www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Harry Potter - Any readers here?

Terry,


You're right about all this. I'm sort of an ald fogey.

Her Catholic formation (via CCD) was terribly deficient, and her mother doesn't practice the faith (we are divorced). So, I usually let her pick the topics, and from time to time, I'll interject a Christian perspective, and we'll talk about that. She is now very much better than 2 years ago, when she was very depressed, somewhat suicidal, and self-identified as "atheist". She now self-identifies as "Catholic", and her confidence is improving. All thanks to the grace of Jesus Christ! Thank you.

One such grace arrived via EWTN. It was a Mother Angelica Live "Classic", and I asked my daughter if I should turn the TV off, because she hadn't really liked much of that stuff. She said, "No, I like her." During that program, she had some kind of conversion. She also has developed a real affection for Fr. Groeschel. Maybe she just likes "old" people?

She wants to write fiction for a living, attends a writing workshop at the local junior college, and her teachers have been very impressed with her work. Sometimes we talk about writing, but I've not wanted to say very much, since I suffer from "Dad kooties", and if I suggest something, its as dead as dead gets. And I sure as heck don't want to discourage her.

We have spoken about the RPGs, and originally I was negative, but then I asked one of her good friends, a good evangelical Christian, whether the stuff that bothered me bothered her, and she just shrugged and said: "I don't even think about it". So, I got down off my high-horse and took a deep breath.

Regarding the sexual stuff, in books and online, she has good, solid, principles that she has worked out. We've covered just about all the issues, usually because she wanted to know what I thought about this topic or that. You can imagine. One advantage is that I don't let her connect her PS2 to the internet, and all access to the Web is from the family room, no online in private here.

On the issue of "Dad kooties", though, I'm somewhat serious. I can lead the horse to water, but if it's my water, she won't drink. I've showed her where to find the Bible, the Cathechism, the Compendium, C.S. Lewis, on the bookshelves, but she avoids them like the plague: won't crack a book.

Michael

I'm not reading this thread.

I'm eschewing all HP conversation and news until I can get through it.

Back to The Ghoul in Pajamas...

So why are you posting on it ??

It sounds to me that you are doing a very good job of being a father! Congratulations. I have a nine year old son and it's so hard some times, even at his age. But I love being a father more than anything else in the world. Getting married was the best thing I ever did in my life--until we had our son. That is just phenomenol.

I have a few years to go before I have to worry about RPG's and that thing. But, like you, the PS2 is NOT connected to the internet and the computer is were everyone and anyone can see it. I have the screen pointed towards where my wife and I normally sit, so we can see and hear everything. Only way to do it.

I know this is about Harry Potter, but I heard mention of Tolkein a few times. It's absolutely how much spirituality and actual religion there is in his books, if you realize it. Most people don't. The bad guys are actually fallen angels. Gandalf is a good angel sent to Middle Earth by the head angels to help the people defeat the bad angels. Most people don't understand it. You have to read "The Silmarillian" to get it. But since Tolkein and C.S. Lewis were such good friends, it's not surprising.

People can read anything they want into anything. If they want to see evil and the devil in Harry Potter or other things, they will. Not that it's there, but they sure do want it to be there! One of my favorite quotations is from Shakespeare--Hamlet, Act 2 Scene 2--"There is nothing, either good or bad, but thinking makes it so!"

If you want to see evil, you'll see it, no matter what anyone may say.

Keep up the good work, Dad!

Tim

I am not into this at all, but couldn't help noticing a woman in a comfy chair in the mall today with a VERY large, heavy looking tome opened to the very last section of the book. That could only mean one thing: "Harry Potter?" I ask. She nodded. I said, "Where did you get it?" "I just picked it up over here at Borders," she says. "Oh, was there a line?" "No," she says. At a local Barnes and Noble, there was a "Harry Potter Midnight Party" that was expected to last well after midnight....
I haven't read Tolkien, but yes, he was known as a very religious person and Catholic at that.
I did say to the reader that the book looked REALLY heavy and she said yes, it was, kind of. I just marvel at people running around all over the WORLD to get this thing. I find it ... sort of odd.
No, I've not seen any of the films, either.
CS

"People can read anything they want into anything. If they want to see evil and the devil in Harry Potter or other things, they will."

