I was both excited and depressed to hear that J.K. Rowling has finally finished the last Harry Potter book, and it will be published on July 21st. Excited because I love Harry Potter, and depressed because there will be no more.
Many of my more literary friends look down their noses at people who love good fantasy, science fiction, or mystery novels. But they're missing out.
First of all, fantasy in particular employs some of the most delightful and inventive aspects of the human imagination, whimsy that could never be fully explored in regular fiction. Harry Potter and the Chronicles of Narnia are just two of the best of the genre.
Fantasy also allows authors to write about what is most noble in humans. By pitting an absolute evil against those with courage, a sense of honor, and human-sized flaws, we are allowed a rare belief that humans are capable of being selfless, altruistic, and just plain good.
Isn't it worth something to have literature that answers these needs?
Lastly, I know from experience that fantasy and science fiction can be lifesavers for people with difficult childhoods. Mine was abusive and terrifying, yet reading fantasy literature kept me sane, kept me believing that a better world was possible and that better people existed.
Harry Potter entranced me from the first book, and I've read the entire series (so far) at least ten times. Aside from the wonderful, imaginative world Rowling has created, it is one of the best series I've ever read about growing up.
Harry's entire struggle against evil is a metaphor for every individual's struggle to become an adult. To face, finally, the fact that we are each alone, that our parents cannot fix the world for us, to face up to our own expectations and fears, and our own fight to be fully realized individuals, pursuing a life that is meant for us, to emerge from that warm cocoon of childhood--that is what Harry Potter shows us. How cold it is to grow up, how scary and lonely, but how magnificent it can be if we're willing to face it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Thanks for writing this.
Post a Comment