From: Caroline Parr <cparr>
Date: Tue, 09 Nov 1999 15:17:38 -0500

I agree with John Mason's comments about Harry and his development. Harry's situation is somewhat similar to that of Will Stanton in "The Dark is Rising." At the age of eleven (what is it about that magical time?), Will discovers that he is one of the Old Ones destined to fight against the forces of the Dark. Up until that time, he thought of himself as an ordinary boy in his family, just as Harry did (although, looking back, there were signs...).

Harry has already endured some tests, just as Will does, and the fact that his parents were murdered adds a theme of parental loss that takes the books beyond just a rousing game of Quidditch and a handful of chocolate frogs.

Obviously, Susan Cooper wrote a fantasy series that's very different from Rowling's. Cooper's is indeed high fantasy, whereas Rowling's is not -- so far. Who knows where she'll take Harry in the next five books?

Gregory Maguire discusses these two views of HP (is it high fantasy or just materialism?) more eloquently than I have, in his September 9th NYT review of
"Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azbakan," citing C. S. Lewis's distinction between
"fantasy as magical happenings and fantasy as wish fulfillment." You can find his review at http://search.nytimes.com/books/search/

Caroline Parr

Maia wrote:





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Received on Tue 09 Nov 1999 02:17:38 PM CST