Identifying and Labeling the HP Series

[Katie]

No: HPFGUIDX 176991

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "JP Smith" <johnsmithatx at ...> 
wrote:
>
> HP (Harry Potter) for Grownups, I have a question for the group.
> 
> As the title of this message says.  How would you go about 
labeling the HP series as far as the genre of fantasy that it is.  
For example:
> 
> JRR Tolkien: High Fantasy
> Robert E. Howard: Sword and Sorcery
> 
> So on and so forth.  You can definitely make the argument of epic 
fantasy, given the scope and volumes of the books,  but I think this 
is misplacing them as there is a definite personal element that is 
usually not at the forefront of such works. What I mean by this is I 
think at the core of the stories is about the growth of Harry Potter 
as a person seems to be more often than not the enciting elements of 
the plot rather than He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named's attempt to control 
the world.  I'm sure that one will bring lots of arguments, heh.
> 
> So what would you say?  And if you have a category  please add 
other examples to give us all perspective.
> 
> JP

***Katie:
I would class Harry (if I HAD to) with books like "Bridge to 
Terebithia" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". These are 
classic books, full of wonder, that create a whole world...but 
they're not quite up  to Tolkien standards. 

However, having said that, I think JKR's sort of created her own 
category. I can't think of any books before HP that were really 
anything like HP. She made a new genre. A children's book, 
initially, that grew with the readers and became adult fantasy 
novels. The books are wholly original in terms of the magical world 
she has created - not that giants and witches are new concepts, just 
that she really did a great job of making the old seem new. The 
books straddle a line between Tolkien-esque high epic fantasy, and 
simple, energetic, and endlessly readable Roald Dahl type books. 
That's a crazy line to straddle, but the books do it well. If 
there's a dark and deep moment (Dobby's death, for example), there's 
often a counterpoint that is light and whimsical (like Fleur 
reminding everyone of Mrs. Weasley).

In fact, I have recently reminded myself, after reading DH and being 
onlist constantly talking about deep and complex stuff, how much fun 
the books can be. I have been flipping through "Quidditch through 
the Ages" and "Magical Beasts"  and just loving the whimsy and the 
silliness in those. I think it's a brilliant author who can do 
whimsy and complexity. That's where HP is, for me. 

I think she's so imaginative and original, it's pretty hard to class 
the books with any other...It's kind of like asking a Gen Xer "Who 
else does Nirvana sound like?" No one, of course! : )

Katie 

>JPSMITH:
> PS:  Has anyone seen the previews for the new movie "The Seeker"?  
Harry Potter, Jr anyone?  I think the main character's name is Larry 
Topper. hehe :P

***Katie: Yeah, right?! So silly and derivative. Plus, the main 
character is American. Bleh. Only British people can be proper 
wizards! (Just kidding!)