The Hidden Key to Harry Potter: Understanding the Meaning, Genius, and Popularity of Joanne Rowling's Harry Potter Novels - Softcover

Granger, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0972322108 ISBN 13: 9780972322102

Publisher: Zossima Pr, 2002

Synopsis

What you need to know about The Hidden Key to Harry Potter:

1) It is the first critical study to unlock the inner meaning of Harry Potter by treating the series seriously as literature along the lines of Charles Dickens and Jane Austen.

2) It is the first exposé to identify Joanne Rowling as a Christian who consciously writes Christian Fantasy in the tradition of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien.

3) It is the first full-fledged effort to predict Potter’s future course in detail – an audacious and thought-provoking adventure offered to fellow enthusiasts.

4) It is the first Muggle textbook suitable for use at Hogwarts – bringing humor, fun, and WOW! excitement to the "serious" business of Pottermania.

Low Road critics have panned the bestselling Harry Potter novels as "the literary equivalent of fast food" and as a gateway to the occult. But no one has explained the worldwide popularity of Ms. Rowling’s fiction or read it as one would read Tolkien, Hemingway, or Shakespeare. The Hidden Key takes the High Road to understanding Harry Potter’s success, through an exploration of the series’ structure, themes, and symbolism.

The astonishing conclusion of this investigation is that Ms. Rowling, demonized by some Christian critics because of the magical setting of her books, is ironically writing the most charming and challenging Christian fiction for children since Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia. The Hidden Key demonstrates that all the Potter books teach Christian doctrines - sometimes with subtlety, often baldly - in their plot, imagery, and character development. Lambasted by critics who have not read her books closely or are unfamiliar with traditional Christian literature, Ms. Rowling’s genius has been overlooked despite her books’ success.

A lover and teacher of the Great Books – including the great children’s books he reads his seven children – Mr. Granger applies his knowledge of classical philosophy and Christian traditions to reveal the secret message that explains the magic power of Harry Potter.

Find out these secrets inside:

* What is the hidden key to Harry Potter?
* Is Harry’s magic dangerous – or quite the opposite?
* What is the evidence that Rowling is a Christian novelist?
* Is the author an "Inkling"? How have we been so bamboozled?
* Who is the real-world model for Gilderoy Lockhart?
* Who is Harry, really? Why does Lord Voldemort want him dead?
* Will Wormtail kill Voldemort as Wormtongue killed Saruman?
* What may happen in the upcoming Potter books?
* How does it all end? – an UNAUTHORIZED prediction.

About this title

About the Author

John Granger has his degree in Classical Languages from the University of Chicago and is an ordained Reader in the Orthodox Christian Church. He loves and teaches the Great Books, including the great children s books he reads his seven children. Mr. Granger applies his knowledge of the classical and Christian philosophical traditions to unfold the message and the otherwise inexplicable power of Harry Potter. The Hidden Key To Harry Potter is available from Zossima Press.

From the Inside Flap

What the experts are saying about The Hidden Key to Harry Potter:

John Granger's The Hidden Key to Harry Potter is a delightful and provocative book. Granger makes a compelling case for reading J.K. Rowling as an "Inkling" on the order of C.S. Lewis or J.R.R. Tolkien. Granger brings his considerable linguistic skills and his broad understanding of literary and symbolic allusion to bear on the Potter books. A timely and accessible volume, Christian parents who are wondering whether the Potter series is harmful for their children should first read Rowling and then Granger's Hidden Key. Older children and adults who have loved Potter will find The Hidden Key hard to put down. One of the most interesting aspects of The Hidden Key is Granger's bold "prediction" of what will happen in the final three volumes of the Potter series. While predicting in print what an author will write is an endeavor practically destined for failure and ridicule, Granger offers some intriguing speculations, and I, for one, wouldn't be surprised if he's gotten quite a lot right.

- Dr. Scott H. Moore, Great Texts Program and Professor of Philosophy, Baylor University

The Hidden Key to Harry Potter captures the reader by stages: its theses that Harry is a Christian hero and Rowling is underestimated and misunderstood seem at first surprising, then engaging, and finally persuasive. I invite readers to go on a journey into Harry Potter's world and see things they never recognized before.

- Frederica Mathewes-Green, Author of "Facing East" and "The Illumined Heart"

The Hidden Key to Harry Potter is an important contribution toward the proper understanding of Christian fantasy. It combines literary and spiritual insight with humor, resulting in a ground-breaking resource for readers of C. S. Lewis or J. R. R. Tolkien as well as J. K. Rowling. Hidden Key is the first book to assert that Rowling's conscious use of Christian symbols and themes are intrinsic to her story. With this book, Mr. Granger proves himself a "Defense Against The Dark Arts" master in the truest sense.

- Robert Trexler, Editor of CSL: The Bulletin of the New York C.S. Lewis Society

Open Letter to the Talk Radio Community: We had John Granger on our program the day the new Harry Potter film opened. All we knew was that John had written a book called "The Hidden Key to Harry Potter." We booked him on the phone and matched him up with Reverend Joe Chambers, a rather famous Charlotte Fundamentalist minister famous for his past opposition to Barney the Dinosaur and Pokeman, in addition to Harry Potter. John was absolutely engaging, totally informed on the subject, and was completely able to defend his points up against an ultimate true believer. With good humor and an articulate manner, we enthusiastically recommend him as a solo guest, or up against your best local fundamentalist. Listeners are passionate about this topic and John's a great vehicle to bring it to the audience. - Brad Krantz, Co-host of "Spires and Krantz", 3-6pm, WBT, Charlotte

The Hidden Key to Harry Potter is a jazzy, gutsy exposition of the secret Christian symbolism that pervades J.K. Rowling's brilliant series. John Granger shows that Rowling, far from being an agent for the occult, belongs firmly in the Inklings tradition of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Using his "hidden key", he even dares to predict what will happen to Harry Potter in the rest of the series. Let us hope that Rowling doesn't decide to prove him wrong!

- Stratford Caldecott, Chesterton Institute for Faith & Culture

John Granger's The Hidden Key to Harry Potter is the only comprehensive attempt to analyse the genuinely Christian elements in J. K. Rowling's immensely impactive series. Granger will be thought by some to be overstating the case, but everyone else seems to be understating it. The issue, as Granger makes clear, is not the doctrinal precision of Rowling's personal beliefs, but the themes and corresponding values which her books convey. We Sherlockians well understand this: Holmes's perspective transcended Conan Doyle's, and the prophets of the Old Testament often wrote not knowing the full impact of their prophecies. The Hidden Key is "must" reading for Potterites, whatever their religious orientation. - Prof. Dr. John Warwick Montgomery, Christian Apologist, Barrister, Educator, and Author of "Myth, Allegory, and Gospel" and "Cross and Crucible"

Edition details

• Publisher: Zossima Pr
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0972322108
• ISBN 13: 9780972322102
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 364