Wizard weekend

Yes, despite the vocal criticism from from Harold Bloom, A.S. Byatt and, now, the Pope, I will be one of the hoardes eagerly devouring the new Harry Potter book this weekend. The Pope and I obviously don't see eye-to-eye on a whole lot. A.S. Byatt is unnecessarily bitter on this count -- God forbid the masses read a populist novel with a straightforward narrative while her labyrinthine novels muster on the shelf (erudite novels I count among my favorites). Harold Bloom, shut up; your book on the Torah showed a dearth of knowledge about Judaism and didn't have a drop of original thinking to it, why should I care what you think about a children's book? And the argument that the masses love these books so therefore they must not have artistic merit is complete bunk -- are these same critics going to say Sgt. Pepper's is rubbish because it's sold millions upon millions of copies?

Sure, J.K. Rowling misuses the world "enervate" and her style and plots are a tad formulaic. Formula isn't necessarily a bad thing though, in fact, a formula can create a downright magical potion. The Harry Potter books are such an enjoyable success because she successfully draws on archetypes while repositioning them in a modern, quirky context. Some of her charmingly wacky characters, or even the baddies like the Malfoy clan, are so delicious I think you'd have to be a big grump with a nasty chip on your shoulder not to take delight in them. Yes, children's authors like Philip Pullman or Diana Wynn Jones are better writers but, thankfully, life is long enough to read all sorts of books. Me, I'm spending my weekend at Hogwarts.