on the site. Good job. Here's to more published work from you...all the best.

Komal said...

nooooo...don't do that to meeeee...i will read harry after my graduation.right from the first to the final book...promise!!! :)

Unknown said...

@ Komal
Pucca, na?
Chal, phir theek hain.

Komal said...

Pakka :)

Butterfly said...

Beautiful article!:-D
Loved the last paragraph.And, like Rohit said....celebrate!