In a recent interview, a character actor from Scotland who portrays the popular Inspector Rebus has launched an odd attack of sorts on those in the education field who favor children reading the Harry Potter novels. The Scotsman reports that actor Ken Stott (who also appeared in “The Girl in the Cafe” directed by David Yates) said the following during an interview with Radio Times:
“If we’re going to make a fuss about children reading books, do it with Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials books, not JK Rowling.
“I can’t believe idiot educationalists are praising children for turning up at school and reading Harry Potter.”
In a small bit of irony, the Rebus series are based on works by author Ian Rankin, a longtime friend and neighbor of J.K. Rowling in Edinburgh, Scotland. Mr. Stott continued on in his interview about his future, noting “I’ll remain a grumpy old man.” We wish him continued success with his grumpiness!
The man’s got a point. I love Harry Potter, but it’s not exactly upper level reading or poetic literature. It’s plain and simply written and one of the easiest fantasy series to read ever.
Just the other day, a friend of mine said she loved the Harry Potter books and movies, but it’s “just so hard to read them.” She’s 20. That’s sad. But our culture seems to accept a comment like that as “normal”.
I think what the man is getting at here is that we shouldn’t praise mediocrity. We should be glad that kids are reading something, but we should encourage them to read challenging and classic texts and not just the easiest of the easy, even if it is a wonderful world.
His Dark Materials really is a superb series, but probably not appropriate for young children. This guy is just another cog in that stupid mentality that claims that anything loved by too many people must be superficial or overrated. But the size and intensity of the fandom is half the fun, isn’t it? We have something in common with millions of other people around the world, from different backgrounds, with different stories. It’s the coolest thing ever.
Umm…I started reading the books when I was six or seven (PS came out when I was three) and I loved the books from then on. I’m sure this guy hasn’t even read the books, because I 100% agree with DWLover; they are the one of the most brilliantly written books on the market, and even in this category it shines. I think we all know who the real idiot was here…
Posted by Ar Oh En En Eye E on September 27, 2007, 10:29 AM
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Oh, and also, Harry Potter taught me so many new words that when I was reading PS I had to keep the dictionary with me. I think we should encourage kids to read it; it has a really big effect on their vocabulary and reading skills. And for those who say that the book is too adultish for kids – many people read it when they were very young and they had no problem. It is easy to understand and very addictive – one of my friends asked me what the first book was called after we had seen OotP together! JK Rowling has written a brilliant series, and it’s brought kids and adults alike to wait in line at midnight to anxiously await a new book, to see what happens to Harry and his friends.
Posted by Ar Oh En En Eye E on September 27, 2007, 10:37 AM
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He’s absolutely right. There are far, far better books for children than Rowling’s. It was so obvious that she was refusing to be edited by the last few books, and they really suffered in comparison to the first four.
Shrugs Really, I can’t get all that beefed up about it. Yeah, it’s a tad irritating that he wants to dictate what kids should read – like others have said, the point is that he IS reading, and ad hominem in an interview is never right. But still – to each their own. When you have hype, you’ll also have huge criticism. I actually boggle more at the people who say they OMGLOVETHEBOOKS and then can’t even say who Ron is.
Posted by Author By Night on September 27, 2007, 11:33 AM
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I know I said I wouldn’t post here anymore but…
“I think what the man is getting at here is that we shouldn’t praise mediocrity. We should be glad that kids are reading something, but we should encourage them to read challenging and classic texts and not just the easiest of the easy, even if it is a wonderful world.”
Posted by Seifer on September 26, 2007 @ 10:37 PM
Sorry Seifer. Are you telling me that because a book is easy to read it has to be mediocre? I am afraid I might sound rude, I assure you that it is not my intention, but that was the same mentallity cleric and scholars had in the Middle Age. In my opinion, books have to be readable, they have to communicate something the best the author can. That is the idea behind language, isn’t it?
Why insult J.K Rowling? What has she done to him? Her books are great! There is absolutly nothing wrong with them! Go Harry Potter.
Also kids should be able to read what the want
I have this feeling that Ken Scott is either an agnostic or an atheist (my personal opinion!).
I say this because if you’ve read Phil Pullman’s “Dark Materials” trilogy, the tone of the novels is decidedly anti-Catholic and anti-Christian, which has turned off a number of readers. Indeed, when they did the movie version of “The Golden Compass,” they had to seriously tone down much of the plot in an effort to avoid offending Christians.
I’ve liked the Harry Potter books because despite the use of magic, the book still is strongly rooted in Christian ideas in many ways (after all, they do celebrate both Christmas and Easter).
All this chat and not one of you has grasped the fact that he is right! Rowling is a cracking storyteller but no master of linguistics. Her books are entertaining. He could have picked any entertaining but lightweight book to make his point – which is that it is a sad, sad thing that our kids cannot read – that they still need help at the age of ten – that teachers even have to think about praising a child for reading something, anything. He has criticised the people at the top, the ones who plan our education system, the educationalists who have deprived a generation of reading pleasure and want us to be grateful they read at all!
Yes, these days we are glad they read anything, but that doesn’t make it right.
And hey-to the poster styling him/herself “confused”-I really feel sorry for you that you fail to grasp the point.
The point is that Rowling’s books have encouraged kids to read. There isn’t a work of fiction out there that doesn’t take a few stylistic liberties with the English language, simply because that’s the way people TALK.
It’s up the the TEACHERS AT SCHOOL to teach kids proper grammar. Books of fiction are meant to entertain.
"You're going to be using a rather special [quill] of mine. Here you are... I want you to write [i]'I must not tell lies.'"[/i] she told him softly.[br]"How many times?" Harry asked...[br]"Oh, as long as it takes for the message to [i]sink in[/i]," said U
Hi! We should tell him our opinions and write to him a letter. :)