Witches, friendly dragons and evil adults...
Introduction: Is it only J K Rowling who can catch the fancy of young ones or are there other equally worthy competitors? Puja Goyal explores
Source: Vijay Times, Life- Centrestage -pg 3.)
Copyright © 2005 Puja Goyal
Watever you are going to read right now is going to be extremely unpleasant and may change your perceptions on reading… you can continue at your own risk…
The world of books written for children are now filled with witches (Harry Potter), friendly dragons (Eragon and Eldest), and evil plotting adults (Lemony Snicket and A Series of Unfortunate Events.)
Recent reviews in foreign newspapers have compared the Harry Potter series to Lord Of The Rings… a whole load of Hogwarts… err…Hogwash, some have lamented at the comparison. Some critics have gone as far as saying that Harry Potter (HP) promotes Satanism. Pope Benedict believes that the Harry Potter books “distorts Christianity in the soul” before it can develop properly.
Let's start from the beginning… There was once J.K.Rowling who had written a book about a small boy witch called Harry, peer witches and witchcraft; but everyone rejected it. The book finally reached publisher Barry Cunningham, a man who feels and knows what children will like and would react to. That said, it brings us to the conclusion that our children carry a very dangerous and dark imagination inside their heads…
The sixth book on the HP Series, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” was released worldwide on July 16, and we got a chance to witness the unimaginable frenzy that the book has created. Madhubala from Crossword says, "HP Series is not media hype. The book is what people want to read, why would you journalists write so much about it otherwise??" (Is this really what we want or are we made to want?)
All said and done, one must admire J.K. Rowling not only for the invention of a brand called Harry Potter but also effective PR, and her tryst with superstardom. The HP movie directed by Chris Columbus (Home Alone fame) featured an entire cast of British actors, alongside branded t-shirts, accessories, and other witch goodies. The children wore black drabs and pointed caps with wands in their hands, and looked like prospective Harry Potter's, Hermoine and Ron.
What if they went to Bihar and did the same?? Well, quite simply they would be beaten black and blue, plastered with bruises, inflicted by stones and packed off to local witch doctors.
But do children read only about witches? No! We still have friendly dragons and evil plotting adults to go…
Eragon, the first novel in the Inheritance Trilogy by Christopher Paolini, a nineteen-year-old teenage boy, has been giving stiff competition to HP's witches. Bangalore has witnessed a parallel number of sales between the two giants even though the publicity for Eragon was negligent.
Eragon is a story about a farm boy who finds a dazzling sapphire-blue stone, which, as it is revealed later, is in fact an egg that hatches a blue-scaled dragon. The dragon, Saphira, establishes an unbreakable bond with the young man; and will have to choose whether to resist the evil king/dragon-rider Galbatorix or surrender and join him. With his home destroyed and his uncle murdered by the Ra’zac (evil dragon hunters employed by Galbatorix) Eragon sets out on a journey with his mentor, Brom, to learn the dragon riding craft and enact his revenge on the Ra’zac. Paolini has borrowed so much from his inspiration Tolkien, that it is easy to spot the similarities in names (“Mithrim,” “Farthen-Dur,” “Beor Mountains,” and “Urgals”).
All said and done, a dragon is a man's best friend and the book is a treat for every child who wants to read it. Credit must be given to Paolini for excellent plotting and dialogues… and most of all for withstanding his stiff competitor, J.K Rowling.
Speaking of fiction, the issue that needs to be seriously addressed is the evil that dwells in adults. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, has sold more than 15 million copies worldwide since 1999, and is still on every bookstores bestsellers list. It is the story of three Baudelaire orphans, Violet, Klaus and Sunny, who are looking for a new home and are taken in by a series of odd relatives including the cunning and dastardly Count Olaf. The book allows children to carefully inspect the psychology of evil adults who could be after their inheritance. Violet, the oldest of the Baudelaires is their brave and fast-thinking leader; Klaus, the only boy in the middle is intensely intelligent and obsessed with words and the youngest is infant Sunny who speaks in a language only her siblings can understand; she also has a tendency to bite things.
The book and the movie that follows it, goes on and on about how unfortunate the events are and how evil humans can get, but shows that with great courage and teamwork there is still hope of a happily ever after…
What is common between the discussed books is that they have all either been or will be released in movie format. The bottom line is that effective writing coupled with good promotions can achieve anything. What one needs to do is write a book and sell it first to a Hollywood producer; make a movie and release the book alongside, have a couple of competitions, loads of parties, distribute goodies and have a good controversy to bank on.
Do children want to read them?? Sure! They would want to read anything that is in, after all no one wants to be left out of a commercial success. But let's wait for another ten, maybe twenty years before we label any one of them as another Lord of the Rings.
