Reaction to Harry Potter, Book I
So, I'm only 51% done with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I originally wanted to read the first four books of the series while on the road this past weekend since I would be in the car for at least 14 hours. My mind had other ideas, though, so I ended up sleeping through most of the trip. So that my hard work on covers for the book don't go to waste, I'll post the cover I made for each book in each reaction I post.
I'm posting reactions because I'm trying to figure out how to become a better writer. I want to note the things that stick out to me as strange, and the things that stick out to me as brilliant. Things that stick out to me as strange give me an opportunity to learn about the way my brain works when it comes to writing. Brilliant things aren't necessarily things that I'd want to emulate, but they are things that I can appreciate as a reader more so than a writer.
I guess the first thing I want to comment on is the crazy amount of energy in Rowling's writing, at least in this first book. It's hard for me to concentrate when reading books like this. There are so many little details that seem irrelevant, so my graduate school trained mind likes to skip over them to get to the good parts. I feel like I'm learning how to read all over again. Scholarly reading is so very different than leisure reading.
The small parts that I want to skip over aren't exactly boring. They just take so much concentration to take note of, and you absolutely need to take note of them. Otherwise, the world she has so painstakingly created can become lost on you and you kind of forget about why you're bothering to read the book, especially when you have a film version that you could be watching instead. It's hard to read the book without thinking about Daniel Radcliffe as Harry, or the angles used when shooting certain scenes of the movie, or the background music played as the students of Hogwarts walk through the halls. It's worth the effort, though, to put the movie out of your mind and focus on the writing as it is. By doing so, you get a really interesting glimpse into the crazy world of J.K. Rowling.
I feel like the little details that make up this world of hers have so much "energy" because there's always something...well, strange, happening every few sentences. This can be a good thing but it's sort of aggravating for me personally. I'm glad that she spends so much time fleshing out the world, but it's difficult to suspend disbelief at such a high capacity for such an extended period of time. This is probably why it was a good read for children and other people who aren't overly analytical and "practical," which seem to be offensive characteristics to have in the world of Harry Potter.
Muggles.
No, not all muggles are portrayed as negative in the book thus far, but it is interesting that our first interaction with the muggles is such a bad one. The Dursley's are awful and Harry's distaste for them is incredibly clear. I found myself wondering why it was so easy for so many children to relate to the boy who slept in the cupboard under the stairs. Did we all feel that unappreciated and invisible growing up? I guess I wonder, too, if it was Harry that caught the attention of the masses, or if it was the promise of a magical world. It could very well be a mixture of both.
Either way, there's this "us versus them" sort of tone to the book in the beginning, with the terrible Dursley's and the rude train station employee that reacted so negatively when a young boy asked him about Platform Nine and Three Quarters. I found myself judging the non-magical characters quite harshly. How dare they look down on magic folk? We're (yes, I'd already been sucked in enough to think of myself as magical) just special and they're just jealous! But I stopped and then wondered why it couldn't just be that we each had our own unique strengths. Sure, the Dursley's were awful to Harry and they tried to stifle one of the very things that made him unique and beautiful, but surely not all non-magic folk were like that, right?
I don't know. I don't think being practical is that much of a terrible way to be. But, there's kind of a balance introduced when we meet Draco Malfoy, who is just as irritating as Dudley Dursley. He's magical, but he's a little pain in the ass. I also feel that the "anti-muggle" attitude being placed with the characters who have other negative character traits is problematic. In the hands of a group that has the capacity to oppress and a track record of oppressing minorities, such a sentiment can be incredibly dangerous. I don't, however, think there's anything wrong with wanting to preserve your culture when it is at risk of being erased by a larger, more oppressive majority. I think that Rowling does a good job of making it clear, though, that those in the book who are calling for "pureblood supremacy" are in fact just that - supremacists who have every intention of using their status to oppress and maybe even erase all who are different than them. I guess it's just a soft spot for me given my own experiences with cultural erasure.
I guess the last thing that stuck out to me was how appealing Harry's independence is in the book. Sure, he still has people he has to answer to, but for me it's really interesting that he was able to go away from home at such a young age. Boarding school isn't such a different experience for some people, but it definitely is for me. I didn't go away from home for school until university! So the idea that Harry was able to basically be out on his own at such a young age is very cool.
