It’s too easy to criticize Harry Potter books. You try and write a pitch-perfect modernization of the English children’s adventure story. To my mind, Rowling’s take on the genre is a million times more sophisticated than the Enid Blytons and Malcolm Savilles she’s following.
But, having said that, there are points where the strains of creating an ambitious seven book story-arc begin to show. I think the biggest problem is that, because the series is basically about Harry Potter growing up, he’s not allowed to be an adult until right at the end. I think that’s probably a source for a lot of annoyance. There are times where he is less of a character, because his development is deliberately held back.
I also feel that people who don’t like the books don’t understand them because they miss the irony in them. I don’t think I’ve ever seen another series of “children’s books” so dripping with irony – some of it being quite subversive. It’s no accident that one of the most thoroughly evil characters in the series wears pink cardigans and works for the ministry of magic (who are supposed to be the good guys). Just stop and think about that for a moment.
But of course, the principle irony introduced right at the beginning of the series and maintained throughout concerns Harry Potter himself. Right from the start, the wizarding world treats him as some kind of freakish superhero, capable of almost anything. In reality, he’s just a slightly dimmer than average kid, who never knows what’s going on and who’s never once in control of his own destiny. If you’re attributing some of his behavior to “annoying teenage angst”, I think you’re missing great chunks of sub-text. What I saw in those scenes was Harry growing in the realization that he’s been nothing than a puppet on a string.
Harry’s inability to act of his own volition leads up to the first part of Deathly Hallows. With Dumbledore out of the picture, he finally strikes out on his own (something he’s threatened to do several times throughout the series). But of course, it quickly becomes apparent that he really doesn’t have the first idea of what to do. Everything he tries comes to nothing. It’s only when he returns to the path Dumbledore’s laid out for him that things get resolved.
That’s a fairly sophisticated line to be taking in a children’s book. And I imagine quite a lot of Rowling’s target audience related to Harry’s dilemma. Young teenagers also live in world where their lives are completely controlled by adults, not all of whom have the best of intentions. Quite a few of teenagers, I imagine, find themselves trying to live up to adult expectations that are completely over their heads.
Which brings me to the way adults are depicted in the series. I don’t think that was badly done at all. I’d be willing to bet that Rowling’s target audience recognized each and every one of those characters from actual teachers in their own schools. Heck, I haven’t been near a school in twenty years, but I still remember all the McGonagalls, Snapes, and Trelawnys who were around back in my day. I’ve run across way too many Umbridges too. And remember, Rowling actually worked in the school system.
Plot holes? I don’t see a lot. I know some people complain about Rowling pulling wand-lore out of her butt at the end. But it was always the nature of the series that each new book would deal with a fresh bit of wizarding-world lore. It not really Rowling’s fault that all the ridiculous speculation about the last book created an expectation that it would be pieced together from all the existing bits like a jigsaw puzzle.
Finally, although no one’s done it in this thread (because your an intelligent and sophisticated bunch), I have heard Rowling criticized for her grammar and usage in the Harry Potter books. I always found that absurd. Why would an English writer with an English publisher writing for an English audience adopt the American vernacular?
She really does some great stuff and shows flashes of brilliance, but I think the double-knock of being both a children’s book and fantasy throw her out of the competition. I would personally like to see the Lemony Snicket books studied as well, but there’s really no chance of it being done either.