Fans review new Harry Potter book: Nostalgic treat that leaves you wanting
Harry Potter and The Cursed Child released to much fanfare this weekend.
The eighth and what is going to be the final book in the Harry Potter saga dropped over the weekend. It's not written by JK Rowling, it's the script for a play.
Why is it being treated as an eight Potter book then?
Who knows.
The book is essentially fan fiction made with Rowling's blessing. It's like you wanted to write a Potter book and went to Rowling to publicise it as the eighth book. Why would she do it? (Can you hear the cash register revving up once more?)
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| JK Rowling's part in putting the "Eighth story" out is pretty murky. |
But it can still be good, right?
Playing on nostalgia to a generation of kids is okay as long as you don't f*** with one of their most important childhood memories.
The reviews have been mixed, which is a good thing as it puts the shadiness behind its conception into focus and says that it's also a fairly okay play.
"Do you want to hear Cursed Child spoilers?" pic.twitter.com/nFrV9i3FDn
— HarryPotterReactions (@PotterReacts) August 1, 2016
The first review to drop was of 10-year-old speed-reader Toby L'Estrange. Toby finished the book in 59 minutes and gave it 6 out of 10.
"Phew. Just finished speed reading the new Harry Potter book. My score on a scale of 1-10? I think it's a 6... This one's a bit different from all the others... It's a really good story. It's a very complicated story. It happens in different times, so it's really helpful if you know all the other books and characters quite well."
This is what most are going with: Familiar characters, a hit of nostalgia, some fun walkabouts.
The Atlantic speaks favourably about the book but ends on a disappointing note, "Reading Cursed Child, for all its compelling twists and turns, at many points feels like reading well-crafted fan fiction-the names are the same, and the characters feel familiar, but it's apparent that they're imitations nonetheless... for readers, in agreeing to revisit characters whose stories have already been deftly wrapped up, Rowling risks undermining the powerful legacy she gave them in the first place."
Vox speaks of the impossible task in front of the book, that it has to carry on that legacy which, incidently, is one of the major plot points in the play.
"So Cursed Child is not only tasked with living up to the nostalgic memories and fondest wizarding dreams of a generation who grew up immersed in all things Harry, it also has to do so outside of its native medium, without the benefits of actors and sets and what is by all accounts some truly remarkable stagecraft. Thank goodness, then, that Cursed Child is such a treat, even in script form. Warm, witty, and wildly inventive, it might not quite live up to everything its readers are asking of it, but it comes closer than any of us have any right to expect."
Pretty much every child born into this shithole world right now is a Cursed Child.
— Rohan (@mojorojo) August 1, 2016
So is the book any good?
Kinda yes.
The question though, is that should one dabble with it even if you're okay with the way characters were tied up at the end of Deathly Hallows, or do you want to open up The Cursed Child and play the expectation game with the most delicate part of your formative years?