This summer Tara and I decided to read the Harry Potter series with Evan. He had been wanting to start them, and with all the controversy, it seemed like a good idea to provide parental guidance as we read.
So the standings are like this: I am in the middle of book 4, Tara just finished book 4, and I think Evan is somewhere in book 4. We have a rule applying to him that he can't go any more than one book ahead of us.
At least in the first four books, I really don't think these books are about witchcraft and wizardry. I think the wizard thing is a vehicle for introducing fantasy/amazing events into the stories. All the magic is certainly there, but it seems like it is substituted for ordinary methods, often to humorous effects. For example, Harry and his close friends take classes all day at Hogwarts, the boarding school for magical young people. J.K. Rowling's descriptions of classes, teachers, and the struggles of being a young student are very realistic and often very funny. They just take place over a boiling kettle of gloop in Potions class instead of over a beaker of slime in chemistry.
If I had concerns about the series, they could be summarized like this:
1) Harry and friends are always breaking rules for a perceived good reason. There certainly are good reasons to break rules, but life usually doesn't present them quite as often as these books do. This series gives young readers the idea that there's always a better route than following the rules, talking to the teacher, etc.
2) Harry Potter presents the use of magic as normal and healthy, which it is not, as we know from Scripture. If the magic is seen as fantasy, I doubt it will be a problem. If readers, however, are looking for special powers, then they could be tempted to seek a magical solution to their perceived weakness. In contrast, the Bible is huge on making sure that we seek our strengthening only through Christ, his word, his ways, and his authority.
Beyond that, I think she's a fantastic writer.
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5 comments:
Evan's in book five, but I told him he could only have 100 pages until I finished book four. :)
I thoroughly enjoyed the HP books. Although there is magic involved, there doesn't seem to be any real witchcraft (ie, Devil worship or upside-down pentograms, etc.). I wish there had been more books to look forward to!
Alex (age 11) loved them; I read them allllll out loud to him (and also to myself first, silently). Despite (or perhaps because) of his not being particularly religious, the magic thing didn't seem to affect him. I just think he thinks, "hmmm, fun, but not really very possible." (Okay, maybe that's what I think.)
A friend's 11 year old offered this criticism: Harry gets angrier as he gets older. This seemed kind of DUH to me - he goes through a kind of tough adolescence - but when you're a sweet 11 year old, all that angst is pretty baffling, I think.
The fifth book was badly in need of an editor; this gets better in the last two (mostly). I do think the violence escalates quite a bit and there are two scenes toward the end of the 6th book that actually shook me up (which is kind of amazing considering I've been reading Stephen King trash since I was about 12...).
Overall I enjoyed the series, and I'd be curious to hear what you think of some aspects of the ending - but I can't ask b.c. you're not there and I'm not into spoiling stories for people.
And, no, I am incapable of writing short comments. Nice blog, btw!
I'm glad y'all are enjoying the Potter books.
I agree with your assessment - thanks for sharing it.
As for, "life usually doesn't present (good reasons to break the rules) as often as these books do" -- well, let's just say that I'm in the middle of the eighth book in a series in which the same small-town bakery-owner character finds one or two dead bodies in each book. Yup. Fiction is so realistic (maybe you didn't hear my sarcasm), but it's great entertainment!
I enjoy your blog, Jim. I don't think I've commented before...I follow Tara, and I'm Pam & Kevin's sister/sister-in-law.
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