Posted on 07/25/2007 1:00:58 PM PDT by meandog
If literature truly reflects society, then the end of the Harry Potter series spells trouble for us all.
Because, after 10 years, 4,195 pages, and over 325 million copies, J.K. Rowling's towering achievement lacks the cornerstone of almost all great children's literature: the hero's moral journey. Without that foundation, her story – for all its epic trappings of good versus evil – is stuck in a moral no man's land.
To be clear: This isn't a critique of Ms. Rowling's values. It's a recognition of a disturbing trend in commercial storytelling and Western society.
For those who've yet to finish "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," stop reading now: There are spoilers ahead. If you did, however, embark on a Deathly Hallows marathon, you know that the shady Severus Snape died, not in the name of evil, but in the name of good.
Oh, yeah. And Harry defeated Voldemort. Good prevailed. The problem is, that's not the moral of the story. Good always prevails. It's the hero's struggle – and costly redemption – that matters.
Classic tales such as J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and Madeleine L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time" set the standard for children's fiction. With their unrelenting drive toward "the moral of the story," they form a golden thread in the West's cultural fabric. And yet, like the society in which we live, storytelling itself has, in recent decades, undergone a radical transformation – sliding toward moral ambivalence with alarming speed.
Successful storytelling rests on a few basic principles. One of them is this: A story is about someone who changes, who grows through a moral struggle. What is Harry's struggle? Exactly.
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
Yawn...
I thought this was going to be about the “17 missing pages”!
Once the lemming mania has died, no one is going to reado those 4,195 pages. Wait 5 years.
Some answered the question as to who dies in the Potty book with:
“God dies”.
I have not read nor seen the movies and neither will my children, my brother read some of the books and saw one movie and he said Rowlings is a hack, without reading a word I agree.
Geez, did she even read the book?
Jenny, your sour grapes are ready.
There really is nothing more pathetic on the planet than someone that will proudly declare they have no actual exposure to someone’s work but they’re a hack. I’ve called many people a hack in my time, but I least bothered to read a few pages first.
the struggle of the things of this world or the things of the Lord.
and potter surely isn't of the Lord.
idiot
Thanks fer yer expert opinion.
Not the same one any of the rest of us read.
“Jenny, your sour grapes are ready.”
yep that’s what i was thinking as well.
maybe if jk rowling ever writes another book she can call
jenny for some pointers
I could not put my finger on what it was about these novels that bothered me apart from the appallingly bad writing, why I did not find them compelling or even readable. This article explains it.
The trolls are out in force - be careful not to feed them the negative attention that they love. ;)
Have you read any of the books?
This judgement comming from a murderous cult mouth piece, founded by a charlatan fraud is not worth spit.
Nope. And did you happen to notice that the strongest negative opinions on this thread are from people who are proud and arrogant about not having ever even read the book?
I wonder why that is?
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