Bookshelf
From the Globe Shakespeare to the Chronicles of Narnia, my weakness for books, especially fiction, has made moving quite a task. Hopefully I will not have to do it again for another nine months.What is currently on the bedside shelf? Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. My roommate is a fan of young Potter, and she convinced me to try reading them. I almost put them down for good after the second one, but I needed a book to bring on our long trip and I didn't want to wrestle with any of the heavy material on my list of things I need to read someday.
Why will I put them down after this one? They're not my style. I do not have the patience for many 800-page books, and I doubt that Order of the Phoenix would fit the bill based on the frustrating motivations of the characters I know so far. Yes, they're human (sort of). Yes, they make mistakes. But none of them have a moral compass other than a nebulous notion of love and friendship. Living by principle is frustrating and inflexible at best, stuffy and pigheaded at worst.
I find the way the endings have tied together so far pretty contrived, mostly because the limits on what kinds of magic can and cannot be done are completely arbitrary, flexible in the pen of the authoress. The endings may be exciting and entertaining, but I do not find them believable, even in a world of sorcerers.
And that brings me to the issue most Christians have found intriguing. I do not find Harry's use of witchcraft more troublesome than other instances of it (sometimes under different names) in literature. It works as a comedic pretext for the Potter stories. But, like other fantasy literature, it is the hearts of the characters and the basis upon which they make their decisions that wins or loses me. And Harry lost me.
posted by Lynn @ 5:50 PM
4 Comments:
I was a bit impressed with the 3rd movie. Only because the whole time travel thing was done so well. It had shock value 'cause I didn't expect it. When I find people who can read fiction and enjoy it, I think...weird.
I can't say much about the movies, having only seen one or two previews--and the previews haven't really captivated me for those either...
i must confess i have not even attempted to try to read Potter, however my reasoning is based on the fact that the fantasy genre as a whole is generally been known to put me to sleep or just not catch my interest in the slightest. i realize that is a generalization, however, for the most part i have found it to be an accurate one. i feel the same about Chronicles of Narnia which i did read when a child, and Lord of the Rings (only made it through the Hobbit) . i read Redwall books as well by Brian Jacques and was bored to tears.
however my feelings on the Christian viewpoint of the Potter books is based more on the fact that i see and have found "magjic" of some varying kinds in each of these fantasy series and yet Potter is the only one not accepted because it is finally called sorcery? hmm... hypocrisy is the first term to come to my mind... (extensive research did come w/ this in high school.)
*magic
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