.K Rowling’s Harry Potter books in waterstones book store. (Photo by Graeme Robertson/Getty Images)
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Harry Potter is returning to our screens, with HBO’s reboot said to include more book-accurate material that had to be cut from the original films.
The franchise is returning to a different media landscape, and public opinion of Harry Potter isn’t quite as generous as it was during the height of Potter-mania.
Plus, J.K. Rowling’s deeply controversial, combative online presence hasn’t improved the reputation of the series.
Still, Harry Potter remains a beloved story, and the wizarding world still enchants fans—but are the books worth reading? Do they still appeal to the youth of today?
I’ve been reading the Harry Potter books to my own kids, and it’s been interesting to return to the cultural phenomena, to see what still holds up, and what doesn’t.
Should I Read The ‘Harry Potter’ Books?
The Harry Potter books have undergone a major reevaluation, with online content creators often finding much to criticize about the series.
However, there’s a reason the series was so popular—the first three Harry Potter books are a great deal of fun, magical mystery adventures about a trio of best friends having fun at school and getting into trouble.
What’s Good About The ‘Harry Potter’ Books?
Upon re-reading, it’s notable how much of a power fantasy the series is, as it begins with Harry, an orphan, struggling under the rule of his abusive relatives, essentially imprisoned in the suburbs, until Hagrid tells him what every child wants to hear—you’re special.
Harry is a wizard, and he belongs in magic school with his magical peers.
Not only is Harry a wizard, he’s famous. He is told that as a baby, he defeated the most dangerous, despised dark wizard to ever live, and now the Wizarding World loves him.
Not only is he a beloved celebrity—he’s fabulously rich. Hagrid reveals that Harry’s parents left him a generous inheritance of golden galleons.
When Harry arrives at school, he is placed into Gryffindor (clearly the best House), and quickly finds out that he has a natural talent for Quidditch, the amusingly nonsensical sport of the Wizarding World.
Harry is armed with one of the best broomsticks money can buy, and is even given an invisibility cloak, allowing for him and his friends to stalk the corridors, unseen.
For obvious reasons, this concept is incredibly appealing to children and young adults.
The series is essentially a fantasy about having fun at school, experiencing enjoyable and interesting lessons, but the inclusion of bullies and spiteful teachers keeps things relatable.
The books are at their best when capturing the feeling of not quite fitting in, but enjoying the close company of best friends—Ron and Hermione are both outsiders in the Wizarding World, and so is Harry, even if he is a celebrity.
Those first three novels boast strong, simple plots, with the trio solving magical puzzles that even the teachers can’t figure out; one gets the sense that the silly rules of the Wizarding World are being made up on the fly—it’s all great fun.
The first three are all wonder and whimsy, but then when one gets to the fourth book, things slow down a bit.
It’s obvious that the incredible success of the books allowed Rowling more free reign when writing, but the thick length of these later books are crying out for a skilled editor to slice through the bloat.
Still, the fourth book contains a fun mystery, with a few plot holes, perhaps, but book five and onward are weighed down by the increasing darkness of the story, and become a bit of a chore.
The books are intended to mature with the reader as they age, the later novels delving into awkward teen romance, death, slavery, bigotry and the rise of wizarding fascism.
I think it’s fair to say that the world portrayed in those first three novels isn’t designed to hold these heavy ideas, and plot holes start to pile up, as do some questionable decisions.
What’s Bad About The ‘Harry Potter’ Books?
The books were released in the late 90s/early 2000s, and are very much a product of their time.
There are clumsy themes about wizard racism and questionable naming conventions (Rowling’s on-the-nose name choices have since become a meme).
The legendary sci-fi/fantasy author Ursula Le Guin (who also wrote about a magical school in A Wizard of Earthsea), once described the Harry Potter books as, “good fare for its age group, but stylistically ordinary, imaginatively derivative, and ethically, rather mean-spirited.”
Returning to the books as an adult, it’s obvious what Le Guin meant. There’s a lot of judgmental commentary in Harry Potter—from the beginning, there are breathtakingly nasty descriptions of fat and ugly characters.
Much like Roald Dahl, Rowling uses obesity as a shorthand for laziness and immorality. If a character is introduced with a lengthy description of their wobbling belly and buttocks, then the reader knows exactly what they are supposed to think of them.
The Wizarding World is good fun, but its magic system and inner workings isn’t particularly well thought-out. This isn’t initially a problem—not every writer needs to be Tolkien—but is increasingly noticeable as the story becomes more serious.
Generally, the books struggle with the transition from children’s novels to young adult fiction. The antagonist of the series, Voldemort, is more of a cackling Disney villain than the serious fascist that the later books portray him as.
However, Rowling does give the reader an unsettlingly accurate glimpse at the face of real evil, with the inclusion of the abusive teacher Dolores Umbridge.
There’s been a great deal of commentary about the problematic elements of the books that have aged badly, and the house elf slavery side-plot gets the most attention.
The haters are correct here, as the house elf plot is exceedingly weird, and becomes increasingly bizarre and tasteless as the series continues.
The concept is introduced through Dobby, who is an unwilling slave to the sinister Malfoy family, and desperately desires freedom. Dobby is happily liberated by Harry, and the reader likely assumes that the “bad” wizard families keep house elf slaves.
But the fourth book returns to the concept with a house elf named Winky, who is clearly being horribly abused by her master, but very much wants to remain a slave.
Dobby is revealed to be a “weirdo” going against the grain, with every single house elf happily dedicating their lives to serving wizards, even if their masters abuse them.
It’s not just the bad wizarding families—even Hogwarts is in on it, as the delicious feasts conjured in the Great Hall are revealed to be prepped by house elves.
Hermione is rightfully disturbed by this, but she is portrayed as an annoying, overly persistent activist who doesn’t understand the nuances of the situation.
It’s all very strange, as the books seem to imply that elf slavery is perfectly fine, as long as the creatures are treated decently.
Funnily enough, a viral post written on 4chan (of all places) accurately summarizes the contradiction at the heart of Harry Potter, noting that Harry is motivated enough to fight Voldemort’s brand of fascism, but doesn’t care at all to change the underlying injustices of the Wizarding World.
Again, this is an issue with the books embracing more mature themes as they continue, struggling to insert the complexities of the adult world into children’s adventure books.
However, I think the Harry Potter films managed this transition far better, and cut many of the problematic elements away entirely.
So, Is ‘Harry Potter’ Worth Reading?
Yes—but I recommend only the first three books, and maybe the fourth.
The Philosopher’s Stone, The Chamber of Secrets and The Prisoner of Azkaban very much deserve their status as children’s classics.
Those first three books are all about solving the magical mysteries of Hogwarts—it’s almost like Harry and his friends inhabit a sprawling escape room, hiding a secret around every corner.
The wizarding world becomes less interesting as the books continue (although, I’m sure many Potter fans would disagree).
For those looking for similar books, I highly recommend Phillip Pullman’s Dark Materials trilogy, and Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea cycle (Le Guin was the first to write about a school for wizards, and her worldbuilding and magic system is truly profound).
For dedicated Harry Potter fans, more content is coming in the form of HBO’s reboot, a television series that is said to be more accurate to the novels—but perhaps, not too accurate.
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