Dangerous books

[hymnia]

Almost any book worth reading is a dangerous book. I once knew a young man who jumped off a roof and broke his leg after reading the Harry Potter books. It seems he wanted to test himself for latent magical abilities, like Neville's relatives did to him when he was a kid, trying to prove that he wasn't a Squib. (This young man had high-functioning

Comments

[senior_witch]

I don't understand why you don't pass on HDM the same way you pass on Twilight ("with reservations").

[hymnia]

Actually, come to think of it, my approach to both sets of books is similar. I never put Twilight on my classroom bookshelves, either. But most teens I know are already well aware of the series and have chosen to either read or reject them on their own, without my influence. So Twilight is more like the scenario I described in the last part of my post, where I find myself not in a position to influence whether or not someone reads them, so I would instead want to discuss them and help them think critically about the books. (I do recommend the books to adults, though, or not so much recommend them as encourage adults not to avoid them. To be perfectly honest, I enjoyed reading the books--in much the same way I used to enjoy watching soap operas in my teens. I recognize they are problematic in many ways, but there's something about them that keeps me turning the pages.)

I will add that my concerns about HDM are much stronger than for Twilight, because my religious faith is very dear and personal. The HDM books are just very offensive

[senior_witch]

Yes, HDM was popular quite some time ago. I read it around the year 2000. I liked it actually, it was a page-turner to me, even though I am Christian too (then more than now, but I am still a member of the church, only an inactive one

[hymnia]

I started to write a line-by-line response to this, but I found that it essentially amounted to me nodding and saying, "I agree" to almost everything you posted. Your views on the problems with the HDM books are very similar to mine. I especially take exception to how it portrays the Christian view of life after death as inherently more dangerous than other views. And it rankles to see Pullman throw insults at a version of Christianity that is, as you say, mostly a strawman (although I admit some of the criticism has merit), seemingly to promote reason over faith, while at the same time drawing off of mystical ideas from Buddhism and the I Ching. It's like he's saying, "Religion is bad--but only if it's Western religion."

As for Twilight, well, I think it does reveal some things about the inner life of teen girls, and sometimes of women who are past (maybe long past) their teens. Some women may find these things embarrassing or unworthy of womankind, but the reality is that these books wouldn't be as popular as they are if they didn

[marikunin]

"I have recommended the books to adult readers, especially fellow Christians, for the purpose of examining challenges to the faith and discussing the implications of them. There's no doubt they are well-written, highly engaging books with many elements and themes that appeal to a broad audience, including young people. And I would even say that I agree with some of the themes-themes like embracing the pursuit of knowledge and sacrificing one's own immediate happiness for long-term goals and greater good. But there are a couple of points that I object to strongly, and the fact that the books are well-written and contain some positive themes make me feel all the more compelled to avoid endorsing them. It's like hiding poison in a delicious chocolate cake."

This. I'd recommend it to older teens, too. (I do like the whole daemon concept though, lol)

[hymnia]

When I read the books I was in my mid-twenties, so...yeah, it's hard to explain, but the farther removed I get from my own teenage years, the more I realize how psychologically vulnerable I was. And I think that's true for most teens. There may be individual exceptions to that, but as a general rule, I just couldn't recommend them to anyone younger than about 20, TBH.

glad to see i'm not the only one

[nevrafire]

you feel the same way I feel about HDM. and thanks, because now i have a valid response to give to my friend when they ask me why i dont like the books that is not "the author is a clear bad case anti-religious guy"

interesting thoughts too! i'm so glad i follow your lj!