I'm posting reactions because I'm trying to figure out how to become a better writer. I want to note the things that stick out to me as strange, and the things that stick out to me as brilliant. Things that stick out to me as strange give me an opportunity to learn about the way my brain works when it comes to writing. Brilliant things aren't necessarily things that I'd want to emulate, but they are things that I can appreciate as a reader more so than a writer.
I guess the first thing I want to comment on is the crazy amount of energy in Rowling's writing, at least in this first book. It's hard for me to concentrate when reading books like this. There are so many little details that seem irrelevant, so my graduate school trained mind likes to skip over them to get to the good parts. I feel like I'm learning how to read all over again. Scholarly reading is so very different than leisure reading.
The small parts that I want to skip over aren't exactly boring. They just take so much concentration to take note of, and you absolutely need to take note of them. Otherwise, the world she has so painstakingly created can become lost on you and you kind of forget about why you're bothering to read the book, especially when you have a film version that you could be watching instead. It's hard to read the book without thinking about Daniel Radcliffe as Harry, or the angles used when shooting certain scenes of the movie, or the background music played as the students of Hogwarts walk through the halls. It's worth the effort, though, to put the movie out of your mind and focus on the writing as it is. By doing so, you get a really interesting glimpse into the crazy world of J.K. Rowling.
I feel like the little details that make up this world of hers have so much "energy" because there's always something...well, strange, happening every few sentences. This can be a good thing but it's sort of aggravating for me personally. I'm glad that she spends so much time fleshing out the world, but it's difficult to suspend disbelief at such a high capacity for such an extended period of time. This is probably why it was a good read for children and other people who aren't overly analytical and "practical," which seem to be offensive characteristics to have in the world of Harry Potter.
Muggles.
No, not all muggles are portrayed as negative in the book thus far, but it is interesting that our first interaction with the muggles is such a bad one. The Dursley's are awful and Harry's distaste for them is incredibly clear. I found myself wondering why it was so easy for so many children to relate to the boy who slept in the cupboard under the stairs. Did we all feel that unappreciated and invisible growing up? I guess I wonder, too, if it was Harry that caught the attention of the masses, or if it was the promise of a magical world. It could very well be a mixture of both.
Either way, there's this "us versus them" sort of tone to the book in the beginning, with the terrible Dursley's and the rude train station employee that reacted so negatively when a young boy asked him about Platform Nine and Three Quarters. I found myself judging the non-magical characters quite harshly. How dare they look down on magic folk? We're (yes, I'd already been sucked in enough to think of myself as magical) just special and they're just jealous! But I stopped and then wondered why it couldn't just be that we each had our own unique strengths. Sure, the Dursley's were awful to Harry and they tried to stifle one of the very things that made him unique and beautiful, but surely not all non-magic folk were like that, right?
I don't know. I don't think being practical is that much of a terrible way to be. But, there's kind of a balance introduced when we meet Draco Malfoy, who is just as irritating as Dudley Dursley. He's magical, but he's a little pain in the ass. I also feel that the "anti-muggle" attitude being placed with the characters who have other negative character traits is problematic. In the hands of a group that has the capacity to oppress and a track record of oppressing minorities, such a sentiment can be incredibly dangerous. I don't, however, think there's anything wrong with wanting to preserve your culture when it is at risk of being erased by a larger, more oppressive majority. I think that Rowling does a good job of making it clear, though, that those in the book who are calling for "pureblood supremacy" are in fact just that - supremacists who have every intention of using their status to oppress and maybe even erase all who are different than them. I guess it's just a soft spot for me given my own experiences with cultural erasure.
I guess the last thing that stuck out to me was how appealing Harry's independence is in the book. Sure, he still has people he has to answer to, but for me it's really interesting that he was able to go away from home at such a young age. Boarding school isn't such a different experience for some people, but it definitely is for me. I didn't go away from home for school until university! So the idea that Harry was able to basically be out on his own at such a young age is very cool.