К нам приехал, к нам приехал... Гарри Поттер уже в России

I am a fan of children literature, know a lot about children books illustrators and even draw comics for my 8-year old son. Reading about Harry Potter phenomenon - millions copies are sold, Spielberg wants to direct, etc - I was preparing myself for something really exceptional. I open the book with an anticipating smile and...

Mrs.Rowling is a good mother. She had to provide for her child by every means. And she succeded brilliantly - the transformation of a struggling single mom from Edinburgh into the third best paid woman in Britain is very spectacular.

The problem is the product she sells is not very nourishing. It"s a fast food in disguise.

Mrs. Rowling took the most appealing to the common public ingredients to make the chewable version of the Great Late Children Literature.

1) The Cinderella story - Someone who is treated unfairly is finally made aware if his\her powers and gets the ticket to the new wonderful life. That"s the very appealing notion - a lot of us think we get much less than we deserve.

2) There is a different, much more exciting world above, below or parallel to ours. Yes, life seems dull sometimes, no pain-no gain principle is buggering and we all ready for a quick dramatic crossover.

3)The author invites you to the club. You"ll get a lot of "in" things to enjoy and recognize the other initiated by. You are a part of the brotherhood now. The rest are Muggles.

There are more components but these 3 are the most important.

You can argue that these are the chief ingredients of vast majority of children literature. That"s right. Now imagine a master chef cooking the delightful meal with the expertly selected products. And an overworked housewife having a try at that fancy recipe from a glossy exotic cuisine cookbook. You"ll get the picture.

J.K.Rowling"s prose is utterly amateurish. Characterisation is very inferior. Harry"s evil adoptive father is fat and has no neck. Harry"s abusive step-brother is fat and has no neck. There are no changes, no nuances in baddies and gooddies behavior - everything is in the same vein. Children love integrity in character but Mrs. Rowling"s creations are so one-dimensional! I do not think that well-invented and memorable people are for adult books only and kids have to contend with cardboard cutouts.

Many readers think that Mrs.Rowling is blessed with the incredibly powerful imagination - a lot of "magical things" is happening. But mostly these tricks are emloyed when the author suspects that the readers attention span is nearing the end. Then a chair begins to dance, the pack of earwax-tasting candy (how funny!)is produced and Quidditch game is scheduled.

The prose is very repetitive. As a good housekeeper Mrs.Rowling does not want to use things only once - the situations repeat themselves ad nauseam, many objects and happenings are recycled.

Trolls, dragons, centaurs, wizards - everything is borrowed. There is a lot more blood and death - that"s J.K.Rowlings respectful nod in the direction of our childrens obsession with the gory computer games.

I do not want my son to think that Harry Potter is the only face of today"s children literature. Despite all the hype these books will find the place they deserve in the hierarchy.

Everyone likes Coke and BigMac but not because these are the culinary masterpieces.