Monday 11 July 2011

PotterMania: Harry Potter and the Kids Publishing Phenomenon

I loved reading as a kid. I'd read anything I could get my hands on (which is why newspapers were briefly banned in the Nerd house after I asked my Mum what 'molestation' was at the age of six). But when it came to kids books I only had Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl, Sweet Valley High and The Worst Witch for company. By 11 I'd moved onto Bronte, Austen and Alcott, at a loss for any more kids adventure books to read.

I didn't discover kids books again until I got Harry Potter books 1-3 for my 15th birthday. A little too old, perhaps, but I loved them. They took me right back to that excited kid who used to run around the playground pretending I was Mildred Hubble on her broomstick. I, like millions of others, was hopelessly hooked.

Suddenly, the publishers who'd never really put much faith in children's books pricked up their bank accounts. Ever since then, the children's section in book shops has been growing like ivy, encroaching on Fiction A-Z and Classics, covered from floor to ceiling in enticing multi-coloured spines and little plastic chairs for the kids who can't wait until they get home to read the first chapter. I don't remember having that when I was little. I remember the children's section of my local library had a very itchy carpet (which didn't put me off settling down there surrounded by heaps of adventures) but I don't remember ever having a place I could go that just screamed "Read in me! I'm fun!"

With Twilight boosting the teen market, young literature has experienced an unprecidented boom in the last few years. A constant stream of new titles are bombarding a previously overlooked audience. Sure, some are rubbish (I'm looking at you, sub-Twilight supernatural romance genre), but some kids books are brilliant.

Frankly, when my choice is between a brutal portrayal of Occupied Iraq or a book with a skeleton detective on the cover (Skulduggery Pleasant is brilliant), then there's rarely any competition. Yes, I'm a grown-up. Yes, I studied English at uni and am still a voracious reader spanning all genres, but sometimes a bit of escapism is needed, and where better to escape to than childhood?

Harry Potter though is in a special league. Chances are most adults haven't read Skullduggery Pleasant or Artemis Fowl, but they have read Harry Potter. Similarly, there's Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, which got a wee bit lost in the Harry Potter hype but is actually the better series, a brilliantly complex exploration of religion, the soul, innocence and growing up, borrowing from writers like Blake and Milton. Like Potter, it has a cross-generational appeal that frankly boggles the mind and no doubt causes pound signs to flash in publisher's eyes. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is another kids books that soon found a wider audience on the adult side of the market thanks to its unflinching and beautifully written exploration of one girl in Germany during World War 2.

A few years ago adults could only read kids books with a flush of nostalgia, with even the rose-tinted glasses not able to shelter them from how unchallenging and childish their favourite childhood book was. Authors like JK Rowling, Philip Pullman and recently Carlos Ruiz Zafon (The Prince of Mists is ace) have upped the standards for kids literature. They don't talk down to them. They introduce complex moral ideas and terrifying monsters, they make their readers feel and think instead of just getting swept along, or rushing to the end so that they can find out what happens and never think of it again.

Harry Potter has kickstarted a publishing boom that will shape new generations of readers, kids who know that reading is fun and not just a chore. They could become the writers of tomorrow, or a more discerning audience demanding top quality literature. They could make the journey from Rowling to Gaiman and Tolkian in search of adventure, from Meyers to Bronte and Shakespeare in search of romance. And that makes this reader very happy.

Saturday 9 July 2011

PotterMania: Best casting

As the final film in the Harry Potter franchise approaches, all of us who gave over huge chunks of our lives to both the books and films are feeling especially nostalgic for lost childhoods (although at 25 I think I misplaced mine quite some time ago). The series is a phenomenon - and a brilliantly realised one at that. The chances of its success and impact being repeated in my lifetime are slim. Plus, I love it.

So, I'm going to write a series of articles in the run up to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, starting with this one: The 10 best actor-and-character marriages in the film franchise, in no particular order:

Robbie Coltrane - Hagrid






Robbie Coltrane was famously one of the only actors that JK Rowling had in mind for the films, and there was never anyone else who could have played the friendly dragon-loving half-giant. He's utterly loveable as Harry's substitute uncle-figure, and although his role has been minimal in the more recent films he's always a solid presence.



Helena Bonham-Carter - Bellatrix Lestrange


Thank goodness Helen McCrory's pregnancy robbed David Yates of his first choice for Bellatrix, because I can't imagine anyone else as the shrieking, wild-haired loon that is Voldemort's right-hand-woman. In Bellatrix, the wonderful Bonham-Carter might just have found her iconic role.



Kenneth Branagh - Gilderoy Lockhart

The first two films tend to be forgotten in favour of the superior subsequent ones, but one thing that deserves to be remembered is Kenneth Branagh's gloriously pompous portrayal of the five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award. I had my heart set on Hugh Grant for the role, but Branagh won me over, and then some.

Brendon Gleeson - Mad-Eye Moody


Brendan Gleeson isn't exactly one of the most famous thesps to be signed up to the Harry Potter franchise, but he was the perfect match for the gruff, paranoid Mad-Eye Moody, working equally well as the evil Barty Crouch Jnr and as the just-as-barking real Mad-Eye. Shame he had to be killed off.



Alan Rickman - Severus Snape
Need I even explain this choice? I can't wait to see Rickman get his teeth into That Scene in Deathly Hallows Part 2. No-one swishes a cloak quite like him.



Jason Isaacs - Lucius Malfoy

This was the role that put Jason Isaacs and his steely blue eyes on the map. He was a revelation in his first appearence in Chamber of Secrets, and has just got better as Lucius becomes increasingly frayed around the edges.



Evanna Lynch - Luna Lovegood
Evanna Lynch managed to be completely eccentric and 14 at the same time. Quite a feat. Her lilting tones and look of mild interest at all times is spot-on Luna. I'm not sure if she's actually doing any acting or just playing herself, but it's perfect casting.



Richard Harris - Dumbledore
Nothing against Michael Gambon's also-pretty-damn-good version of Dumbledore, but Richard Harris was the first and best, giving Dumbledore a benign playfulness wrapped around a steel core. It's a shame we never got to see him as the hard-as-nails sorceror he is revealed as in later films - I suspect that you wouldn't have wanted to mess with Richard Harris' Dumbledore.



Imelda Staunton - Dolores Umbridge


Who would have thought that a cat lover with a fetish for pink and torturing school children could be far scarier than Voldemort? Staunton brings the Potterverse's nastiest and most realistic villain to horrible life and sends chills down your spine with merely a child-like giggle.



Rupert Grint - Ron Weasley
Daniel Radcliffe has improved immeasurably as the series has gone on (and with it become someone I'd happily go for a pint with) and Emma Watson maturing into a confident, beautiful woman has fed nicely into Hermione's character development, but Rupert Grint was always the most talented, and the one who nailed his part just right. From comedy relief to unlikely brooding hero, chances are in a scene with all three lead kids in it, it'll be Grint you're watching.




And finally, special shout-outs to Tom Felton, Julie Walters and Matthew Lewis, who only narrowly missed out. Which I'm sure will keep them up all night worrying.