Source: Vijay Times, Life- Centrestage -pg 3.)
Copyright © 2005 Puja Goyal
Watever you are going to read right now is going to be extremely unpleasant and may change your perceptions on reading… you can continue at your own risk…The world of books written for children are now filled with witches (Harry Potter), friendly dragons (Eragon and Eldest), and evil plotting adults (Lemony Snicket and A Series of Unfortunate Events.)
Recent reviews in foreign newspapers have compared the Harry Potter series to Lord Of The Rings… a whole load of Hogwarts… err…Hogwash, some have lamented at the comparison. Some critics have gone as far as saying that Harry Potter (HP) promotes Satanism. Pope Benedict believes that the Harry Potter books “distorts Christianity in the soul” before it can develop properly.
Let's start from the beginning… There was once J.K.Rowling who had written a book about a small boy witch called Harry, peer witches and witchcraft; but everyone rejected it. The book finally reached publisher Barry Cunningham, a man who feels and knows what children will like and would react to. That said, it brings us to the conclusion that our children carry a very dangerous and dark imagination inside their heads…
The sixth book on the HP Series, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” was released worldwide on July 16, and we got a chance to witness the unimaginable frenzy that the book has created. Madhubala from Crossword says, "HP Series is not media hype. The book is what people want to read, why would you journalists write so much about it otherwise??" (Is this really what we want or are we made to want?)
All said and done, one must admire J.K. Rowling not only for the invention of a brand called Harry Potter but also effective PR, and her tryst with superstardom. The HP movie directed by Chris Columbus (Home Alone fame) featured an entire cast of British actors, alongside branded t-shirts, accessories, and other witch goodies. The children wore black drabs and pointed caps with wands in their hands, and looked like prospective Harry Potter's, Hermoine and Ron.
What if they went to Bihar and did the same?? Well, quite simply they would be beaten black and blue, plastered with bruises, inflicted by stones and packed off to local witch doctors.
But do children read only about witches? No! We still have friendly dragons and evil plotting adults to go…
Eragon, the first novel in the Inheritance Trilogy by Christopher Paolini, a nineteen-year-old teenage boy, has been giving stiff competition to HP's witches. Bangalore has witnessed a parallel number of sales between the two giants even though the publicity for Eragon was negligent.
Eragon is a story about a farm boy who finds a dazzling sapphire-blue stone, which, as it is revealed later, is in fact an egg that hatches a blue-scaled dragon. The dragon, Saphira, establishes an unbreakable bond with the young man; and will have to choose whether to resist the evil king/dragon-rider Galbatorix or surrender and join him. With his home destroyed and his uncle murdered by the Ra’zac (evil dragon hunters employed by Galbatorix) Eragon sets out on a journey with his mentor, Brom, to learn the dragon riding craft and enact his revenge on the Ra’zac. Paolini has borrowed so much from his inspiration Tolkien, that it is easy to spot the similarities in names (“Mithrim,” “Farthen-Dur,” “Beor Mountains,” and “Urgals”).
All said and done, a dragon is a man's best friend and the book is a treat for every child who wants to read it. Credit must be given to Paolini for excellent plotting and dialogues… and most of all for withstanding his stiff competitor, J.K Rowling.
Speaking of fiction, the issue that needs to be seriously addressed is the evil that dwells in adults. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, has sold more than 15 million copies worldwide since 1999, and is still on every bookstores bestsellers list. It is the story of three Baudelaire orphans, Violet, Klaus and Sunny, who are looking for a new home and are taken in by a series of odd relatives including the cunning and dastardly Count Olaf. The book allows children to carefully inspect the psychology of evil adults who could be after their inheritance. Violet, the oldest of the Baudelaires is their brave and fast-thinking leader; Klaus, the only boy in the middle is intensely intelligent and obsessed with words and the youngest is infant Sunny who speaks in a language only her siblings can understand; she also has a tendency to bite things.
The book and the movie that follows it, goes on and on about how unfortunate the events are and how evil humans can get, but shows that with great courage and teamwork there is still hope of a happily ever after…What is common between the discussed books is that they have all either been or will be released in movie format. The bottom line is that effective writing coupled with good promotions can achieve anything. What one needs to do is write a book and sell it first to a Hollywood producer; make a movie and release the book alongside, have a couple of competitions, loads of parties, distribute goodies and have a good controversy to bank on.
Do children want to read them?? Sure! They would want to read anything that is in, after all no one wants to be left out of a commercial success. But let's wait for another ten, maybe twenty years before we label any one of them as another Lord of the Rings.
Comments