I first heard that a new Harry Potter book was coming out from a friend, and I was excited. After all, I had read all the books many times, and was eager for more information. So, when I found a copy at Half-Price Books, I began to read right where I stood. I was shocked- and horrified.
First of all, it’s not actually written by J.K. Rowling. It’s written by Jack Thorne. Of course, if you pick up the book like I did, it will say “J.K. Rowling” in big letters, with Jack Thorne in small ones. This is to distract the reader and to sell more copies. What I bet happened is that somebody rolled a cartload of money up to the already loaded J.K. Rowling, and she said, “Okay.” Now, is this the new Harry Potter book? I don’t think so.
You see, the Cursed Child is a play. If you pick up the book, it’s written like a play, jumping from scene to scene. It’s meant to be performed, not read. So why make it into a book? To make more money, which seems to be everybody’s only goal these days. I was confused, and found the plot hard to keep up with (probably because it wasn’t originally meant to be a visual medium), but I still distinguished a few things.
- They were butchering the characters.
- They were butchering the plot.
- This wasn’t good as a book.
They were butchering the characters. They actually made Harry a burdened ministry of magic worker! He doesn’t stand up for himself, and is instead overrun by paperwork. They also made him cowardly, simply backing down and accepting what comes to him, from what I read. He was stressed, and did nothing to remedy his situation. That is NOT the Harry I know. The Harry I know would stand up, no matter what age. He wouldn’t become just another pawn of the ministry- the words proving this were even carved into his flesh. Now, the writer of this play should have considered not telling lies himself!
They were butchering the plot. In the Harry Potter books, the last of the time turners, instruments that could reverse time, were destroyed. There were no more. That was the end. However, for some reason, not all the time turners were destroyed in this story. Somehow, little Scorpius’s mother was rumored to have gone back in time and had a son with Voldemort. I didn’t read far enough to figure out if they’d actually made him Voldemort’s son or not, and it was confusing. Probably because it was meant to be performed, and not read.
This wasn’t good as a book. For the hundredth time, it was a play. Plays aren’t as effective as books! They’re not the same kind of medium at all. Shakespear is beautiful even as a book, but it can be dusty and confusing if you just sit down and read it in your bed by candlelight, unless you have a lot of patience and focus. However, watching it performed just brings it to life. The characters literally leap out! I’ve performed in a Macbeth myself, and it’s much more rewarding than just sitting down and reading Hecate’s lines, verses actually speaking them aloud in all their drama. I have not seen the Cursed Child performed, so it could be better as a play, I don’t know. However, I doubt it. For the reasons listed above, I don’t think it will, at least in my opinion. THE CURSED CHILD IS NOTHING BUT A POORLY DONE FANFICTION AT BEST, AND A CURSED BOOK AT WORST.
For real fans of Harry Potter, such a book should feed them with repugnance. I did not read Harry Potter because everybody else was doing it like some people I knew did. I didn’t read them to fit in. I read them because I found the story inspiring and fascinating. The Cursed Child is just a cursed way to make more cursed money. And I won’t participate, because I don’t want it to curse my memory for the books, which are complete in themselves and don’t need this cursed tag-along.
It must be noted that I did not read the book all the way through. However, the beginning plot, which jumped years in a few pages, told me a lot. If anyone wants to add anything from the book that they remember below, feel free. It must be added that this book is supposed to be “based” off of the Harry Potter books. That is fine. It is fanfiction. It’s not “the new Harry Potter book.” But let’s at least call it what it is, shall we?
The Opportune Owl 
Leave a comment