Harry Potter redux
Seeing as the first of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” movies will be coming out shortly, I made it a point to re-read the series and just finished the last book yesterday.
What strikes me, with this longer break in reading the books, is how marvelously subversive the series really is. I mean, straight out, in the first book, we have Hagrid’s warning: “Not all wizards are good” which translates in YA speak to also mean: “Not all adults are good.”
It gets better in the following books with Goblet of Fire being the book that makes it plain that you shouldn’t necessarily trust the Press to be fair and unbiased, then with Order of the Phoenix showing how the judicial system can be subverted for political ends, then in Half-Blood Prince where we discover that the government is often more interested in appearances than facts.
If J.K. Rowling has an enduring legacy, it is this legacy of questioning authority. The first book came out over twelve years ago and a generation has grown up with them, a new generation will doubtless also find them fascinating (they read differently when you’ve got all of them at once, instead of having to wait for the next book) – and the first generation is now entering the workforce in large numbers. I wonder how this questioning background of theirs will impact us all? For that matter, how much did Harry Potter affect the US 2008 election?
One Reply to “Harry Potter redux”
I had read the first 3 novels In the Harry Potter series and had found them extremely enjoyable page turners, Rowling creates a complete, magical world and her characters are always perfectly developed: You cheer when Harry stands up to Snape, You scowl inside when Malfoy turns up and you feel safe and secure when Dumbledore’s around. But quite simply, the extrodinary and sensational “Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire” leaves the previous books In the dust. From the opening chapter you realise this Isn’t going to be your average Harry Potter book, a character suspected of murder Is himself murdered at the hands of Lord Voldemort. I had always felt a Harry potter novel didn’t get exciting until the story reached Hogwarts, this time Harry, Ron and Hermione travel to see a Qudditch World Cup which doesen’t leave you dosing off waiting for the Hogwarts Express. But from then on the pace becomes consistently quicker, Harry’s name Is put In a “Goblet Of Fire” which chooses contestants for a tournament involving other schools of witchcraft and wizardry. Harry is helped throughout the tournament by a new teacher “Mad Eye Moody” someone who you begin to trust throughout the story. Harry makes his way through the tournament tasks and unexpectactly finds himself face to face with Lord Voldemort, resulting In the death of not a prominant, but significant character. By the end things have got so messy you can only cringe at the things which are no doubt to come. This Is by far the most compelling instalment In the series. I’ve read critics complain Rowling Is writing directly at a more adult audience, this Is definetely not the case; For a start, Rowling already holds a huge adult audience with these books, parents enjoy them just as much as their children, also (like Harry himself) Rowling’s prime audience of 8 to 12 year olds are growing up as well, I think It’s fitting that children can grow up with these stories as they themselves become more mature. Although for especially young children of anyone under seven, parents should defineteley read along, the last hundred or so pages can be frightning and sometimes shocking. And as Dumbledore explains the stories events to Harry (and readers) Rowling has you flipping back hundreds of pages to realise just how intricately intwined the plot really Is. Simply an amazing read from cover to cover, “The Goblet Of Fire” Is to the previous Instalments what “The Empire Strikes Back” was to “Star Wars”, It gives the series deeper meaning and makes an already enjoying tale Into something better than you thought It could be.