…is made by former CetT contributor Regina Doman in this Open Book posting .
If I may quote my own comment on one of several Open Book threads on this topic:
I’m willing to admit, if only for the sake of argument, that there’s
a legitimate abstract argument against the Potter books. And I have a
lot of respect for Michael O’Brien [another CetT contributor and a strong critic of the Harry Potter books]. But I just can’t see that these
books pose a serious danger.This is subjective, and obviously I could be fooling myself, but I
think I have a reasonably good nose for the scent of sulfur and
brimstone, and I just don’t sense it in the Potter books. I can think
right off of two popular series that give off a far, far worse
spiritual odor: Ursula LeGuin’s Earthsea books and Susan Cooper’s Dark is Rising series….
Regina justifies, lucidly and in detail, my opinion. Go read, if the topic interests you.
UPDATE: for those who have cable TV, the Paula Zahn show tonight (Friday July 15) is titled, rather unpromisingly, "Pope vs. Potter". I wouldn’t suggest anyone bother watching it except that, according to Amy at Open Book, Michael O’Brien is going to be on. 8pm Eastern time, repeat at 2am Eastern.
By the way, I should say for the record that I don’t consider the Harry Potter books to be great literature, although they’re enjoyable. Having tried my hand at writing a fantasy novel myself, I have a lot of respect for anyone who can tell a good story.
–Maclin Horton
i confess: i haven’t read any of the hp books.
My daughter Clare was about 11 or 12 when the first one came out, and liked it so much that she wanted my wife and me to read it. I kept not getting around to it, so she started recording it so I could listen to it on the way to and from work. She ran out of steam halfway through or so but by then I was interested enough to finish it on my own. (The tape is great, with cute mispronunciations of words she had only read but never heard, like “neVILLE” for “NEville”.)
Anyway, they’re fun books and as noted I don’t think they’re likely to be harmful, but I also think those who want to rank them with Tolkien and Lewis are mistaken. I wouldn’t praise them as highly as Regina does for their literary merit, though I think she’s right about their moral significance.
The first one is pretty lightweight. They get more serious and darker as they go along.
she made records of hp for you? how sweet!
FOR SEVERAL YEARS AFTER THE PUBLICATION OF THE FIRST HARRY POTTER (HP) BOOK, I OBJECTED TO THE SERIES BY HEARSAY. IN ANTICIPATION TO HAVING A REASON TO TELL MY MOTHER I DID NOT WANT HER TO TAKE MY CHILDREN TO SEE THE FIRST HP MOVIE, I READ THE SORCERER’S STONE, AND AFTER THE FIRST FEW CHAPTERS, FOUND MYSELF CHARMED (YES, PUN INTENDED)WITH THE STORY. I CHANGED MY VIEWPOINT AND FREELY ADMIT THAT I WAS NEGATIVELY INFLUENCED WITHOUT EXPLORING THE ISSUE FOR MYSELF. I AGREE WITH MR. HORTON’S ASSESSMENT. THE HP BOOKS ARE HARDLY GREAT LITERATURE , BUT THEY ARE FUN AND ENTERTAINING. I BOUGHT MY COPY OF THE LATEST FRIDAY NIGHT WITH MY FOUR CHILDREN AND WE ARE READING IT ALOUD TOGETHER, WITH MY HUSBAND.
BACK WHEN NAZERETH JOURNAL WAS BEING PUBLISHED, I WAS IMPRESSED BY MICHAEL O’BRIEN’S SERIES ON CHILDREN’S LITERATURE, NOW PUBLISHED IN BOOK FORM AS “A LANDSCAPE WITH DRAGONS”. MR. O’BRIEN PRESENTS MUCH FOOD FOR THOUGHT REGARDING FANTASY LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN, BUT I WOULD HAVE TO SAY HE IS OFF THE MARK WITH HIS PERCEPTION OF HARRY POTTER. J.K. ROWLING IS NO INTELLECTUAL, N0T A PRACTICING CATHOLIC, AND AS FAR AS I KNOW, WOULD BE THE LAST TO CLAIM HER BOOKS ARE ALLEGORIES SUCH AS TOLKIEN AND LEWIS WROTE. NO, THE HP BOOKS ARE NOT IN THE SAME REALM AS THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA OR THE LORD OF THE RINGS SERIES, THEN AGAIN, MR. LEWIS’ WRITING IS HARDLY COMPARABLE TO MR. TOLKIEN’S – BUT THAT’S ANOTHER SUBJECT.
IN A CULTURE AS CORRUPT AND PERVERSE AS OURS, IT SEEMS A PITY TO ME THAT SO MANY WASTE THEIR EFFORTS LAMENTING THE HORRIBLE INFLUENCE OF A LIGHT SERIES LIKE HARRY POTTER. MY SUGGESTION IS THAT INSTEAD OF COMPLAINING, THOSE WHO OBJECT COULD OFFER A PLAUSIBLE ALTERNATIVE, OR EVEN BETTER, CONCENTRATE ON REAL CONCERNS. I CAN HARDLY SEE HOW ANYONE WHO HAS READ THE HP BOOKS COULD CONSIDER THEM A DANGER TO US OR TO OUR PRECIOUS CHARGES. READ AND THINK BEFORE YOU JUDGE – TALK TO THE CHILDREN YOU KNOW WHO HAVE READ THESE BOOKS AND LIKE THEM – FIND OUT WHY AND DECIDE IF THE BOOKS ARE TRULY A THREAT OR IF IN THIS CASE, AS I BELIEVE, IT IS ALL SMOKE AND NO FIRE.
INCIDENTALLY, THE TAPES ARE DELIGHTFUL . THEY ARE READ AN EXCELLENT NARRATOR WHO MAKES THE BOOKS COME TO LIFE.
Note – My husband just read this letter and told me it is “bad form” to use all capitals – sorry, but his computer was set to that type and i didn’t know how to change it.
JULE SALZER
Whew; I really wasn’t up for a shouting match…
I decided I had to read the books to have an opinion. I got about 50 pages and decided that I could not in good conscience waste my time on such poorly written prose. So the only opinion I have is that they are not well-written.
That is the same experience I had years ago trying to read Andrew Greeley’s fiction.
I actually did get through Bud McFarlane’s awful “Pierced by a Sword”, as it was so hideously written that I became fascinated by its many cliched horrors, roughly sketched stereotypical characters, really dumb plotlines, weird apocalyptic theology and feigned sophistication….