Customer Reviews

Re-Reading Harry Potter

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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I did enjoy parts of this book very much. I'm afraid, though, that it was often for the wrong reasons. At times I suspected that it was an elaborate and extended send-up of academic squabbling over literature. I'm still not quite sure, but I *think* it is serious.

The first chapter 'Book Covers' ("I begin as most readers must, with book covers") contains the delightful story of Wolfgang Iser and Stanley Fish. Mr Iser proposes an "implied reader" who has a dialectical relationship with the text and who, we are warned, "is not to be identified with any real reader." This concept gives rise to "a series of disagreements." Mr Fish thinks that Mr Iser is "missing the point" and introduces the concept of "interpretive strategies" which make it "questionable whether a particular text can be said to have any discrete and determinative existence at all." Gupta, in a tongue twisting turn of phrase, comments that, "A waspish exchange followed between Iser and Fish." Some unkind people may consider that both Iser and Fish, and possibly also Gupta, have missed the point.

The chapter entitled 'Religious Perspectives' comes to the remarkable conclusion that Christian belief (as he understands it from a study of Richard Abanes book) is just as fanciful as anything in Harry Potter's world, and that both are equally far removed from the real world of the social and political. This gives us an insight into Mr Gupta's world view but, sadly, none into his subject. Perhaps this is because he fails to refer directly to the text under discussion at all in this chapter, but devotes it to a complaint that he feels excluded from the religious debate because he is not religious.

The one chapter that stands head and shoulders above the rest is the one entitled 'Repetition and Progression'. This chapter is based around the insight that the books in the Harry Potter series achieve a rare balance of repeating themes and increasing complexity. It notes how the initial themes are introduced, then elaborated, developed and deepened at each repetition. This is an intriguing chapter and does not seem to fit comfortably with the rest of the book. It is also very brief -only four pages. I would have found it interesting to see this explored in more depth.

For a very much more perceptive and thorough, although less self-consciously academic, analysis of both the literary and religious perspectives I would highly recommend John Granger's book The Hidden Key to Harry Potter.

The other reviewer is spot on, this is a dreary trudge through every fashionable tourist-spot of contemporary criticism. It barely engages with the actual books, pausing at the actual experience of reading only long enough to spot the landmark heresies: sexism (check), racism (check), imperialism (check)... flip through the index and compare the references to characters in the books, vs. the references to vogue theorists, and you'll get the idea. As expected, there is considerably more space made for academic squabbles than for any recognizable experience, human or literary. The inquisitor wraps up this excericize in scholasticism with the shocking announcement that Rowling has been discovered to be (gasp!) a bourgouise liberal. Light the pyres!

A witch-hunt indeed. Yuck.

Even if I agreed with Gupta's arguments, I would still have to admit this is a dry, dull, pompous tome that will bore the pants off anyone. As it is, his arguments are ridiculous. They are vague, airy, tenuous attempts to link Harry to some sort of notion of contemporary culture but its never definate. It is amazing how much time he spends pontificating instead of analyzing. If you can see through all the smoke and mirrors, he has stumbled upon a few good categories for looking at the series (like "Blood"), but his analyses are very superficial and condescending. Worst of all, as others have noted, his reading of the books is completely inadequate. He's barely read them, beyond being able to recite the basic plot, and sometimes wrongly. He has merely attached a few of his own ideas vaguely to the Harry Potter series, with absolutely no sensitivity or real engagement. Gupta is yet another (male) critic who has been able to get a lazy book on Harry Potter published. This is a complete waste of time and money: keep reading Harry on your own and wait for some good studies to come out. (The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter is pretty good).

In this book the author is trying to make a statement about the Harry Potter books and telling her negative view of the book to other people. She taking her own interpretation of the book and presenting it as fact. I give her all my respects, but try reading the books through a child's eyes, with an open mind. I quite enjoyed these books for there magical and whimsical qualities. And I think that no child should be denied the opportunity to read these books, just because their parents read this particular book and already formed a negative view in their head based on the author's interpretation of the book.

I'm currently working on a thesis that focuses around a theoretical understanding of the Harry Potter books/phenomena. At the same time, I am also a huge fan. This sometimes creates a conflict as one part of me fervently rebels against any negative aspects that my analysis points to. It seems to me that the negative reviews of this book have perhaps the same problem. They're so clearly biased in favor of preserving the reputation of the books that they go after Gupta's criticism a little blindly. Yes, it is true that the auther extensively outlines his (For the life of me, I can't discover the author's sex. If I'm wrong here, I hope she forgives me) text-to-world approach, and also dedicates a great deal of space arguing one side or another of current theoretical debates. However, this is just how most theoretical texts are written these days (and justifiably so); if you don't want to get involved with the issues, don't read the books.

The truth is that this book is a very serious attempt to discuss Harry Potter, and it offers an intelligent analysis grounded firmly in the academic world. Likewise, Gupta does not generally repeat arguments of other critics, as one review suggested, but offers quite a creative perspective. Also, as another review correctly pointed out, the Repetition and Progression chapter is simply fabulous. I can think of no other observation that has brought such clarity to my understanding of how the books work.

It's hard to read criticism of our favorite books, and maybe we shouldn't. However, should we choose to, we must resist the urge to constantly defend them. Instead, we should learn why they are our favorite books, what makes them work, and in doing so hopefully will only appreciate them more. It's the only way I know to do them justice, and for Gupta's help with me in this pursuit I award him five yellow stars.