Again about JKR and Dumbledore

[fpb]

In her private life, JK Rowling is a fairly typical, though not slavish, member of the moderately educated left. Her honesty to her own imagination, though, has been leading her in all sorts of directions which seem increasingly incompatible with the ordinary sort of left-wing attitudes prevalent in Britain. In her private life, after a few

Comments

[starshipcat]

I agree that she handled the revelation poorly in the interview -- I think it could've been handled more allusively, just mentioning the infatuation with Grindelwald and subsequent heartbreak, but in a way that could be understood either sexually or not, and leave the g-word out entirely. Because Dumbledore is a character we only see from other people's POV's in the canonical literature (primarily Harry himself, but by the omniscient narrator in book 1, chapter 1), we the readers can only surmise his motives and internal life from what we see of him through others' eyes, particularly Harry's. Yes, certain things can be read between the lines, but there's always a question of whether it's really there or if we're reading things into it based upon our own expectations -- and thus a tension. Had she managed to handle the revelation in such a way that continued to keep our understanding of Dumbledore's character "at arms' length," I think it would've been that much stronger. We weould've known that the tragic end of his relationship with Grindelwald severely damaged his spirit in ways that would echo throughout his life and even in the lives of those he touched in various ways, but would not lay bare his inner life which had previously remained discretely closed to us.