Quote:
Originally Posted by issybird
I'm not fond of Word of God pronouncements ever; I'm in the camp that says that if it's not published, it ain't canon.
But I agree that JKR is an outlier even on the WoG spectrum. I don't have a horse in this race, especially since I thought Deathly Hallows was so poorly conceived and executed that it ruined the franchise for me forever, but her compulsion to micromanage her fans' reactions to and interpretations of her books is patronizing and demeaning. The result is that the books don't live. If there's only one possible way of reading the text, you can read it once and let it go.
And her attempts to have it every which way, as in her "apologies" for her authorial choices, most especially in regard to the unsuitability of Hermione and Ron as a couple, are a flat-out insult. She made that choice; it's done. She doesn't get retroactive points for agreeing with the fandom.
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Well, some authors do it right.
Brandon Sanderson, for instance, is still in the process of writing about the Cosmere, and there is just so much sheer
stuff that it can't all make its way into the books...
This is stuff that is currently being used to determine how future books are shaped. As well as not-immediately-intuitive details that were never spelled out but can't help being true regardless (if only the fans can spot it).
Would it make it more official if he compiled them into a guidebook and published it?
Ending the story, then micromanaging peoples' reactions and interpretations via retroactive Word of God pronouncements, is as you said demeaning. It's over and done with, and stands as-is -- so leave it alone.