Re: The Identity of R.A.B.--My Speculation

In message <news:M-6dnQSjH6LkBYHeRVn-hw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Louis Epstein <le@xxxxxxxxxxxx> enriched us with:
>
> Troels Forchhammer <Troels@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>:

<snip>

>: One of the items on the list when the Hogwarts Library became
>: part of the HP Lexicon was that we could continue to refuse the
>: common dating (the Deathday cake dating -- probably the one
>: dating that fits the worst) ;-)
>
> I don't think dating inconsistent with the cake is useful...
> admitting Rowling is deliberately careless is something else.

That's more or less what I was trying to say ;-

Basically I think the there is only one use to which any dating can
be put, and that is to make it easier for the reader to keep track of
time. The danger is when it is used to claim that there must be a
connection between this and that because both happened 'in the same
year'. For instance tying in Voldemort's youth with Dumbledore's
victory over Grindelwald, or even worse to tie events in the real
world with events in the Potterverse Muggle world because 'the book
happens in this or that year'.

In /both/ cases we are dealing with a level of analysis that there is
simply no support for in the books. It is even doubtful whether
Rowling has a precise and detailed time-line for Tom Riddle's young
years (saying nothing about how exactly they are positioned relative
to Harry's school years). It wouldn't surprise me if she was working
with a much looser plan, with only a very vague sequentiality (and
not necessarily a consistent one). I might of course be wrong, but I
don't think the evidence we have so far can be made to fit perfectly.

My point, however, is precisely that it is pointless to even attempt
to squeeze the events down into a specific time-line, and that while
doing so will make it easier for people to keep track, it also
invites conclusions based on coincidences that depend on a
consistency that doesn't, IMO, exist.

--
Troels Forchhammer
Valid e-mail is <t.forch(a)email.dk>

The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement.
But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another
profound truth.
- Niels Bohr
.

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