Transition
While Zai and our houseguests were on the other end of the apartment, I sat down in my recliner with the new Harry Potter book, it was nice to have a bit of quiet time. Its a good book, as the other six have been. Before I began reading the series (even before I left Wal-Mart), I was dead-set on not reading it. It was children’s literature, a bit of reading not sophisticated enough for my refined palate cultivated by Tolkein and King.
Pete would not hear of it, however, urging me to read them. After a long time of resisting, I finally broke down and began reading, if for no other reason than that he actually gave me a file I could read on my PDA.
I started reading Sorcerer’s Stone half-heartedly, not really caring. The movie played on the screens at Wal-Mart, so I pretty much knew the plot inside and out, backwards and forwards, and really didn’t care. I was surprised when the book actually began to catch my attention, and I found myself putting down the Playstation controller and picking up the PDA to read.
By the end of the first book, I was more than willing to pick up the second.
The most interesting thing about the series is its subtle transition from child to adult literature. As you follow the story of Harry, from adolescence to adulthood, the story itself slowly evolves into adulthood. So a child picking up the first book at age eleven could still be enthralled at eighteen picking up the final book. Its something that has never been attempted before (by my recollection), and I feel it was a success.
The first book is indeed children’s literature, the worst thing being a brief encounter with a scary face in back of a man’s head. The second takes it a little further, with the basilisk and Harry almost dying, as well as a bit darker undertone. The third goes even further, with tales of murder, and beings that feed on terror, the fourth further still with a blood ritual and the murder of a somewhat significant character.
By the time I begin the seventh book, its a dark tale of danger and death. The little bits of humor that I’ve seen so far seem very out of place. Without spoiling anything too much (maybe you should cover your eyes if you’re afraid of spoilers. Go ahead, I’ll wait.) I have already witnessed three characters die, a fourth disfigured, and have witnessed a fifth being tortured. While the first book was perfectly acceptable for an adolescent, I would definitely not say the same thing about the last.
It was a smooth transition, and I commend Rowling for it. Its not often you see a tale truly grow with the reader.
Zel-kun out.