"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" - Banned Books Week!

A few years ago, the Huffington Post ran a story claiming that the Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling were the most banned books in the country.  Most of the controversy comes from a number of religious (i.e. "Christian") groups believing the series promotes occultism, paganism and celebrates witchcraft.

I thought they promoted kids to read.  I cannot name another series of books that has excited the imaginations of children (and adults) as much as Harry Potter.




http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deji-olukotun/the-banning-of-harry-pott_b_1864502.html

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling

After my disappointment in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, I decided to get the misery over and read the final installment of J. K. Rowling’s mostly excellent series. The first six novels followed Harry Potter and friends as they attend Hogwarts, a school for witches and wizards. Although exciting, the stories became formulaic and predictable.

Fortunately, Rowlinbg dispensed with the step-by-step routine in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The seventh and final novel is easily the best of the series and the most exciting.

Following the death of his beloved mentor, Professor Dumbledore at the hands of Severus Snape at the end of Half-Blood Prince, Harry sets of on the quest Dumbledor charged him with friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger in tow. They have chosen not to return to Hogwarts for this final year, mainly because the school is watched closely by the Dark Lord Voldemort and his army of Death Eaters. His loyal disciple Severus Snape is now headmaster and the school has the feel of a concentration camp.

Potter and company stay on the move, changing their hiding places daily while desperately trying to complete Dumbledore’s quest which should destroy Voldemort for good. However, the Dark Lord always seems one step ahead, but the three teenagers are cunning enough and manage to elude his grasp.

Along the way, Potter and his friends argue, fight, break up and make up. There have always been disagrements among them but in Deathly Hallows, they are more impassioned and emotional to a point never approached in the previous six novels.

And this last novel is packed with more action than ever. The battle at Hogwarts is one of the most exciting scenes I’ve ever read. In my posting of Half-Blood Prince, I complained that Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood were all but ignored but now they are back and on the front lines. Rowling presents a good retrospective in Deathly Hallows of characters from the previous six novels in fierce battle. And it’s good to see professors fighting bravely and aggresively to save Hogwarts.

The novel’s seven-hundred and fifty-nine pages are a formidable length but the fast pace make it an easy read. It is certainly the crown jewel of the series.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling

Spoiler Alert!

Okay, I know I’m way behind in finishing the Harry Potter series since the movie version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is now out on DVD. Had I known what lay in store for me as I read it, I wouldn’t have been so eager.

Did J. K. Rowling give up on this one to focus on the last book? After three exciting installments of the series, this one was a big disappointment. I’d rank it on a par with the first one, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. The Half-Blood Prince seemed formulaic and didn’t contribute much to the series. At least not 650 pages worth. Consider the Harry Potter book formula:

1. At the beginning, Harry is enduring oppression under his aunt, uncle and cousin in the Dursley household until he is finally rescued. First, it was Hagrid, then its been the Weasleys. This time Dumbledore.

2. Then on the way to Hogwarts, Harry has a confrontation with Draco Malfoy.

3. Arriving at school, Harry is at once esteemed as some sort of celebrity because of some heroic deed that occurred at the end of the last novel (i.e. school year) and the resultant fall-out over the summer (always written in retrospect). Harry is unassuming and humbly tries hard to downplay his abilities and contributions.

4. Shortly after school starts, Harry realizes that something is not right. However strong his suspicions are, no one believes him. Haven’t they figured it out by now that Harry is ALWAYS right? First, it was the basilisk creeping around behind the walls of Hogwarts. Then it was the dementors. In Half-Blood Prince, he suspects Draco Malfoy is up to no good.

5. The school year passes quickly with Harry snooping around but not being able to convince anyone of his suspicions. He always has Severus Snape for a class and they hate each others’ guts. Snape always docks points from the Gryffindor house every time Harry, Ron or Hermione sneezes.

