Haterade

Well, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince comes out on Saturday. Thus far, it's been mostly "Gee-whiz, they've sold a lot of advanced copies" and "Wow, people are resorting to crime!" stories. Now, of course, the haters (or, in this guy's case, semi-haters) start to weigh in. *sigh*

I'm not really a Potter-maniac, but I have friends who are and I liked the two books I read and the two movies I saw. There's nothing wrong with a literary/cinematic phenomenon that gets people all geeked up. (For heaven's sake, you're talking to a guy who has almost literally orgasmed over Star Wars and Lord of the Rings in the past few years!). What I cannot stand is literary snobbery. I particularly hate this, "But it's not classic children's literature!" thing the Harry-haters trot out. Excuse me Mr. Snootty Critic, do you happen to have a time machine to the future you're not telling us about? 'Cause it's up to the readers of the future (ie if they keep reading) if Harry's going to go the way of Pooh and Alice, not the snobby blowhards of today.

(Via Bookslut)