Defend OOTP against my horribly Muggle mind!

[zesca]

No: HPFGUIDX 76457

<snip from feetmadeofclay> 
> I have consistently felt that while I like Harry Potter's universe, 
> OOTP is not a great or even good novel. .. dully written and filled 
> with hackneyed phrases....
> Though it takes on the ideas of racism, parental fallibility, 
> burgeoning sexuality, and a dozen other dark parts of adult life - 
> IMO it fails to scratch beneath the surface of these ideas and 
> explore what they mean. Instead Rowling uses them more as mere plot 
> devices.  
 
<now madeyemood>
First, I'm curious about whether this reaction occurred for you in this 
book but not in the other four. 

As for plot devices, the Potterverse includes lots of variables falling 
into place over the course of the narrative. Rather than reading for the 
close character study, I count on a lot of action and dialogue to fuel my impulse to turn the many pages. 
I'm not expecting Faulkner or Shakespeare or Atwood. JKR crafts stories 
in an exciting way, but she definitely could use a more vigilant editor. 
I love the way she plays with language and images ---Mimbulus mimbletonia, Bellatrix LeStrange --- although her grammar can be a bit loose.


<feetmadeofclay says>
> For example...I never get the feeling Hermione suffers in 
> her quest to help the elves (as abolistionists did in the 18th and 
> 19th centuries) nor does she suffer for being the victim or racism 
> (as children still do around the world). No teacher keeps her down.  
> Noone beats her to a pulp.  (She's not scared of Draco's threats even 
> if they anger her.)   

<now madeyemood>
In a way this makes Hermione an even more culturally relevant character. 
How do we stay conscious during these multicultural times in which social 
inequities are more subtle? No one is turning the firehoses on us, but 
there are still plenty of isms to keep us all busy. I'm glad that we live 
in a time where a knowing, pushy nerd gal so effectively illustrates our collective cluelessness. 


<feetmadeofclay says>
>  So while the themes may be good, I FEEL (and I know this is a 
> personal opinion) Rowling has provided little in the way of insight 
> into these themes or the human experience.  Harry neither appears 
> traumatised nor truely in pain to me.  

<now madeyemood>
Well, things do seem to be heating up for our Harry. I've always envied 
the readers who weep at this and that. I've never had that ability. But 
I can identify with Harry's anger and exhaustion. JKR depicts a stressed 
out kid fast approaching his breaking point.


<feetmadeofclay says>
> I want to see it the way you 
> do; try and convince me.  I'd love to change my mind.  His suffering 
> seems nothing more than that of a bratty teen.  

<now madeyemood>
I'm wondering why it's so important to view the book in a different way. 
Why not embrace your own perspective? My sense is that Harry's stresses 
have a more intense cause than those of your average adolescent----it's 
not every bratty teen whose fate is intimately intertwined with that of 
the Dark Lord.


<feetmadeofclay says>
> Is OOTP just brain candy or is it literature? It can't be both.  

<now madeyemood>
Perhaps neither?
For me it's rather more candified than literary, but maybe really, really 
great candy? Like those Godiva dark chocolate scallop shells with the soft  hazelnut mousse in the inside?


 <feetmadeofclay says>
> I can't shake the idea that Byatt was in some way right - and I have 
> to ask if Rowling's world is not about the depth and power behind 
> magic and what it brings - what has Rowling to say to me?  And is she 
> saying it...

<now madeyemood>
I found Byatt unduly grumpy, myself, like a cranky adult in 1963 who loves 
classical music and utterly misses the point of rock n roll. she seemed to 
be tuned into the wrong frequency and thus missing the essense of 
Potterversality. Did you happen to catch the John Leonard piece that was 
released close to the Byatt? It was a nice antidote, I thought.


<feetmadeofclay says>
> Also  What have you to say to those downers who claim (and I am 
> becoming one I fear), that other writers are writing far superior 
> books?  

<now madeyemood>
I think that there certainly are "better" books than Potter out there, 
for sure. But this is a special sort of cultural phenomenon. I could see 
a Chekhov play instead of watching "6 Feet Under", but I'd rather 
participate in a more culturally relevant experience. Besides, Peter 
Krause is hot. But I digress...

To quote the charming Leonard piece:
"But least persuasive of all are the nitpickers who disdain children's literature to begin with, which just means that they are tin-eared, tone 
deaf and born dumb. (Where do they think we begin to care about stories?) 
Or the furballs who would prefer that we read instead Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Richard Adams, Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl or Philip Pullman. (As if we were choosing up for a secret society; as if we couldn't enjoy Hermione in the library while at the same time taking a bloodthirsty interest in Hazel the Warrior Rabbit.) And finally the world-weary and wart-afflicted who complain about the mediocre movies, the media hype, the marketing blitz, the embargo 
and maybe even the notion of a single mom becoming richer than the queen. 
(As if the filing of contrarian opinions weren't itself a standard component 
of media hype; as if Harry himself cares.) Me, I really liked standing in 
line at the first film with hundreds of talkative short people, all of whom 
had read the book. "

For me, Potter doesn't have to be great literature. It's enormously engaging 
to a huge number of people who have all experienced balancing the heft of 
that book while turning its 800 plus pages. I'm more interested in why it 
works although I also find it fun to seek out the flints with a group of 
highly qualified obsessive sticklers. 

I for one am not the least bit scandalized by you posing these questions to 
the group. What better place to get much feedback? If you don't enjoy the books, or if you do enjoy them but are concerned that they aren't literary enough, put 'em down! Or read 'em and suffer through the guilt, I guess. 
Come to your own conclusions about whether they're worth your reader's gaze 
and act accordingly. You sound like you have some sort of aesthetic gun pointing at your head and you'll be damned forever if you do the wrong thing. 
I say: really, what difference does it make?


madeyemood who has an incredibly disheartening summer cold.