Is The Last Game Of Quiditch Over For Harry Potter?
Washington Post Book
All is not well in the murky world of Harry Potter. Just as the fate of the Horux is released on the world of Muggles, the pages of the nation’s newspapers are as much alive with news about Harry as the Daily Prophet and like the plot of the book, dark and sinister forces are at work.
With the advent of Potter 7, it seems that the once friendly press and media are now turning on the creator of the worlds most popular book series ever. All seemed well in Potter world until cracks appeared in the leaky cauldron and the latest installment of Potter movies opened in theatres to a mixed reception from critics. One Channel 4 (a TV network in the UK) said recently that “The Order Of The Phoenix is formulaic and lacking in depth, and does not make the most of the intensity in the fifth instalment of JK Rowling’s epic story.”
Paul Ardent of the BBC said “Order of the Phoenix is entertaining enough, but it feels like a stopgap, a stepping stone to later, greater thrills.This new maturity makes for a spooky atmosphere, but the glum visuals can’t hide the fact that not much actually happens.”
Strong words from a once loyal press pack that could see no wrong in the Potter franchise. Statements such as this would have once been cursed and the writers hounded by Potter fans intent on spilling blood and turning the writers in to pillars of salt. Now criticism of the cult of Potter is commonplace. There is moaning on the internet as if an army of Dementors has mysteriously taken control of keyboards around the world.
JK Rowling was once heralded as halting the decline of reading amongst teens and now even that hallowed bastion of respectability is under attack.
Motoko Rich writing in the New York Times reported recently that, “some researchers and educators say that the series, in the end, has not permanently tempted children to put down their Game Boys and curl up with a book instead.
Some kids have found themselves daunted by the growing size of the books (”Sorcerer’s Stone” was 309 pages; “Deathly Hallows,” will be 784). Others say that Harry Potter does not have as much resonance as titles that more realistically reflect their daily lives. “
Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, who has reviewed statistics from federal and private sources that consistently show that children read less as they age said “The Harry Potter craze was a very positive thing for kids. It got millions of kids to read a long and reasonably complex series of books. The trouble is that one Harry Potter novel every few years is not enough to reverse the decline in reading.’
More shocking than this was the frank confession of renowned and very respected journalist and critic Ron Charles writing in Sunday’s Washington Post, he said. ‘It happened on a dark night, somewhere in the middle of Book IV. For three years, I had dutifully read the “Harry Potter” series to my daughter, my voice growing raspy with the effort, page after page. But lately, whole paragraphs of “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” had started to slip by without my hearing a word. I’d snap back to attention and realize the action had moved from Harry’s room to Hagrid’s house, and I had no idea what was happening. And that’s when my daughter broke the spell: “Do we have to keep reading this?” O, the shame of it: a 10-year-old girl and a book critic who had had enough of “Harry Potter.” We were both a little sad, but also a little relieved. Although we’d had some good times at Hogwarts, deep down we weren’t wild about Harry, and the freedom of finally confessing this secret to each other made us feel like co-conspirators.Along with changing diapers and supervising geometry homework, reading “Harry Potter” was one of those chores of parenthood that I was happy to do — and then happy to stop.’
So has Harry lost his charm? Millions of children would disagree. For them they had stories that were accessible, enjoyable and more importantly readable. The books touched all age groups and even adults could join in the fun. But the question has to be asked - what will keep our children reading over the next few years?
Many publishers believe they have the answer and in the months to come we will see some of the hardest marketing for many years. Space in bookshops will be bought for top dollar with children’s titles being pushed in faces like unwanted ice cream. Librarians will be scanning every new release to see if it has the right formula of good versus evil - mild mannered characters and as little violence as possible.
It is expected amongst book dealers that what will win out will come from a very unexpected source. British book dealer Andrew Salmon said, “what the children will be looking for is something totally different to Harry Potter. One title fresh off the press is Erik and the Tizzle Twins. It provides a gothic tale with manga illustrations throughout and will certainly get children reading.”
News about this title is very sketchy. Written by Shadowmancer man GP Taylor, it was originally released in the UK before Christmas with a limited run of 500 hardbacks. It is rumored that the rights have been sold to an American publisher for a seven figure deal and that seven figure film rights are already in the bag for Taylor.
The book combines pages of text with pages of cartoon type illustrations and has been designed to keep children and teens turning the pages. Taylor refuses to be interviewed about the project but snippets from the UK press indicate that he tried out the package at a local school where the children received the book with rapturous applause. Erik and the Tizzle Twins is also rumored to be an interactive book with as much internet participation as reading from the pages. A read along podcast has Taylor telling the story as the children follow on. Insiders have said that Taylor is obsessed with getting children in the UK to read books.
GP TAYLOR, bestselling author of Shadowmancer and Tersias. Has another new book, Mariah Mundi The Midas Box is tipped as “the next Harry Potter”.
Taylor said recently. ‘I Think Harry Potter has been very, very good for everybody concerned. My passion is to go into schools and encourage children to read and write stories. I want to build on what JK Rowling has done. She has created that desire to read and it’s a great achievement.
It has also produced a lot of children writing stories and even books. I got one in the post the other day, a whole book written by a ten-year-old boy. It did read like Harry Potter, but how brilliant is it that a ten-year-old decided to sit down and write 100,000 words?
When I first started I was very critical of the books. That was wrong of me, I spoke out against them without having read them. Then I read then and enjoyed them, so I’m a convert. I used to be a vicar and I can’t find anything in them which is anti-Christian. Having had people in America wanting to burn my books, I have some idea what Rowling is going through. There is going to be a big void when the series finishes and everybody is speculating about who is going to take over.
Recently, the entertainment website buddyhollywood described Mariah Mundi as the next Harry Potter. I’ve had movie moguls phoning me in the middle of the night badgering me about the film rights. It’s nice when people are offering you money, but it has a downside. It changes your life, puts a lot of pressure on your life. I’m completely anonymous, I don’t want security guards.
I didn’t write Mariah Mundi to be the next Harry Potter and it’s not fantasy, it’s more like a whodunit, a dour young boy who gets sent from London to work in a grand Victorian hotel in the North of England. But no matter how much money publishers spend, it’s readers who will decide who the next Harry Potter is. When they start saying things about your book, that’s when to worry.
There are hundreds of people on blogs already talking about Mariah Mundi and it doesn’t come out until September. I’m getting worried.
Fans aren’t getting worried. Weeks before the UK release of the book the momentum is starting with people across the world talking about this new book. Which of Taylor’s latest titles will take the accolade of surpassing potter. Only time will tell.
http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/film.jsp?id=160103&page=3
http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2007/07/09/harry_potter_and_the_order_of_the_phoenix_2007_review.shtml
Tags: deathly hallows, harry potter, Mariah Mundi; Midas Box