It's finally over

My children practically grew up on it and, even if it had no entertainment value in its own right, it was such a phenomenon in the lives of their generation than any parent would have had to show an interest. Now, after seven book and eight films, there's nothing left to look forward to.


Yes, I'm talking about Harry Potter. I don't think there has ever been anything like it in adult or in children's publishing. It has created the delusion that there is a fortune to be made in Children's writing, which is not the case: I know that most children's and young adults' writers are struggling - and that's the tiny minority who manage to get published in the first place.


So, what's the deal with this? Well, certainly, in the end the bandwagon became so unstoppable that critical opinion didn't matter any more. I personally felt that the later books - 5, 6 and, especially, 7 - could have done with some editing. I also felt that, in 5 and 6, Harry often behaved like a petulant brat and that it was harder to root for him than in the earlier books. So, overall, these books were less satisfying. But there is no gainsaying the fact that the first 4 books were excellent. I know that some critics have accused JKR of borrowing all her ideas from other authors but the way she has combined the elemants of the boarding school, fantasy and Roald Dahl-style mischievous morality stories is quite unique to her and she doesn't need to apologise to anyone. As for the trailing off in quality after the fourth, this coincided with the appearance of the film series and one wonders to what extent JKR was simply pushed to rush the last books.


As for the films, they are a mixed bag. Some of the criticisms of the first movie were a bit harsh and, especially after Chris Columbus left the director's chair, they really found their rhythm (Cuaron's rendition of the third book was probably the best, although Newell's adaptation of the fourth was also excellent. By far the weakest was the seventh. When I heard that the first book was going to be broken into two films I knew it wouldn't work - if there was any of the seven books that was amenable to serious trimming this was it. So, the first of the two movies was ponderous, with interminable scenes of the three main protagonists hanging out in a tent in various spectacular landscapes. Thankfully, the series got back on form for the last, climactic movie.

So now it's over? Can anything ever replace it?