OOP: Really for Children?!

[fordy_the_hobbit]

No: HPFGUIDX 63079

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Milz" <absinthe at m...> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, CareALotsClouds at a... wrote:
> > 
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> > 
> > 
> > .
> > 
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> > Maybe I am looking too much into it as an adult.  Maybe it will 
go 
> over kids 
> > heads.  But didnt people find this disturbing?  I know someone 
else 
> said 
> > something on this subject.  But I was just do disturbed after 
> reading this.  Harry 
> > and co. have really grown up, they are doing grown up things, 
> thinking grown 
> > up things, and yet there are 8 year olds reading this.  Am I 
> underestimating 
> > them or something?  But isnt it disturbing how Umbridge punishes 
> Harry?  Isnt it 
> > disturbing about James treatment of Snape?  Will kids understand 
> all of the 
> > political undertones and the angst?  Surely its only going to get 
> more grown 
> > up?  I dont know how much kids take in, I dont know how much of 
> this book they 
> > will appreiciate.  But its all so... adultish.. (yea I could of 
> come up with a 
> > better word).  And what about the death?  There was no blood 
(apart 
> from 
> > Nevilles nose bleed... and can I mention blood when Harry was 
> writing into his 
> > hands with Umbridge again?!) but don't you think that the Veil 
may 
> scare children? 
> >  I thinkt eh fact that Harry could hear voices behind it is the 
> most chilling 
> > thing I have ever read, or even, ever thought of.
> > What do you guys think?
> > Loadsa love
> > Nic xx
> > 
> 
> Classic children's books, such as "Tom Sawyer" and "Huckleberry 
> Finn", featured children (younger than Harry and Co.) dealing with 
> witnessing murder, testifying in court, begin chased by a murderer 
in 
> a cave, leading a runaway slave to freedom, almost drowning, 
> etc. "Little Women", on the other hand, dealt with death, marriage, 
> and other family issues. Even the innocously titled, "Rebecca of 
> Sunnybrook Farm" was less than "sunny" in the issues it addressed. 
> Other classic chidren's books, such as "Kim" by Kipling, 
> and "Treasure Island", featured child heroes in harsh and not-so-
nice 
> situations.  
> 
> If you compare HP with "classic" children's lit, then he's just 
> right, imo.
> 
> As to whether or not a child as young as 8 should be reading these 
> books, well, I leave that up to the parents to decide. 
> 
> ~Milz

I'm 14, so partway between the children you're worried about 
disturbing and adults, but I <i>think<i> what makes HP books quite so 
addictive, certainly for me, is that Harry is so easy to empathize 
with. Having read OOP in the last 3 days, I found it impossible not 
to feel Harry's feelings at the stage of the book I had read to. 
During the middle section of the book, I was feeling incredibly 
frustrated by Dumbledore's ruthless shunning of Harry, and later was 
made considerably happier and more carefree as he finally gets 
together with Cho. Sorry if my rambling mind has gone a bit off-
topic, but to get back to the point I originally wanted to make, the 
last few chapters of the book have left me quite upset and angry, as 
well as disappointed that so many mysteries and tales have been left 
unsolved and unfinished, leaving us another long wait before the next 
book. I don't think the Veil will scare children; I hadn't really 
thought about the implications until I read your post, and the fight 
near the end would be considerably less gruesome than those in most 
films, even if it was made into a cinematic battle. Of course fights 
in books are considerably less distrubing/gruesome than those in 
films, so I don't think the book is particularly disturbing, just 
emotional as the reader is almost forced to empathize with Harry as 
he flies through rather externally enhanced teenage mood swings.
Pete