Harry Potter and Librarian Madness

I will be so glad when this July comes around and the last of the 'Harry Potter' books are published.

As can be read here, http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=4631719
American libraries are under a 'no peek' rule with the new books.

Oh pleeeeeeeease!

I can't believe how much J K Rowling has been hyped. Yes the books are good and readable, and I have read every one of them. I shall read the latest, but I shall probably borrow a copy. I just don't think they are the greatest stories to be set down in print.

The first book was good and original, the second not too bad, and the third OK. I think the rot started to set in with the fourth. The page count jumped enormously, but the storyline didn't evolve along with that. Part of the problem is that Rowling seems to be able to write only one story and after six books it is getting a bit stale.

The end of the fourth book (Goblet of Fire) promised good things to come with the revival of Voldemort, and the beginning of the fifth (Order of the Pheonix) had my hopes rising. Harry looked to be expelled from Hogwarts, join the Order and fight Voldemort with Cirrus Black and Lupin. I really would have liked to read that story.

But no.

It's back to Hogwarts, Quiddich, a new DADA teacher, and everything else that was written about in every other book. And Lord Voldemort actually does very little. Even the end of the sixth book (Half Blood Prince), Harry says he is not going to return to Hogwarts. I don't believe that because that would mean writing a different story.

Really, the story with Voldemort would work better if condensed into three books instead of trying to stretch it out to seven. As the most dangerous character in the magical world he actually hasn't done anything since being brought back from the dead at the end of book four. I think Rowling should have not mentioned Voldemort so prominently in the first two or three books. Then she should have dropped most of the Hogwarts elements and concentrated on 'He who shall not be named'. Trying to have the two different story strands side-by-side just hasn't worked over the long term.

I don't know when the world went Harry Potter mad, but it needs to wake up. Maybe after this summer it will.