They are children's books (Was: the heart of it all)

[davewitley]

No: HPFGUIDX 82002

Golly wrote:

> OOTP made that clearer than ever by continuing a focus in on Harry 
> and allowing us to see very little of what the Order and other 
adults 
> were doing. Instead she gave us details about OWLS, Quidditch, teen 
> romance and teen angst.  All perfectly reasonable for a target 
> audience of youngish teenagers.  I personally would have preferred 
to 
> know what the Order did in more detail. That BTW is not a criticism 
> of OOTP, just personal interest. I find the lives of HP's adults
> more 
> intriguing this time around than who will be named prefect and 
> Quidditch captain. I realize that school life with its troubles or 
> triumphs are more interesting to children than the adventures or 
> daily life of Molly and Arthur. As an adult reader, I accept that 
> difference in perspective is part of reading a child's series.  

I believe this line of argument is misguided.  As readers, we are 
interested in what the Order is doing because the story indicates it 
is important, not, IMO, because as adults we are identiyfy more with 
the adult characters.

Likewise, issues such as Quidditch diminish in the light of the 
gradual revelation of the larger plot.  I would say that these school-
related issues in fact assume less prominence in OOP for precisely 
this reason.  Again, the loss of interest is a function of the text, 
not the reader's identification.

David