Customer Reviews

Destiny Unfulfilled: A Critique of the Harry Potter Series

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

 

 

Although the "Harry Potter" series is massively popular, popularity does not excuse its faults. "Destiny Unfulfilled: A Critique of the Harry Potter Series" analyzes the Harry Potter series with a scrutinizing eye, providing much insights into the flaws of the series, stating that some literary problems lie within the books, as Jim Adam exposes them and offers tips to other blossoming writers who may take the Potter books as influence. "Destiny Unfulfilled" is a top pick for literary criticism collections.

If, like me, you loved the HP books, this may be a little difficult. But if, like me, you're a true lover of good literature, you'll recognize the truth in it. The author does a terrific job not only identifying continuity errors but also dissecting where the series falls short of its full potential. The author's point is assuredly not to trash Rowling's accomplishments, but rather to say that what she did is so good that she ought to undertake a revised/corrected edition that repairs the understandable, but regrettable, errors that crept in over the ten years she spent writing them. She would be in fine company -- Dickens and Tolkien, to mention only a few.

I am extremely impressed by 'Destiny Unfulfilled,' not only as a writer myself but as an academic who has taught the HP series to college students. I believe Adam has put his finger on the massive dissatisfaction/disappointment I feel with the entire Series. While I admire 'Sorcerer's Stone' hugely, and agree that it is a classic, I agree even more fully that, as the Series progressed, Rowling missed several very obvious ways of making the entire Series a classic. For example, Rowling made a tragic mistake killing D. off rather than staging his 'death' as one of many strategies for bring about V's downfall (and consequently avoiding the deadly tediousness of the final book).

If you write fantasy and dream of creating world-class fiction, if your bookshelf is filled with "how-to" titles devoted to the craft of writing, if your favorite website is [...] or something similar, then this is the book you need to read!

Many literary critiques are obtuse and impossible to read for anyone lacking an ivy-league doctorate. If you do have the academics and vocabulary to understand a serious literary critique, then you already know they are irrelevant to anyone seeking to master the craft of writing something people want to read. "Destiny Unfulfilled" deconstructs the Harry Potter series character by character and book by book. It expounds on and defines those annoying flaws that a serious reader immediately sees but can't quite explain. Along the way you'll find a wealth of material about creating three-dimensional characters and constructing a believable plot.

If you've always wanted to be a fantasy writer and never quite understood what you're doing wrong, this is the book you need to read!

This was an infuriating book. I don't think the writer paid attention to anything J.K.Rowling wrote. The author critiques Rowling's works and gives alternate ideas to major plot points. I did not like a single idea the author provided as a substitute to what Rowling actually published. The author claims this book will help others who wish to analyze the series, or to teach creative writing, but this book only succeeds in telling the reader that the author believes he could have done it better. I would love to go through this books faults point by point but alas I did not take notes the first time I read it and I cannot stomach to read it again.