Anushka
Ravishankar is an acclaimed author of wonderful children's books. Some of her
works are - Tiger on a Tree, To Market! To Market!, Atleast a Fish and Moin and
the Monster.
We
requested her to share her views on Harry Potter series with our readers and
she gladly agreed. Here is what she has to say on Harry Potter books :
It's
difficult now to imagine the world of children's books without Harry Potter.
What an amazing feat JK Rowling pulled off! In an age of television and video
games, she made a cult of a series of books.
Reams
have been written, and will continue to be written about why the books work. Is
it the combination of magic with the everydayness of school life? Is it the
deep, dark tale of goof and evil, leavened with the emotions of maternal love
and friendship? It could be all of these, but when I read the Potter books
again, I realise that JK Rowling is just a darned good writer. She writes with
humour and precision and with a perfect ear for dialogue.
For me,
though, the magic of Harry Potter began to wane after The Prisoner of Azkeban,
when the books became fat and episodic and slightly self-indulgent. Some of
them could have done with a good editorial slash and burn. The speculation is
that because they'd become such a huge phenomenon by then, the publishers
wanted them fatter.
And yet,
with the last book everything came together so beautifully and satisfyingly
that one was willing to overlook a lot. Except the epilogue, which evoked all
the problems I had with some of the earlier books - that they were deeply
gendered, and reflected many of the biases of the real world without making an
attempt to subvert them. But that's a whole different thesis.
Thanks Anushka :)
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