Reading is a skill, and a reader can mature and deepen his perception with aimed practice. The fact that some people read poorly, even if most read poorly, and are absolutely confident in their claims does not change the meaning that is there, or the author's intent, or the historical context of its authorship. There is no reason to throw up our hands and "let bygones be bygones." People can learn to read carefully and, by that, begin a life-time apprenticeship of the wordsmiths, thinkers, and the great teachers from past ages and our age as well. I think more teachers and parents need to encourage such a passion.

Tolkien was Catholic and his epic-novel, The Lord of the Rings, is steeped in the Catholic worldview. This becomes obvious in how Tolkien treats evil, but it also appears in the way he depicts suffering and the struggle of life. His work is not an allegory, though some read it as such. But Tolkien, the author, had a very deep understanding of the nature of man, the nature of sin, and of natural law. That understanding enriched his painting of Middle Earth, though much of his writing is also influenced from Norse Sagas and other rich sources from the Western canon. The work was painted with his brush, with his voice, and from his experiences. No one can duplicate it.

An author who has a shallow way of seeing the world will have a fundamentally shallow novel, no matter how deeply the author studies archetype or the technical aspects to writing. A great author does not have to be Christian, but this author must have a penetrating perception of human nature. Which, I believe, finds its fulfillment in Christ.

Sorry, I don't write poetry. If you are referring to the quote in my earlier post about the devil getting you, you will have to give credit to the blues legend Bessie Smith. It's from one of her more famous songs. However, I did visualize some of the more superstitious anti-Potter folks hanging garlic from their windows to protect themselves from the book.

I couldn't resist. But now I'm finished with it so all is well.

You don't really expect to go until September without hearing what happens do you? The media will warn for spoilers for a week or so, but after that it will be fair game.

You'll be watching some sewing show when a commercial for the evening news comes on saying, "Such and such group is protesting the final Harry Potter book, upset that it promotes such and such. Find out more tonight at ten."

You'll have to be a hermit for the next month to make it that long without hearing spoilers!

I just so this, having spent Sunday celebrating my Mother's birthday.

Thanks for the kind words (and right back at ya ). Believe me, though, I've made plenty of mistakes. Trying to undo past negligence is much harder than being diligent from the get-go!

BTW, if you haven't had the joy of reading Tolkien's correspondence, you are denying yourself a real treat. They have been published (some of them anyway) and some more serious libraries have copies. Some of his letters were actually sent, and some were written but never sent.

In any case, in some of the letters he did actually send, usually to his children, he has reflections on his faith, some of which sound rather mystical. Another that was interesting in regard to "liturgy" he wrote in the mid-60s, commenting that there seemed to be a trend in the Church to strip away everything that was not "pristine" in an effort to get back to the liturgy of the first decades. His comment was something like: "I fear that much that is good will thereby be lost." Being one who called himself an "antiquarian", that is a very telling remark!

Best,
Michael

As is obvious from my post, I don't write poetry either.

I love the blues when I hear it, but am not a connoisseur of those who "do it", and I rarely pay attention to the lyrics, so thanks for identifying Bessie Smith.

I'll see what I can do about it - I'm not promising - but I'll try.

It's not likely to be mentioned on the type of TV I watch [ or am made to watch :P ] so I should be OK.

I'll be buying the book soonish - but I won't read it

OK guys, for awhile the Harry Potter book will have to be the plot-that-can't-be-named, or you-know-what.

This is where I'm at with Harry Potter -- and I like the way you phrase this -- "no grasp of natural law." But its not the only fundamental difference between Rowling and Tolkein. Rowling really isn't much of a writer. I see the appeal of the Potter books to teens -- they have a style akin to cheap romance novels. At least the "Rings" books feel like literature when you read them.

John

I think part of Rowling's appeal is that she has been able to create characters that teens identify with. Great literature it isn't, but she does spin a good yarn.

I think the last book was written better than the fifth. The first wasn't all that grand. The very last chapter in the last book reminded me of the writing from the first. She said she's had that chapter written from the start, and I could tell it. The style was so different! Her own style has changed throughout the series.