Harry Potter Has No Clothes
This weekend a record breaking 8.5 million Harry Potter books were sold. I'm torn about the Harry Potter books in general and this one in particular. I've heard others say they're torn and go on to say how much they've looked forward to the conclusion and yet they're sad to see it go. That's not what I'm torn about. I'm torn because on the one hand, I'm a big supporter of ANYTHING that gets kids to read, and Harry Potter certainly did. On the other hand, I really wish the kids would be exposed to reading by someone who can write. There I said it.
While other reviews have glossed over the book's numerous shortcomings, I think that is doing a disservice to all who read it. One reviewer said the book gave tribute to other sources. It didn't "give tribute", it ripped them off. There is one scene in the book where you can clearly see Ben Kenobi saying "These are not the droids you're looking for."
There are numerous places in the book where you completely understand why Voldermort is so powerful. It isn't because of anything he's done, it's because the rest of the wizards are so stupid.
SPOILER WARNING: At this point if you don't want to know more specifics then go away and come back after you've read the book. Is everyone gone? OK, here we go.
SPOILER:
At the beginning of the book, Harry needs to be hidden. Where does the Order of the Phoenix choose to hide him? The Burrow, where his best friends the Weasleys live. The same place he goes EVERY SUMMER. And if that isn't dumb enough, the Weasleys host a wedding while he's hiding there. They disguise him, but Luna, a friend from Hogwarts, is able to pick him the minute she arrives. That's a safe hiding place.
After seven years of working up to the grand battle of good vs evil, the war itself is badly written. In today's world, I don't think it's great to glorify war, but if you're going to write about a war, do it right. Harry spends most of his time in hiding, while the real rebellion is going on at Hogwarts and elsewhere. The reader never gets to see any of this, we hear about it later.
The book actually falls apart at the end as Rowling throws continuity out the window. It's like she didn't read her own book. In one instance the paintings in Hogwarts are fleeing through each other's frames, despite Harry and the reader being told early in the book that they can't do that. A magic weapon is stolen, yet it mysteriously appears in the middle of the final battle. Rowling has gone out of her way in past books to emphasize that magic had rules. In this final chapter, she throws them away.
What bothers me the most is a speech that Voldemort gives at the end, saying Potter has survived through accidents, luck, and by sacrificing others. By the end of the book, he's proven right. Voldemort is not stopped by Potter, but by an accident of his own making. The deaths of various characters are tossed in as to be almost completely devoid of meaning.
This is a children's book, and children should be able to take away the joys of reading a well-crafted story. This wasn't it.
While other reviews have glossed over the book's numerous shortcomings, I think that is doing a disservice to all who read it. One reviewer said the book gave tribute to other sources. It didn't "give tribute", it ripped them off. There is one scene in the book where you can clearly see Ben Kenobi saying "These are not the droids you're looking for."
There are numerous places in the book where you completely understand why Voldermort is so powerful. It isn't because of anything he's done, it's because the rest of the wizards are so stupid.
SPOILER WARNING: At this point if you don't want to know more specifics then go away and come back after you've read the book. Is everyone gone? OK, here we go.
SPOILER:
At the beginning of the book, Harry needs to be hidden. Where does the Order of the Phoenix choose to hide him? The Burrow, where his best friends the Weasleys live. The same place he goes EVERY SUMMER. And if that isn't dumb enough, the Weasleys host a wedding while he's hiding there. They disguise him, but Luna, a friend from Hogwarts, is able to pick him the minute she arrives. That's a safe hiding place.
After seven years of working up to the grand battle of good vs evil, the war itself is badly written. In today's world, I don't think it's great to glorify war, but if you're going to write about a war, do it right. Harry spends most of his time in hiding, while the real rebellion is going on at Hogwarts and elsewhere. The reader never gets to see any of this, we hear about it later.
The book actually falls apart at the end as Rowling throws continuity out the window. It's like she didn't read her own book. In one instance the paintings in Hogwarts are fleeing through each other's frames, despite Harry and the reader being told early in the book that they can't do that. A magic weapon is stolen, yet it mysteriously appears in the middle of the final battle. Rowling has gone out of her way in past books to emphasize that magic had rules. In this final chapter, she throws them away.
What bothers me the most is a speech that Voldemort gives at the end, saying Potter has survived through accidents, luck, and by sacrificing others. By the end of the book, he's proven right. Voldemort is not stopped by Potter, but by an accident of his own making. The deaths of various characters are tossed in as to be almost completely devoid of meaning.
This is a children's book, and children should be able to take away the joys of reading a well-crafted story. This wasn't it.
Labels: books, children, Harry Potter, magic, reading
posted by Eric Lopkin at
1:08 PM
0 Comments
Links to this post
