THE LEGEND OF RAH AND MUGGLES
PLÁGIOS ANGLO-SAXÓNICOS
A escritora norte-americana Nancy Stouffler no seu livro «The Legendo of Rah and Muggles» lança ideias base que foram aproveitadas para compor as histórias de Harry Potter. São coincidências factuais.
O «mercado» premeia o plágio, é um sinal dos tempos, dos tempos que correm.
«The Legend of Rah and the Muggles
by Nancy K. Stouffer
An In-Depth Review by Rat
Introduction
The Legend of Rah and the Muggles is a 267-page children's fantasy novel originally self-published by Nancy Stouffer in 1984. The book has recently been in the news because its author is suing J. K. Rowling, author of the bestselling Harry Potter series, claiming that Rowling has used several of Stouffer's ideas and concepts (including the word "muggle," to which Stouffer claims trademark) in the creation of her books.
It isn't the purpose of this review to comment on Stouffer's lawsuit. Instead, its intent is to provide an in-depth, chapter-by-chapter review of the book to help others make the determination for themselves whether The Legend of Rah and the Muggles' potential success has been hindered by the publication of other books that might or might not be similar.
Note: In interviews and news stories about the Stouffer lawsuit, both Stouffer and her representatives have been rather evasive, possibly unintentionally, regarding the actual content of The Legend of Rah and the Muggles: specifically the existence of characters named Larry and Lilly Potter. Larry and Lilly Potter do not appear in this book. They are characters in a series of short activity books written by Stouffer which will be republished later this year. I have seen this mistake in some pretty lofty places, including an AP Wire story. These folks should know better.
This review will be structured by chapter. The title of each chapter will be followed by a brief synopsis of the chapter and then by my commentary. After the chapter analysis I will include a general commentary on the book taken as a whole. I will quote only small excerpts as needed, in keeping with Fair Use. (Believe me, I don't want Nancy's lawyers coming after me. Those folks have no sense of humor whatsoever.)
By the way, if you want to read the introduction in its entirety and get Stouffer's side of the story, you can take a look at Stouffer's official site.
Note: This review, by necessity, contains major spoilers for The Legend of Rah and the Muggles.
The Legend of Rah and The Muggles Chapter by Chapter
Introduction
Synopsis: This chapter is a prologue, describing the situation that led to the creation of the Muggles on Aura, a country "on the far side of the earth." A catastrophic nuclear war led to a sky choked by "dark poisonous clouds of radiation" and laid waste to the land. All of the able-bodied people left on giant cruise ships, leaving the poor, the weak, and the otherwise undesirable people behind. Less than five hundred years later, these people had evolved into "Muggles," tiny people with big heads, no hair, big bellies, and thin limbs--people who look like babies even when fully grown. They live in a land without sunlight, lit only by the moon shining through the "purple haze." At the end of the chapter we are warned that another war is now raging in yet another land. (You can read this chapter in its entirety on Stouffer's site— see URL above.)
Commentary: The Legend of Rah and the Muggles is meant as a children's fantasy, and so I'm willing to cut it a lot of slack regarding scientific errors. It's difficult to do this, though, because there's some pretty big suspension of disbelief required to swallow the premise of this book. A nuclear holocaust destroyed the land, the plants, and most of the people, as well as irradiating the air (since when does nuclear radiation have color, anyway?) and less than five hundred years later the Muggles have evolved to the point where they have a society? Remember, Muggles were evolved from humans. So in a very short time period (relatively speaking), humans caught in a nuclear attack managed to evolve into three-foot-tall hairless creatures with baby faces? Living in a land without any sunlight? How do they grow food? How do they keep warm? Uh...okay. I guess I'll have to buy this premise because otherwise the rest of the book falls apart before we start. Fair enough. Onward.»
A escritora norte-americana Nancy Stouffler no seu livro «The Legendo of Rah and Muggles» lança ideias base que foram aproveitadas para compor as histórias de Harry Potter. São coincidências factuais.
O «mercado» premeia o plágio, é um sinal dos tempos, dos tempos que correm.
«The Legend of Rah and the Muggles
by Nancy K. Stouffer
An In-Depth Review by Rat
Introduction
The Legend of Rah and the Muggles is a 267-page children's fantasy novel originally self-published by Nancy Stouffer in 1984. The book has recently been in the news because its author is suing J. K. Rowling, author of the bestselling Harry Potter series, claiming that Rowling has used several of Stouffer's ideas and concepts (including the word "muggle," to which Stouffer claims trademark) in the creation of her books.
It isn't the purpose of this review to comment on Stouffer's lawsuit. Instead, its intent is to provide an in-depth, chapter-by-chapter review of the book to help others make the determination for themselves whether The Legend of Rah and the Muggles' potential success has been hindered by the publication of other books that might or might not be similar.
Note: In interviews and news stories about the Stouffer lawsuit, both Stouffer and her representatives have been rather evasive, possibly unintentionally, regarding the actual content of The Legend of Rah and the Muggles: specifically the existence of characters named Larry and Lilly Potter. Larry and Lilly Potter do not appear in this book. They are characters in a series of short activity books written by Stouffer which will be republished later this year. I have seen this mistake in some pretty lofty places, including an AP Wire story. These folks should know better.
This review will be structured by chapter. The title of each chapter will be followed by a brief synopsis of the chapter and then by my commentary. After the chapter analysis I will include a general commentary on the book taken as a whole. I will quote only small excerpts as needed, in keeping with Fair Use. (Believe me, I don't want Nancy's lawyers coming after me. Those folks have no sense of humor whatsoever.)
By the way, if you want to read the introduction in its entirety and get Stouffer's side of the story, you can take a look at Stouffer's official site.
Note: This review, by necessity, contains major spoilers for The Legend of Rah and the Muggles.
The Legend of Rah and The Muggles Chapter by Chapter
Introduction
Synopsis: This chapter is a prologue, describing the situation that led to the creation of the Muggles on Aura, a country "on the far side of the earth." A catastrophic nuclear war led to a sky choked by "dark poisonous clouds of radiation" and laid waste to the land. All of the able-bodied people left on giant cruise ships, leaving the poor, the weak, and the otherwise undesirable people behind. Less than five hundred years later, these people had evolved into "Muggles," tiny people with big heads, no hair, big bellies, and thin limbs--people who look like babies even when fully grown. They live in a land without sunlight, lit only by the moon shining through the "purple haze." At the end of the chapter we are warned that another war is now raging in yet another land. (You can read this chapter in its entirety on Stouffer's site— see URL above.)
Commentary: The Legend of Rah and the Muggles is meant as a children's fantasy, and so I'm willing to cut it a lot of slack regarding scientific errors. It's difficult to do this, though, because there's some pretty big suspension of disbelief required to swallow the premise of this book. A nuclear holocaust destroyed the land, the plants, and most of the people, as well as irradiating the air (since when does nuclear radiation have color, anyway?) and less than five hundred years later the Muggles have evolved to the point where they have a society? Remember, Muggles were evolved from humans. So in a very short time period (relatively speaking), humans caught in a nuclear attack managed to evolve into three-foot-tall hairless creatures with baby faces? Living in a land without any sunlight? How do they grow food? How do they keep warm? Uh...okay. I guess I'll have to buy this premise because otherwise the rest of the book falls apart before we start. Fair enough. Onward.»
publicada por José às
12:27 da manhã
