Harry Potter

I'm upset today (coaching will do that to you I suppose) so I'm going to write (writing makes me feel better . . . sometimes).

Why I Like Harry Potter:

- Above all, I like Sister Rowling's contrast of good and evil, light and dark, magic and the dark arts. Her writing may not be spectacular, but she sure does understand people.

- Along those lines however, I like how she is regularly pointing out that people aren't so easy to differentiate. The world is not split into evil and good, but rather to all shades, from brilliant white, to a hundred shades of gray, to dark black.

- I like how Harry grows up throughout the series. Those first books are so carefree and the last ones are so introspective. Maybe I'm just starting to grow up myself or something, but right now I have a lot of the same feelings that Harry has in books five through seven.

- I like how throughout the series the author points out how quickly things can change. Ten minutes ago order, now chaos. Yesterday alive, today dead. And yet, somehow, life just keeps going.

- I like Dumbledore. As mentioned, he is my favorite character of all time.

- I also like Snape . . . and Luna . . . and Lupin . . . and Tonks.

- I like J.K.'s treatment of the subject of death. Throughout the series there is the contrast. Regularly we read that "there are things worse than death." However, Harry is regularly confronted with how painful it is to lose family and friends. Not only that, but the dead, although existant after life, can never come back. As much as Harry wants it to be the case, they can't come back. Sure we can feel, talk, and occasionally see them, but it's not the same. How true.

- I like her treatment of teenage infatuation. I teach at a high school and I'll tell you this, she understands teenagers a lot better than teenagers understand teenagers.

- And my favorite quote "It is our choices that define who we are Harry, not our talents" (or something like that).

That's all.