Rereading Harry Potter as an adult and finding it difficult

[Dasisr]

Obsessed with Harry Potter as a teenager but finding it a difficult read as an adult. How badly he is treated by the Dursleys. How deprived of love he was and in later books how he was kept away from his friends/family. All the death of loved ones he had to witness. Honestly finding it tough to get through. AIBU or anyone else the same?

Hagrid is good

It’s not a lazy take people are entitled to their own opinions

But yes, OP. Unlike the many snarky PPs, I agree that it makes for uncomfortable reading when you view the story through adult eyes. Not an uncommon theme in fiction, even child fiction, as others have pointed out. But that doesn’t take away from your observations which, in my estimation at least, are very valid.

Try to enjoy it though! Even though poorly written at times, the story is fantastic. I look forward to my own child enjoying them as much as I did one day ❤️

He is treated badly by his family because he is a Horcrux, if they treated him well it would be a massive plot hole for the later books.

I've read this theory loads of times @Singleandproud but how does that work when he arrives at Hogwarts and immediately makes loads of friends and is loved by pretty much everyone?

We see that wearing the necklace really impacts Ron in the last book but he also spent six years with Harry and never had a negative impact.

So while he might be a "Horcrux" I don't think that explains how the Dursleys treated him. They treated him badly because they knew he was magical (which they hated/feared) and also because they resented having to raise another child alongside Dudley.

I'm with you on Oliver Twist readbooksdrinktea
The heartbreak begins on the opening page when his mother gives birth in the workhouse and says "Let me see my child and die"
....and it only gets worse

I only read them as an adult and I definitely know what you mean. The films gloss over it, but basically he is an abused child whose life is defined by loss. It’s totally understandable that you might find it tough in parts.

What I found hard about Harry Potter is the extent to which so much of the same thing is rewritten into each book they virtually all start the same I thought they were over long.

Haha! Of course you’re entitled to an opinion but, as a few others have pointed out as well as me, not all of the fat characters are portrayed negatively. And, conversely, not all of the thin characters are good. So your point, or opinion, isn’t correct.

Mean but funny.

Children's books are almost always upsetting to read as an adult.

At the beginning of most children's books (and even Disney films) you have to somehow get rid of the parents. Because a properly cared for child would just never get to have really exciting adventures like that! So they are often killed.

It’s not a lazy take people are entitled to their own opinions

you are of course entitled to your opinion but when it is demonstrably proved wrong it would be more graceful not to double down.

-prof Sprout
-Molly Weasley
-Hagrid
Not thick or evil

Neville- is not thick he is however a classic ‘late bloomer’.

It’s one of those regurgitated anti-JKR takes that float around Twitter but only take a second of critical thought to realise it’s ridiculous.

I got really upset watching the theatre version of Matilda. I was really crying.

The 90s????!!!!!

OP have you ever reflected on how comforting it is for children in abusive or unpleasant circumstances to read about similar situations in literature?

I never read Dudley as evil - he's a victim of his parents as much as Cinderella Harry is, just superficially treated "well" because he's theirs.

Neville is definitely portrayed as smart and competent, just lacking in self-confidence and "acceptable" (flashy Hermione-style) academic gloss. For instance, nobody would have survived the underwater scene in the Tri-Wizard Tournament without his botanical knowledge.

It is a suprisingly bleak story for the target age group, in terms of some of the details and ongoing periods of misery/little hope - but I think a large part of that is the way the series kind of "grows up" with the readers, progressing in complexity with each book. It wouldn't have been as effective or successful or realistic if it were happier. And there is a lot of happiness/relief for Harry throughout - he always has his unbreakable friendships, Sirius, Dumbledore, the Order, etc. And (spoiler alert) a happy ending - for those who like that sort of thing.

Of course it's lazy - it totally ignores all the overweight characters who are portrayed as nice, kind, good people.

Neville, Hagrid, Molly Weasley, Professor Sprout - all good, kind, wholesome characters who don't have an evil bone in their bodies.

Also, as PP pointed out, the most unpleasant characters are stick thin - Voldemort, Lucius, Bellatrix, Barty Crouch Jr etc.

Can't comment on the Harry Potter books because I only read the first one (to DS - he read the rest himself). I loved the Casual Vacancy, and love the Strike Novels. And yes, OP, books are upsetting sometimes.

Love that a OMG JKR writes scary books thread has turned into a Harry Potter appreciation and analysis thread. This is why I joined MN 😆

Isn't the point more that for the plot to work he has to be treated badly and this want to leave on his 17th birthday?

In the same way that Harry & Ron don't read 'Hogwarts, A history' so that Hermione can explain to them, and thus the reader, all the info they need to know.

Don't try Jacqueline Wilson books, then. Constant death, neglect, bullying, abandonment. Which is why my DD may have loved them, about overcoming difficult times.

My American parents can't understand the appeal of Mathilda at all. Abuse as entertainment??

It’s a bit odd you are struggling with it. Of course you are going to see things differently as an adult. I saw Adrian Mole different as an adult, he had such a hard time, his mum having an affair, parents getting divorced, his dad getting made redundant, being 13 in general, unrequited love, getting bullied by Barry Kent and he only had one adult in his life who paid attention to him-his grandmother. When I read it a I child I just thought he was annoying!

DH is reading them to the children and I found this too OP. I don't get all the snitty replies; nothing wrong with having empathy even for characters in a book.

JKR is a master of plotting. Little things that are mentioned earlier in the series as kind of a throwaway comment become important later on. DD1 likes to point them out and it's amazing how many there are.

Yes? (?????!!!!!!!)

Gosh, never read Dickens, especially Nicholas Nickelby and Oliver Twist.