|
| Christian news worldwide |
 Home |
 Archives |
 Subscriptions |
 Adverts |
 Find a church |
 About us |
 Contact us |
 Site Map |
 PrintableVersion Harry Potter and the Goblet of FireHarry Potter and the Goblet of Fire By far the most remarkable feature of 'the new Harry Potter' is the huge under-wraps publicity drive that saw children camping out on shop doorways the night before publication and bookshops vying, with price cuts and special events, to capture a share of this enormously lucrative market. Another, quite astonishing phenomenon, is that it is over six hundred pages long yet has been an instant success. The impact on the reading habits of children is incalculable, but it's a very positive development for those who think reading matters. For those of you who have been unavoidably absent from the planet for the last year or so, let me explain that Harry Potter is of wizard stock, raised by the dreadful Dursley family but now a boarder at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry. Each Potter novel describes one school year, and you really need to read them in sequence. Reviewing the first two for Evangelicals Now I drew attention to the quality of the writing. I suggested that the books stood in a long tradition of children's literature, that the magical and arcane content was acceptable in that the author portrayed good and evil in a helpful way, and that some aspects of the books made one wonder quite where the series was going. ShiftsFour volumes in and we can see some shifts in the writing. This book begins with a very dramatic, bleakly horrifying account of dark happenings in a lonely house, which seem to have little to do with Harry but later turn out to be very significant. We quickly move on to the World Quidditch Cup (the game of Quidditch is one of Rowling's most successful creations), introducing characters who later become pivotal. The long narrative is very well-managed, the simple structure giving a solid foundation to the twists and turns of the plot, which will keep readers enthralled to the end. Technically, the book is a convincing answer to those who, like me, wondered if J. K. Rowling could maintain the quality of the early books. In this volume Harry becomes interested in Girls, and this strand is beautifully handled with some sharp observation and humour. Less satisfying is the occasional mild swear word, a couple of profanities and a few adolescent crude jokes which aren't essential and are an unnecessary problem when reading aloud. These in fact worry me more (because they are unnecessary) than the darkening of the plot. There are several deaths, and violence which - especially in the closing scenes - will stretch some young readers' nerves. On a lesser level, Rowling's ability to create truly disgusting plants and creatures is ably demonstrated in the Blast-Ended Skrewt and the revolting pus-filled, acne-curing Bubotuber. Roald Dahl fans will love these. Without giving away the plot it's hard to summarise the story. Let me just say that it shows Harry pitted against challenges that test his magical skills and personal qualities to the utmost. There are deeply moving moments and some great comedy, and the author uses her favourite device of the new-teacher-who-isn't-what-he-seems to startling effect. ReservationsA good read, then. Moreover, I never felt the book was over-long or that it could have been made substantially shorter. However, I was increasingly troubled by the same reservations I have had about the whole series so far. There is a real lack of a moral landscape against which spiritually significant events can take place. For example, what happens after death? J. K. Rowling seems simply not to know. At least two characters die and we are encouraged to grieve for them. But Hogwarts has a whole roster of ghosts, ranging from the jolly ones to the weepy and the malicious. Readers have to balance grief at the tragic deaths with appreciation of jokes about a resident ghost being flushed down the toilet 'along with the contents'. Why should we weep over death if the dead are laughable? Like Greyfriars?A similar failure of spiritual categories takes the edge off Hermione's attempt to liberate the toiling house-elves, and blunts a poignant, thinly disguised critique of totalitarian societies. The values and causes by which Rowling's characters live are rarely rooted in our own, 'Muggle', realm. Unlike some of the classics of children's literature to which this series is increasingly being compared, the world of Hogwarts, like that of Greyfriars School and of Malory Towers, teaches relatively few lessons that will help readers grow in understanding of the real world. That doesn't lessen my admiration. These very well-written books seem to get better and better. Far preferable that a child read them than quite a few other contemporary children's books. J. K. Rowling has another three volumes to come. I hope the books get deeper still. If they don't, they'll still be one of the few children's successes that justify the hype. Parents and others who share my concerns may want to make sure the children in their care are supplied with other reading as well, but the problem might be tearing the youngsters away from the Potter books. Can't be bad, in an age of Pokemon and Saturday morning TV. David Porter© Evangelicals Now - September 2000 |
|
