Author: Jack Thorne
Title: Harry Potter and The Cursed Child
There is a reason why we run after derivative fiction. We have fallen so hopelessly in love with the characters that we are not ready to see the back of them. Hence we go and buy the various Jane Austen derivatives, the sequel to Gone with the Wind, what Sherlock Holmes did when he was old and so on. Sometimes we are rewarded, sometimes repulsed yet we recognize that we are really not free of the story we read.
When Harry Potter and The Cursed Child came out, there was an uproar among the readers. Of course, they had to all grab the book hot off the press. Some were outraged at the new angle to the story, some charmed. I am afraid I was influenced by the naysayers and refrained from reading the book. It was time to amend that when I went to the neighborhood library in Houston and found posters for The Cursed Child all over the children's section.
The book starts where the last book ended. The scene on the platform where Harry is sending off his second son, Albus Severus to Hogwarts. For Harry and Hermoine the magic world was a splendid gift, as they came from the muggle world. Albus Severus is born into a Magic world and not really kicked up about going to Hogwarts. He feels rather overshadowed by his famous father and is both mortified and thrilled that he is not sorted into Gryffindor but Slytherin. On top of that, he makes friends with Scorpius Malfoy, the only son of Draco.
Along with Delphi, Cedric Diggory's cousin, Scorpius and Albus go off on a time travelling adventure through the past, trying to save Cedric's life. Soon the boys realize that trying to rectify the past can have very serious consequences.
As a fan of Harry Potter books, I admit the pain I felt when Voldemort roared, "Kill the spare" and ended the life of Robert Pattinson ... oops... I mean Cedric Diggory. I hoped The Cursed Child would amend that awful bit. It was a wonderful hook for a new story. It adds a lot of spice to the book. The story is great. It was conceived by J.K. Rowling after all, along with John Tiffany and Jack Thorne.
It was great to meet all the beloved characters once again. Harry, Hermoine, Ron, Ginny, Draco, Prof. Gonagall, Snape, Cedric, Prof. Dumbledore and many others. Snape's famous acerbic wit was intact, thank the lord. It was Ron who suffered in this sequel, he is seen as a jokester, a cool uncle but little else. Hermoine is the Minister of Magic which is nice, but she does not really shine. We get to find out more about Draco and he is really the best part of the book (among the oldies). The kids, Albus and Scorpius are wonderful.
This is a published script of a play, written by Jack Thorne on the story thrashed out by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne. I can imagine how hard it must have been to stage such a play, which is required to be full of magic and spells and sudden change of scenes. It would have been wonderful to watch, I am sure.
1 comment:
I have / had refrained from reading it so far. Now after reading your lovely review, I bloody am too intrigued to read it and I want to read it like NOW :)
What have you done Avaji :)
But wonderful review.
Looking forward to it big time now.
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