The Last Book
I finished the last book of the Harry Potter series last night. It was very satisfying to finish, although for a long time things looked pretty grim. That is going to be a dark and dreary movie.
I heard a program on NPR a few weeks ago that discussed common themes for children's books and the commentators were making predictions of several points that were sure to come up in the last book of Harry Potter to go along with central themes. I did recognize a few of those in the last book. It was interesting to think of Harry Potter from a scholarly perspective instead of just a fun, delicious novelty. I have to admit that I was surprised at some of the twists in the ending and very satisfied as well. That JK Rowlings has a great and vivid imagination. I must also admit that I got lost in the battle scenes and did not enjoy them as I am sure many children did. I do like to see the movie interpret the world of Harry Potter because I am afraid my imagination didn't do it justice.
One of the things discussed on NPR was the parallel between the Ministry of Magic's draconian rules and invasions of privacy and the post 9/11 world that we are in now. I do hope that people reading it will see the parallels and recognize the dangers of letting down our guard on our constitutional rights. There was a great deal about conformity and apathy of the general citizenry and terrific stuff about bias in the media. There was prejudice, torture, repression, just an amazing amount of subjects dealt with in an imaginitive world. All the twists of magic and mystery took the edge off it.
The NPR commentator asked the panel if the Harry Potter series would stand up over time and would it become a classic? Most said yes, because the themes were so well treated, but I have to wonder. I personally can't wait to introduce it to the next generation, but I can recall that the kids had no interest in Little House on the Paire which I just thought was the cat's meow as a child. Once they could see the tv program, there was no interest in reading the book. While I have greatly enjoyed the HP movies, I sure would miss not reading the books.
I heard a program on NPR a few weeks ago that discussed common themes for children's books and the commentators were making predictions of several points that were sure to come up in the last book of Harry Potter to go along with central themes. I did recognize a few of those in the last book. It was interesting to think of Harry Potter from a scholarly perspective instead of just a fun, delicious novelty. I have to admit that I was surprised at some of the twists in the ending and very satisfied as well. That JK Rowlings has a great and vivid imagination. I must also admit that I got lost in the battle scenes and did not enjoy them as I am sure many children did. I do like to see the movie interpret the world of Harry Potter because I am afraid my imagination didn't do it justice.
One of the things discussed on NPR was the parallel between the Ministry of Magic's draconian rules and invasions of privacy and the post 9/11 world that we are in now. I do hope that people reading it will see the parallels and recognize the dangers of letting down our guard on our constitutional rights. There was a great deal about conformity and apathy of the general citizenry and terrific stuff about bias in the media. There was prejudice, torture, repression, just an amazing amount of subjects dealt with in an imaginitive world. All the twists of magic and mystery took the edge off it.
The NPR commentator asked the panel if the Harry Potter series would stand up over time and would it become a classic? Most said yes, because the themes were so well treated, but I have to wonder. I personally can't wait to introduce it to the next generation, but I can recall that the kids had no interest in Little House on the Paire which I just thought was the cat's meow as a child. Once they could see the tv program, there was no interest in reading the book. While I have greatly enjoyed the HP movies, I sure would miss not reading the books.
posted by KathrynVH @ 10:52 AM
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