Harold Bloom on HP

[cad2 at hotmail.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 11229

Andrea wrote: > His opinion really surprised me. Does any of you also 
>think that the language is so poor in the HP books? Have critics 
>been that harsh in general? Brazilian critics have been very 
>positive towards the books, even with the half-assed translations we 
>have here.

I'm not at all surprised by this review.  The books are not literary 
prize type but that does not make them bad.  Also, remember that some 
critics can't find anything good to say about anything... :-)  They 
don't get paid for always agreeing with everyone!

I did not read HP for its literary content, dynamic prose or deep 
character descriptions. I read them because they looked fun.  I 
thought I'd enjoy them after some of the heavy reading I've done 
lately.  Guess what?  It was nice to sit down with an entertaining 
book and not have to pause after each passage to wonder what the 
author was trying to relay to me.  (although sometimes I did pause 
for reflection... "why does everything in the magic world smell like 
cabbage?", etc) 

IMO, reading is reading, regardless the type of book being read.  
Some people read books for entertainment value only and some people 
read life-changing stories.  Some prefer fiction while others prefer 
non-fiction.  I wonder if the critic has read any of the Oprah 
books ... the last one I read was very much "entertainment" in my 
mind but I still enjoyed reading it!  No, it didn't have an award 
sticker on the cover but I liked it none-the-less.   

The important thing to remember about reading is that while you are 
reading, you are not playing video games, putzing on the computer, 
yapping on the telephone, etc. 

JMHO, 
cindy

Anyone who does not like HP is a fool! :-)  These are great stories!