Adult readers who are dismissive about Harry Potter

[Geoff Bannister]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "holmesclan2002" 
<holmesclan2002 at y...> wrote:
> 
> Hello! 
>     I am Melanie from Texas. My question is: Do any of you get 
Attitude from literary 
> types who "don't do Potter"?  I've been in a ladies book group for 
5 years...we're all 
> friends. We read all kinds of stuff. There is, however, a real bias 
against Harry Potter 
> books. 

<snipped>

Geoff:
Having read your original message and then the many follow ups, I 
thought I'd add my own two pennyworth on a couple of the things which 
have arisen.

First, on the subject of commercial success leading to the 
denigration of a book and whether JKR was aiming for that, it is 
interesting that, for most of its fifty-year history, "Lord of the 
Rings" has suffered in the same way. Tolkien wrote the original 
stories - which formed the basis of "The Silmarillion" - for his own 
satisfaction and LOTR gradually diverged from Allen & Unwin's request 
for a sequel to "The Hobbit" and does not follow the norms of so-
called normal literature.

Tom Shippey, in his excellent literary critique "J.R.R.Tolkien:Author 
of the Century", gets in quite a lot of quiet humour because of the 
torrent of criticism which came from reviewers who didn't like his 
writign pattern and also got in a strop when the book stubbornly came 
top of polls for the best fiction despite the hand-wringing of 
characters auch as Germaine Greer. his book is well worth reading if 
only for that!

I think, for another reason I shall move on to, that many critics of 
Harry just haven't read the books, seeing them as children's 
literature or too simplistic or whatever.

Hand on heart, I have to admit to a "Damascus Road" experience with 
Harry. When the films started to come out, I allowed myself to listen 
to folk in my church who told me that it was satanic, devilish and 
not for Christians and be influenced by them.

Just over a year ago, My wife and I was staying with a friend in 
Cardiff and, being at a loose end, decided to see what was on at the 
local cinema. COS was the answer. Knowing the views I had picked up, 
my wife asked me if I wanted to go and see it so I shrugged and 
said "Yeah. OK." We went; I enjoyed it and a day or so later watched 
PS on our friends Sky Box Office which reinforced my enjoyment. 
returning home, I progrssively bought the books and was hooked. As an 
evangelical Christian, I cannot agree with those who told me they 
were "bad" books. I have found a great deal of material int he books 
which I have used with young people's groups to reinforce many of the 
basic tenets of the Christian faith and have stood my ground on these 
items with folk around me and on the HPFGU group.

I feel therefore that there is a commercial element here - jealousy? 
sneering by the so-called "literati" ebeause they feel that the books 
are beneath them and the second element being that I now tend to say 
to critics - either religious or literary "How many of the books have 
you read?"

Strength to your arm with your reading group. Give 'em hell!

Geoff