Customer Reviews

Barry Trotter and the Unnecessary Sequel: The Book Nobody Has Been Waiting For (Gollancz Sf S.)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This parody is much more than a parody. At one point near the middle of the story the plot (if one can discern one) noticeably changes from simple random comedic parody to an independent commentary on prejudice and society which is more hard hitting than either the original of which this a parody or the first installment of which this is a sequel.

Also, it includes a very disturbing, yet pervasive explanation of conjuring as magical stealing of things already manufactured and owned by "Muddles." I remember such an explanation being proferred during an episode of the TV show "Bewitched" when Darin received a new space-age automobile prototype conjured up by a witch relative - which in actuality disappeared from its "mortal" testing facility the very same day initiating a nationwide search. Likewise in Hogwash, everything conjured is, in effect, instantaneously stolen from "Muddles."

It seems that the "Magickals" and the "Muddles" never were able to reconcile their mutual historical hatred for each other and this story comes very close to recounting a "final solution" whose end is the complete extermination of .... Well, you must really read the book. Not just an other sequel.

Having read Barry Trotter and the Unauthorized Parody and enjoyed it very much, I decided to have a go with the sequel when I chanced upon it in the bookstore, and it was well worth the price I paid for it. Just reading the synopsis on the inner jacket made me laugh out loud. I also really liked the way that they wrote out the (still) Obligatory Legal Mumbo Jumbo, and the disclaimers at the beginning of the book. Still incredibly funny. If you liked the original, you'll probably like the sequel, although bear in mind that it is not using the plot of any Potter novel per se, but it does use elements from the books that are outrageously funny. Pick it up now, you'll love it.

This is the 2nd book in this series I've read and GERBER continues to make me laugh and find clever ways to spoof Harry Potter. You must be a fan of Harry Potter to really enjoy these books or you won't get half the references.

I defninitely recomend this book.

This book is three or four things at once, and is surprisingly effective at more than one of them. Most of the attention it's received focuses on how it's an adult-themed and very reverent parody of the first three or four Harry Potter books. Names and so on are sometimes funny ("Girlrboy Rockhard" for the swishy Gilderoy Lockhart, played by Kenneth Branagh in the movie) and sometimes just dull ("Lon Measly" for Ron, Harry's pal). (In this review, I'll give Gerber's and Rowling's words together to help you along) Gerber wisely chose to make his Barry Trotter an older man, married, balding and with children, to make the sexual humor more amusing and less frightening. The plot of the book takes Barry to Hogwash/Hogwarts, where he's enchanted and becomes the head of the school amidst a mystery subplot which parodies the prep-school mystery atmosphere of the first three HP books. (The more dark and violent stories which begin with book four are not part of this spoof.)
The second thing that Gerber tries to do in this book is to make comments on the HP series and its relative worth. Unfortunately, he is too respectful of JK Rowling to feel as though he can really tear her apart for her clumsy tell-rather-than-show writing style, her reuse of plot devices and ideas, such as Animagi being the point on which the plots of books 3 and 4 turned, and her often very visible moralizing (on race, on the British class system, on the values of loyalty and love). It wasn't always clear to me why Gerber did the things he did, such as making Lon (Ron) a moron with a dog's brain. Was this because he thinks Rowling makes Ron stupid? I don't think that she does, although the movies basically edit the character (played by Rupert Grint, a much better actor than Chris Columbus allowed him to be) down to Harry's funny sidekick. The Ron of the books is the heart of the trio: a brave and handsome man who loves Harry as a brother. (Hermione is the head, Harry the hand)
This second goal includes Barry being the hero of a series of books which exposed the wizarding world to Muggle eyes, ending centuries of separation. This play-within-a-play theme is cute, and allows for a lot of funny bits, such as the scene in which a bunch of boys confuse Harry/Barry with Frodo and so on.
The third goal Gerber has, which is an admirable one, is a moral critique of the whole idea of a secret world of wizards and witches with powers which Muggles /Muddles do not have. In Gerber's madhouse-mirror of the Potterverse, wizards "conjure" things by stealing them from Muggles: the item disappears from a Muggle and reappears for the wizard. Likewise, castles and such are drafty, cold, and without toilets; the wizard village of Hogsmeade/Hogsbleed is a slum of casinos and brothels. Is Gerber saying that Rowling's dream-England of manors and castles and teashops is a sickly-sweet romantic dream, the work of a welfare mom living in Council housing? But Rowling's wizarding world sees poverty, bigotry, war and death...the critique fails for most of the book. The secret, for Harry Potter, is love. I find this more beautiful and moving than the coarseness that Gerber relies on.
The one place in which it succeeds is a passage which isn't funny at all. Mumblemore/Dumbledore is telling Barry about how magic brought about the Christmas truce in World War One, and the Muggles then began to fight again; the message is that if magic cannot make the world a better place, then it's useless and that wizards are morally bankrupt. Here Gerber sermonizes as fiercely as Rowling has been accused of doing. Rowling's wizards did not stop the world wars or the Holocaust, but the non-magical rulers of our world didn't stop them either. But in both worlds, when evil arises, good people fight it and often give their lives and sanity; Gerber's parodic tone would have been totally unable to cope with the harrowing scene in St Mungo's in the fifth HP bookm when the reader sees Neville Longbottom's parents, tortured into madness by a follower of Voldemort. (In general the darker tone of books 4 and 5 would be less suited for a parody of this type). Harry's forgiving (or at least showing mercy to) Peter Pettigrew for causing the deaths of Harry's parents is another almost shocking scene in the depth of its moral reasoning. The evil of Voldemort, who relishes torturing and even killing his own followers, is patently contrasted with the goodness of a man like Dumbledore, who heroically enters in the fifth book to rescue Harry and his friends from Voldemort. These aren't simply two morally equivalent groups in a struggle for power. They are true good and true evil, and Rowling makes the distinction between them very clear, as well as the fact that moral choices make us good or evil: there are no 'evil' races of beings here, as in Tolkein's world.
Overall, this book is funny in some places, silly in others, in one place, terribly profound. Not the funniest parody of this type, which is *Bored of the Rings*, and Gerber can offer nothing as deep, and, almost, as holy, as Rowling's lessons on tolerance, mercy, forgiveness and love. But the goals are admirable and this book was a lot of work. Not bad, Barry.

