Conservative Book Talk

You might be wondering what the point of this post is. I mean there’s nothing wrong with being realistic is there? Well, the answer isn’t as straightforward as you might think. Realism, when used appropriately, can enhance fiction by making seem, well, more real. When most people read they are drawn into the author’s world and their sense of reality is temporally changed. All good fiction should affect this kind of change. Using realistic elements can make stories come alive and cause them to ring more true and genuine. Unfortunately realism can also produce negative results. Detailed descriptions of violent acts, immoral activities, natural human processes, and other such things are usually inappropriate and provide information which is not necessary to furthering a plot. The issue with Harry Potter is whether it crosses the line with its realism.
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Tags: fantasy, Tim Taylor

In my last post I discussed magic and Harry Potter. I’ll finish that up now and start a discussion on the use of violence and language in the Potter books.

Magic is appropriate to use in fiction. Often it is used to represent the supernatural occurrences that really happen in the world. Magic is appropriate to use as long as it doesn’t closely associate itself with real occult practices. In Book Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Harry’s divinity teacher enters a trance and the description sound eerily like an occult type of trance. The fact that her eyes go blank and unfocused and then her voice changes to a different low and rough voice is disturbing. It almost sounds like she was momentarily possessed. This is objectionable and every time I read the passage it gives me a pause. Still, Lord Of The Rings does contain something similar. When Frodo is in Shelob’s lair he takes out Galadriel’s phial and suddenly starts speaking in elvish in a voice that is not his own. The first time I read this passage I also had a pause. The only explanation I can give as to why more people don’t object to Tolkien like they do Rowling is that Tolkien’s references don’t seem like they would happen in the real world like Rowling’s does. I will touch on realism in fiction in the next post.
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Tags: fantasy, Tim Taylor

I am resisting the tremendously strong urge to write an article discussing our nation’s birth and the events of the American Revolution. It is times of the year like this that make a historian almost quiver with delight and expectation. I will say that I spent a good part of Independence Day reading David McCullough’s riveting biography John Adams. I hope to post a review of it and his new book 1776 within the next week or two. I will restrain myself now from further historical discussion and descend into the murky waters of literary theory and criticism. After some thought I have decided to rework my approach to this series and instead of doing individual book reviews I’ve decided to discuss the issues mentioned in my introductory post and how they relate to all of the Harry Potter books. The last post in the series will be a review of the sixth and latest book. I will provide a link here to Sparknotes which has decent plot summaries and information for those less familiar with the story. If you would like to discuss the individual books please bring them up in our site’s forum.
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