Scan barcode
mw2k's review against another edition
3.0
Of course, this is an interesting work, but it's not difficult to draw parallels between history and fiction. Try hard enough, and you'll find echoes of profound history in Green Eggs and Ham. The main issue I have with this curious work is that the various authors give J.K Rowling a little more heft than probably what's deserved. Sure, she's smart and clever but hardly the towering figure of allegorical nous this makes her out to be.
frostbitsky's review against another edition
4.0
I had this on my TBR for a few years and decided to read it for the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter. I have been on a Harry Potter kick for most of the year. I did a "reread" by listening to the audiobooks and Harry Potter: A History of Magic. I also went to the exhibit at The New York Historical Society. And I started listening to the podcast Harry Potter and the Sacred Text.
I have stated before that reading non-fiction and reading history is not my cup of tea (I prefer watching shows about history), but I have read Twilight and History, also edited by Nancy R. Reagin, and I liked that.
Before I get into all the cool new things I learned from these essays I have a bone to pick with Susan Hall in her essay "Marx, Magic, and Muggles: Class Conflict in Harry Potter's World." On page 288 she compares the Gaunt family with the Durbeyfield family from Tess of the D'Urbervilles. While I totally agree with the comparisons between the two families she COMPLETELY describes the plot of Tess of the D'Urbervilles INACCURATELY! Tess is not "seduced" by Alec D'Urberville. She was raped. She doesn't hang for the murder of her "lover". He raped her! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, SUSAN HALL!?
Also, on the same page is another inaccuracy she made when she said the Weasleys spend money they don't have on extravagant trips. They won that trip to Egypt! Did you even read the books?
Now that I got that off my chest, and sorry for the use of the F word but I feel in this issue it was justified, onto the rest of the review which is positive.
There were topics that I already had learned about from Harry Potter: A History of Magic, such as potions and witch-hunts, but this collection goes more into topics of class conflict, politics & government, women's civil rights, aristocracy, boarding schools, and werewolves.
I learned more about the Spanish Inquisition in this book than I did when I was in school.
One essay also goes into why most spells are in Latin and goes into the origins of the Unforgivable Curses and the term "hocus pocus." Which I found fascinating.
A few other cool things I learned:
- There really were secret magic schools!
- There was an Emperor who was not of nobel birth named Severus.
- Lupin's werewolf affliction is an analogy for HIV/AIDS.
Some of the essays dragged on a bit and I found myself skimming sometimes. At one point I put the book down completely to listen to The Shining. The good thing about that is that there is no plot to this book to remember. You can easily pick it up and pick whichever essay you feel like reading about.
It's a good read for anyone who is really interested in history and is a die hard Harry Potter fan.
4 out of 5 O.W.L.S.
I have stated before that reading non-fiction and reading history is not my cup of tea (I prefer watching shows about history), but I have read Twilight and History, also edited by Nancy R. Reagin, and I liked that.
Before I get into all the cool new things I learned from these essays I have a bone to pick with Susan Hall in her essay "Marx, Magic, and Muggles: Class Conflict in Harry Potter's World." On page 288 she compares the Gaunt family with the Durbeyfield family from Tess of the D'Urbervilles. While I totally agree with the comparisons between the two families she COMPLETELY describes the plot of Tess of the D'Urbervilles INACCURATELY! Tess is not "seduced" by Alec D'Urberville. She was raped. She doesn't hang for the murder of her "lover". He raped her! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, SUSAN HALL!?
Also, on the same page is another inaccuracy she made when she said the Weasleys spend money they don't have on extravagant trips. They won that trip to Egypt! Did you even read the books?
Now that I got that off my chest, and sorry for the use of the F word but I feel in this issue it was justified, onto the rest of the review which is positive.
There were topics that I already had learned about from Harry Potter: A History of Magic, such as potions and witch-hunts, but this collection goes more into topics of class conflict, politics & government, women's civil rights, aristocracy, boarding schools, and werewolves.
I learned more about the Spanish Inquisition in this book than I did when I was in school.
One essay also goes into why most spells are in Latin and goes into the origins of the Unforgivable Curses and the term "hocus pocus." Which I found fascinating.
A few other cool things I learned:
- There really were secret magic schools!
- There was an Emperor who was not of nobel birth named Severus.
- Lupin's werewolf affliction is an analogy for HIV/AIDS.
Some of the essays dragged on a bit and I found myself skimming sometimes. At one point I put the book down completely to listen to The Shining. The good thing about that is that there is no plot to this book to remember. You can easily pick it up and pick whichever essay you feel like reading about.
It's a good read for anyone who is really interested in history and is a die hard Harry Potter fan.
4 out of 5 O.W.L.S.
minervareads's review against another edition
3.0
Having read several academic books about Harry Potter, I do have to say this was my favorite. It was a little more dense than my poor overworked brain could handle at times (hence the long reading time), but I learned a lot of fun things, and will definitely return to it in the future. Of course there were the occasional stretches to make Harry Potter references work, and not all of the essays were super engaging, but it was a good, well-rounded take on Harry Potter through an academic and historical lens.
evilcallie's review against another edition
4.0
This was an interesting book, I really enjoyed how the various authors looked at the historical events that may have influenced JK Rowling's writing of the Harry Potter series. I only give it 4 stars mostly because of the writing styles, there were certain things various authors did that annoyed me, but over all, it gave an interesting historical and British cultural perspective on the series.
shoshanaf's review
3.0
it was rather dry. I only read subjects that I was interested in learning more about, there were some that weren't as applicable for my tastes.
mdemanatee's review
3.0
Some of the essays were a stretch in terms of making relevant connections to the HP series, and a couple of times the authors seemed tripped up on small HP details. At least one of the essays seemed confused on whether we were pretending the HP world was real for this work and comparing "magic" and "muggle" history. It was overall good fun. I enjoy looking at things like history and philosophy through a pop culture lens.
More...