MetaCatholic

My copy of Ἄρειος Ποτὴρ καὶ ἡ τοῦ φιλοσόφου λίθος actually comes with a bookmark sewn into the binding, a refinement possessed neither by Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, nor even Harrius Potter et Philosophi Lapis . When an English story gets this kind of treatment (think Winnie Ille Pu) you know you have left the normal canons of criticism crumbling in the dust. In trying to say anything at all about the series for John Hobbins’ children’s book blogathon, I am dealing with a phenomenon.

I note a couple of revealing autobiographical snippets by way of declaring my commitments. Standing in line outside our local WH Smith’s for the midnight release of Half-Blood Prince, I was behind a group of university students. One asked another: “Are you going for the children’s or adult edition?”. The answer was “The children’s. What’s the point in pretending?” Two years later, as I was queuing in the same place for Deathly Hallows, a man tottered along, barely able to stay on his feet. He’d heard the supposed leak that Harry died in this book. and, despite the fact that he barely seemed to know where he was, he not only took in the queue, but clearly realised what it was for. He slurred a shout: “e diesh in thish one”. A nine year old stepped out of the queue and raised a wand, no doubt neither made of holly, nor having a phoenix feather core. He squeaked “Expelliamus” and the crowd cheered. Although there was no flash of red light, the drunk tottered off, disarmed. It is quite possible that Expelliamus has surpassed Abracadabra as the most used magic word.

What do I like about them myself? Despite some of the criticisms, I find them largely well written. I do not see vast complexity, or purple passages and overuse of words that need a dictionary as things having merit in themselves. Some of the earlier critics seem to. Rowling’s prose is rarely flashy, but always clear. She has, as becomes apparent particularly in the earlier stories with their greater lightness, an obvious and playful joy in words. This may be the cod Latin of some spells, or the name of places like Knockturn Alley, where the spelling takes you one way, and the pronunciation another, while ending up in the same horrid place. Yes, there are (particularly in some of the later books) places where one more edit might have been worth it, but overall I think she maintains a level sufficient both to draw 11 year-olds in and challenge them, while never appearing over-simple to adults. Whatever else anyone may say about the books they got children reading who normally would not, and what those children read is a type of English that they and we would do well to aim for: clear, expressive and communicative.

Again some have claimed that her characters are two-dimensional. Peripheral characters certainly lack full delineation, but I suspect the slow revelation of the stories of the central characters, the trio of heroes, Dumbledore and Snape would surprise some of those who levelled that criticism at the earlier books. Rowling is actually a master of the quickly drawn character sketch, and gives the reader enough to picture the character and flesh it out in imagination. The books are not so much character driven narratives anyway, and too much attention to character would probably slow them down. What they are, it seems to me, is plot-driven narratives in which the characters of Harry especially, but also Ron and Hermione, are shaped by the adventures and experiences of growing up in a time of crisis.

The leitmotif is in some ways revealed in the second story, when Dumbledore says to Harry: “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” This theme, focussed particularly on the question of power, and how we use it, comes to dominate until it becomes explicit in the question of who is fit to master the powerful magical objects of the Deathly Hallows. It is, however, there from the beginning, threateningly obvious in the figure of Voldemort, but more subtly (and often comically) complemented in the mundane bullying of the Dursleys at home, and Malfoy at school. By the end, Harry both sees the remarkable similarity of himself, Voldemort and Snape, lonely and isolated children finding their real home in Hogwarts, and makes the choices that will leave his future very different. In the process he has to come to terms with the fallibility of his hero Dumbledore, and the moral ambiguity of Snape. As a backdrop (occasionally exploding into prominence) the machinations of those who hold bureaucratic power in the Ministry of Magic demonstrate the ways in which systems as well as individual choices can corrupt.

Looking back on the series, one of the most impressive features is the way the books grow up with their central characters. It is not just that the books become darker (a point observed repetitively by commentators to the point of tedium) but that the young people’s behaviour, emotions and ideas broaden and deepen in range. This is not fully realistic, for example, in the way that sexual encounter is confined to intensive snogging, but in terms of a balancing act of growing with older readers and still attracting those freshly coming to the books from eight or nine onwards, it is remarkably deft. In that light it is significant that where others seek to excuse Dumbledore for dreaming of power and glory with (the later to become dark wizard) Grindelwald, Harry remains clear that saying “well he was only young” is no excuse.

These are deeply moral books that don’t preach. By writing a plot- rather than character-driven story, Rowling creates a narrative in which the reader can put something of their own flesh on the characters, and also locate themselves within the story. “How would I fare? What would I choose?” are implicit questions for all who engage imaginatively with Harry in his world. That they are full of creative detail, delightfully engaging, genuinely funny, and powerfully page-turning as well makes them as complete an example of good literature for children as anyone could be fortunate to come across.

They are, quite simply, magic.