Harry Potter and Philosophy review
Jun. 6th, 2007 09:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearHarry Potter and Philosophy is a rather inconsistent book. The introduction and a few of the essays try far too hard to be jokey and down-to-earth, with the result that they just seem somewhat stupid. The other inconsistency is that some of the essays pick a philosophical topic and discuss it at length, crowbarring a largely irrelevant reference to Harry Potter in every few paragraphs. Others choose an aspect of Harry Potter and discuss that at length, drawing philosophical conclusions along the way. For the most part, the latter essays are more successful, not because the philosophy is not interesting in itself, but more because the former type fail to integrate the two subjects in the title properly.
The best section is the Slytherin section, which discusses the nature of evil.
The main result of reading this book is that it's made me want to read the books again, which I wasn't going to do before the release of the seventh one. So, it's back to the Philosopher's Stone for me!
The best section is the Slytherin section, which discusses the nature of evil.
The main result of reading this book is that it's made me want to read the books again, which I wasn't going to do before the release of the seventh one. So, it's back to the Philosopher's Stone for me!