6. There are the Quidditch games, too. The other houses never play each other. It’s only Gryffindor against another house. Gryffindor may lose during the year but they ALWAYS win the championship game.

7. As the year comes to a close, things begin to happen at a rapid pace and soon everyone realizes that (gasp) Harry was right (again). They all apologize for not listening to him earlier and avoided all the death and destruction of You-Know-Who Lord He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named Voldemort.

The chain of events is exactly the same for the first 550 pages except for the particulars. However, in Prisoner of Azkhaban, Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix, Rowling finished with spectacular breath-taking battles of wizards and witches. Good versus evil. There is a battle at the end of Half-Blood Prince but nowhere near the level of excitement as the previous four novels. Maybe five. And there is no build-up to the final scene until the last 100 pages.

It seemed that this story was only an epilogue for Deathly Hallows. Half-Blood Prince was written only for shock value, since the only significant incident is the death of Albus Dumbledore at the hands of Severus Snape. Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood who played very important roles in Order of the Phoenix are relegated to cameo appearances as hangers-on.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the God Emperor of Dune of the Potter series. Just read it to move onto the next novel, but if you skip it, you won’t miss much.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

To criticize any of J. K. Rowling’s work would be akin to spitting into the wind, but in her first five novels (I know! I know! I’m just a bit behind on reading Harry Potter!) of the boy wizard, she has proven herself to be a very talented story-teller.

“The Order of the Phoenix” opens with Harry, trapped with his relatives during the summer, struggling to hear any news of Lord Voldemort’s reappearance or activities. Instead, what little information he can pick up is rather detrimental to Professor Dumbledore and himself. Nobody believes the Dark Lord is back and Potter is branded as a narcissistic glory-seeker. This attitude toward Harry persists through much of the novel and eventually becomes tiring, since only his closest friends believe him.

As usual, Potter has a different Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Delores Umbridge (sounds like umbrage?). She is quite odious and seems to have the upper hand on everyone on staff including Professor Dumbledore. She quickly enforces many new rules on the Hogwarts students and fellow professors. Professor Umbridge often locks horns with Professor McGonagol, a worthy adversary, usually with unsatisfactory results.

Hermione Granger points out that Professor Umbridge’s class objectives do not include actually practicing spells to use against the Dark Arts. She and Ron Weasley manage to convince Harry to teach them and “one or two” others these spells, since he has gone up against Lord Voldemort more than once.

At least we get to see Harry showing some passion and emotion in this year at Hogwarts. Teaching his fellow students spells, falling in love an dealing with the temperament of teenaged girls, his anger towards Umbridge and Snape, the absence of Hagrid and being barred from playing Quidditch all fray Harry’s nerves.

Soon with the help of a former antagonist and from a strange classmate, opinion of Harry begins to turn, but it isn’t until he and a handful of friends confront Voldemort and a group of Death-Eaters in the halls of the Ministry of Magic, that the wizard world finally comes to its senses.

Rowling also deepens the characters of Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley and perpetual whipping boy Neville Longbottom. We see the depth of Hermione’s intelligence and cunning as she engineers Professor Umbridge’s downfall. It is great to see once quiet and shy Ginny Weasley snap at Harry in fury. And Neville outgrows himself and becomes a force to be reckoned with. The young wizards and witches along with Ron Weasley step out of Potter’s shadow and prove themselves to be formidable as well.

However, Draco Malfoy and his cohorts among the Slytherins make frequent but seemingly obligatory appearances to antagonize Potter. Nothing new at all here.

As I read through Potter’s interactions with his professors, I wondered how much Rowling fashioned the teachers after her own experiences in school. Certainly, everyone can relate to Professors Snape and Umbridge.

“The Order of the Phoenix” is a fun and wild ride. It lacks the many adventures and characters of “The Goblet of Fire”, but stands tall above the first four with its thrills and chills. It will have you cheering the wizards, while jeering and sneering at the Death-Eaters. It will leave you hungry for more.