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Harry Potter's Bookshelf: The Great Books Behind The Hogwarts Adventures (2009)

by John Granger(Favorite Author)

4.26 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0425229793 (ISBN13: 9780425229798)

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

Berkley Trade

review 1: I enjoyed reading about different types of literature that made up the Harry Potter series; I don't read or learn much about this subject, so that was interesting. Sometimes, though, the discussion would go over my head, especially when the author talked in philosophical terms. I don't know why a person who hasn't read the Harry Potter series would read this book, as it makes references throughout to the books, but if you hadn't read the HP series, the experience would be ruined with all the spoilers in Harry Potter's Bookshelf. So, in general, if you are at least semi-interested in different literary genres and have read the series, I recommend this book.
review 2: I ws genuinely enjoying the book with parallels being drawn between HP and other great works of ... moreEnglish literature. The story streams, settings and flows of narrative were shrewdly picked up and apart to show how they linked with broader literature genres and I got a few ideas of what to read next. However, in the last two or three chapters the author gets carried away and embarks on Christian symbolism and alchemy galore which quite frankly sounded too much and too far-fetched, most of it. I guess in a rich universe like the one Rowling invented, with its own rules, mythology characters and artifacts, you interpret their metaphysical meanings as freely as you like. Didn't give one star because I learned quite a few things about English literature which were priceless. less

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