Monday, August 13, 2007
Montgomery on the Harry Potter Phenomenon
Unlike probably nearly every other reader in the Known Universe, I did not read the Harry Potter Series as they were published. Instead, I read the entire series through in order once Book 7, Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows, became available. Prior to that time, I had seen the first movie, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” but had held off reading any of the books for some unknown unconscious reason.
I found the series immensely fascinating: in fact, I put aside all but the most necessary other reading while I raced through the seven installments in chronological order. Many times I found myself wondering how “regular” Potter fans coped with the time between books, waiting on the newest adventures to be published. I’m thankful I didn’t have to wait.
Yet I have a bone of contention or two to pick with the Harry Potter and the * {insert object here} Series. First of all, are these really books a parent would recommend to a child, ages 9-12, or middle-school range? I think not.
Although this series is heavily publicized as for young adults, and Scholastic Inc. is connected to it and to author J. K. Rowling’s upcoming new Fall U.S. tour, I don’t find this a children’s story whatsoever. Scholastic is very invested {in terms of educational tools} in the series and the author [see http://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/home.asp].
Amazon.com bills the books as “Young Adult” age group [http://www.amazon.com/Harry-Potter-Paperback-Box-Books/dp/0439887453/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/103-9980485-9714216?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186684931&sr=1-2],
labeling the first six as “ages 9-12” [http://www.amazon.com/Harry-Potter-Paperback-Box-Books/dp/0439887453/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/103-9980485-9714216?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186684931&sr=1-2].
But after reading in quick consecutive order Books 5, 6, and 7 [Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, now a film; Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince; and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows} I find I couldn’t recommend them to other than emotionally and psychologically mature readers. I actually wept through portions of all three of these books.
In Book 5 {Order of the Phoenix} I raged at the inherent fascism of the opposing regime; and in the newest, Book 7 {Deathly Hallows}, I was incensed and angered by the magical torments applied to adults and to minors {those under seventeen who are wizards and witches are considered minor children}. I found this brutal and unnecessary; much of the violence was penned gratuitously, especially so in the case of graphic violence perpetrated on young adults and on minors. Granted, many good novels contain slices of life as it is: grief, death, heartbreak; but I felt all of these were too much at the heart of the final three novels.
In conclusion, am I sorry I read the series? No, I’m glad I finally read through them, and very happy that I waited until I had all 7 in hand. Will I read them again? Not likely; but if I do so, it will be the first four. I don’t think I could take the emotional wrenching of Books 5, 6, and 7 again.
http://www.jlfoster.biz/files/Within_His_Castle_-_Issue_12.pdf
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1 comment:
Well, in part you're right. The first three books were definitely for MG readers. Starting in book four it took a darker turn, but still well within the MG reader range.
But, what you must understand, other than the fact JKR realized she was writing for EVERYONE after awhile, is that readers who started with Book One when they were MG readers, were YA or even adult readers by the time they got to the end. They literally grew up with Harry, which allowed the reader to grow and mature just as the books did.
It's really rather phenomenal.
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