Is there something wrong with me? I find the Harry Potter books and movies well constructed.

[Bachelier]

Okay, I am old. I discovered these things because of my children. I'm also a rock- ribbed conservative Catholic family man, who knows about Chesterton, C.S.Lewis, and Tolkien. Hell, I even started to learn Elvish and had written on Tolkien and the sacraments.



So.....I think the Harry Potter books and movies are actually about a B+ compared to Tolkein's "A" and Lewis's "A-."



Am I wrong? I mean, the Hunger games and Twilight crap are not even in "D+"league.



Worthwhile fantasy literature that supports western civilization nowadays appears thin on the ground. Granted the HP books are mostly nods to esthetics on this point, but they aren't p.g. Wodehouse parody, nor piffle. There is both esthetics and something there there. Beyond science. Beyond English. Beyond ineffable "britanic magic" or mythos.



Tell me I'm cracked.

[pj]

Well, you are not alone in not getting over-excited on Harry Potter.



But solid B+ it is.



My 10 years old daughter would reverse your ratings, BTW.



A for Potter, A- for Lewis, B+ for Tolkien.



I think she liked that it has been happening now and here.



BTW, what is your opinion on Jordan's Weel of Time? (Bastard, has died before having finished).



Hunger games , Twilight, and

Tara Duncan won't be tolerated.

[Maggette]

I love Tolkien and I think they should not be compared.



But I think the HP books did a lot of good things. I can absolutely see that HP provides something to kids that Tolkien did to me when I was young.



Small story that somehow convinced me:

I have a beautiful cross country track I use when I take a run when I am at home (south western Germany). It is a small path that runs through an awesome forest, beech and oak. Could be part of a fantasy movie. Really great.



On a very nice day this spring I took a run there. I live in a quite rural area and was a good distance away from civilization.



Somewhere in the middle of a forest I saw a girl, sitting beneath an old oak tree, with a small backpack, reading HP.



I think whatever book gets young kids to hike to a nice and calm place and read and escape this world for a moment..is a good book:)

[YukaRedux]

I've never read a Harry Potter book, but I am a few chapters through the "Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality" fanfic. It's quite entertaining...

[quantz]

you're not cracked, they're pretty good. i haven't read the books yet but there's no question that while they're largely derivative she added some interesting twists to make them engaging. i think later on she got more clever too. i.e. the half-blood prince storyline and the deathly hallows concept/parable were pretty cool.



Bachelier given your background/interests you might find the author John C Wright appealing. his best series Golden Age is sci fi but he has some fantasy ones too

[granchio]

To stir up some discussion, here are some comments on Harry Potter by a senior Catholic priest:



http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-11-29/news/30456529_1_father-gabriele-amorth-chief-exorcist-subtle-seductions

[pj]

Are sure it was not originated from Onion?

http://www.theonion.com/articles/harry-potter-books-spark-rise-in-satanism-among-ch,2413/

Hellfire and brimstone.

The guy seems to be serious!

[granchio]

no, i think he exists and the comments are bone fide.

I think it is an interesting position, coherent with his frame of reference, so not to be laughed at.

So I posted it here as Bachelier, coming from a "conservative catholic" point of view, came to different conclusions.

This not a flame.

I'd very much like to hear Bachelier's thoughts, thinking he might be somehow beconnected with the James who wrote about wandering in the hills and discussing theology, many years ago.



PS Many years ago I gave "The lord of the rings" as a present to a dear friend of mine, a catholic priest, who did not know it. The catholic resonances in that book are very strong, to anybody with even a passing knowledge of the basics, so I was looking forward to his comments. But he went off to the Philippines, I went off to big bad London, we met only once afterwards, late at night in Rome, but had other things, more pressing, to talk about. He was later kidnapped in Mindanao, we lost touch, I never had a chance to hear his view on such an unimportant subject.