Saturday, October 06, 2007

Happy Endings

Me I much prefer a story with a happy ending. I'll take As You Like It over Hamlet any day of the week.

I have always preferred children's books, into adult life, and a considerable part of the reason is that they (together with the best heroic fantasy) have a moral clarity. Good and evil, while often complex, can be differentiated, and good wins in the end. Actually, I think this is, in the end, true to life. In the end, evil fails on its own terms.

I knew Harry Potter 7 would come out right - because I trusted that JK Rowling would not have forgotten her target demographic demands closure and a morally satisfactory outcome.

But mounting a campaign http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/content/News/story.aspx?brand=ENOnline&category=News&tBrand=enonline&tCategory=news&itemid=NOED04%20Oct%202007%2011%3A05%3A44%3A830 against unhappy endings? I really don't think that's necessary. Make it clear to children that the endings aren't happy (or even make it clear it's not a very good book - at least, I hated the first and haven't bothered with any more) but BURNING BAD BOOKS? wtf?

2 comments:

sharleen said...

I like childrens books as well. I think banning books that you as an individual don't like is over the top. Everyone likes different book styles. There should be a variety out there. As a parent, I read all the books my kids read. Variety is the spice of life :)

Anonymous said...

I'm also much more pro innocent child stuff and happy endings now. In my teens I liked everyone to die and go mad in the end. Mwahaha!

Some parents are weird. So many rare illnesses needing research and she is putting energy on a campaign for this?

A parent can be creative and come up with a happy ending for a bad book. People do that all the time. There was no lumberjack in the original Red Riding Hood story.