Barry Trotter 2 by Michael Gerber is a facinating
and yet oh so dumb parody of Harry Potter. Unlike
the first book, Barry is 38, has kids, and is
balding. The main characters are basicly twisted
versions of Harry and co. For instance, Barry is
mean spirited, hot tempered, and other things I
shouldn't say. Ermine,(to some Hermione) Barry's
wife, is kind yet destructive, has a tendency to
show the faults in Barry and other things an average
wife would do. Their kids Nigel, a non-magical 11-year
old going to hogwash, and Fiona, a magical geinus, are
somehow unscaethed. There is also Lon, a quasi-canine
man-child that has a dog brain. You might be thinking
"What about Voldemort!?", well, this time, Valumart is
now a family friend. On to the actual story. The
book coins itself as an intriguing parody with
sphincter-tightening eroictisim. This is false,
the true plot is of Barry and co. going to Hogwash for
a class reunion. But as tragedy (not really) would have it
theheadmister, Dorco Malfesance dies. So, Barry and Ermine
become the new headmister. Then Barry somehow contracts
youthniasia and will die soon. I don't want to give away the story, so, I won't. The book has a lot of jokes and satire
that will entertain the ages of 13-27. Although the book
is good, the ending of the series so prematurely is
bad. Lets just hope Michael Gerber writes more books.

I enjoyed all pointed comments about things like how Snape is always the favorite scapegoat for the trio as well as all the hilarious attempts to help Barry grow older. Definitly a must-read for all fans of the first.

The Editorial Review has it wrong. Their youngest has magical powers not the oldest. The oldest is Nigel who'd rather play Accounts and Attorney and his sister sets stuff on fire. This was the first in the series that I owned and I bought it when i was in sixth grade. Under 13 years of age. I found it hilarious and still do, so many years later.

Barry Trotter, now 37 years old, has a wife called Ermine and a son called Nigel. Their son, who is terribly unmagical, is about to start his first year at Hogwash School for Wizardry and Witchcrap when Dorco Malfeasance, the Headmister of the reputable school, suddenly dies. Of course, this is a golden opportunity for Ermine and Barry to create some mayhem as the new heads of their beloved school. It does indeed not take long before Barry gets cursed by a spell that makes him younger every day. Now he get help his son get acquainted with the school, while Ermine searches for something that might lift her husband's curse.

Contrary to its predecessor -Barry Trotter and the Shameless Parody- this book has a plot that is worth following. Michael Gerber clearly realized that just adding joke upon joke does not necessarily make a good parody. Barry Trotter and the Unnecessary Sequel is still filled with plenty of jokes and silly situations but is achieves much more momentum. The jokes themselves become more subtle and less of a rude insult contest. The interaction between the characters makes more sense an leads to some outrageously funny situations. Certainly Barry's new take on the Quiddit game leads to some hilarious settings... and an occasional exploding student.

Barry Trotter returns with another 'shameless parody', along with the furry Ermine Cringer and the dog brained Lon Measly. Raunchier, funnier, better, and has more of the arouma of cheese. Don't buy this book. Ok, do.