I’d Like To Ban Harry Potter: A Response

Dear Shinie Antony,

Hi! How are you? I read your interview in Times of India today. Being an avid reader myself, I had no idea about your existence till I read your interview.  So, I had to search you on Goodreads. I found that you have written quite a few books yourself..and a total of THIRTEEN  people had rated your most rated book! And most of your books have been rated from the range of 2 to 3.5 stars…wow! Congratulations!!

I am writing to you, because I read your this article:

Now there are a million books out there, and a million more readers. So, I understand that not everybody will be aware of each and every ‘author’ there is. But, do you know, unless the person is living under a rock, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, on some island that has not yet been charted on the maps as of today, since last decade….he/she WILL know of Harry Potter…Gives you a perspective doesn’t it?

There is a chance that you might not have a taste for fiction…every person has a different taste. But, if you wish to ban a book, and you are giving reasons for banning the book, at LEAST give reasons that are logical, and that are real, and not put out ‘facts’ based on what you think is in the book. READ before bashing.

Reading your interview, It was very clear, that you have NEVER READ the Harry Potter Series. Which is OK….but this is like you are giving an opinion on the taste of a dish that you have never tasted in your life.

You know why it was very clear, that you have not bothered to read through the series?

Here’s why:

Resembles too many tales…

Orphan hero.

Yea, because any story that has an orphan hero is copied. Duh..by the way..there are many stories with heros with parents, and heros with a single parent…so if I were to write a story…should I write a story where hero drops from the sky, or is born from aliens… so that it does not ‘resemble’ other stories?

Talking Animals.

Umm…the countless times that I read the entire story, I never once came across a talking animal…are you sure the book’s name was not Panchatantra or Narnia?

Evil Cousin.

That is Cinderella…not Harry Potter…though, it would be a very interesting fanfic where Voldemort is born in the Dursley Family!

Wands.

It is a story about wizards…what did you expect?

Startlingly different tone and reader age level from book to book

Well since the characters were eleven years old at the start and seventeen years old at the end….I do not understand how the tone would not change..An eleven year old would have much less perspective than a seventeen year old. Also, you might want to search a term called “Character Development”

About the readers, I started reading Harry Potter when I was about thirteen…I completed the series when I was in early twenties…my level of reading had changed..and Harry Potter changed along with it…the characters grew and developed with me…that’s the whole point of it…

all those details about a sport called Quidditch

In the fictional world, it’s called developing a perfect world. The details gives an idea, it forms entire structure of the world in our minds…

a morality tale.

When someone writes on Morality, it should be banned because it is too common.. let’s forget that an entire genreation gets strength and the courage to stand up for what is right…let us forget all those scientific researches that state that people who grew up reading harry potter are more open minded, smarter, open to diversity and are more politically tolerant than nonfans. Let us forget that these books made reading ‘cool’ again…let’s ban it..because you feel so.

Links to less than 1% of such researches:

http://www.psmag.com/navigation/books-and-culture/harry-potter-battle-bigotry-87002/

http://io9.com/d-id-harry-potter-influence-the-political-views-of-the-1623876038

http://www.buzzfeed.com/rossalynwarren/kids-that-read-harry-potter-have-more-positive-views-on-gay

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-everyone-should-read-harry-potter/

http://blogs.babycenter.com/mom_stories/harry-potter-makes-you-smarter-how-magic-unleashes-kids-creative-thought/

http://elitedaily.com/life/culture/science-says-kids-who-read-harry-potter-are-just-better-human-beings-in-general/691225/

Makes us look for railway stations that do not exist.

That’s the sign of a good fiction book. We KNOW the station does not exist, but we still look for it, because J K Rowling is such a powerful writer, that she manages to create a world inside us, which is so realistic, that we hope against all hope for it to be real. Now THAT is powerful writing.

Also, on a totally non related topic, you could not finish a Pulitzer Prize winning novel?

So, if you do not like Harry Potter, or if you feel that it is not your cup of tea, that’s totally cool! Just, do not parade wrong information as the reason for ‘banning a book’.

Thank you.