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Journalism of Courage
J.K. Rowlings new book is out,it may finally be time to move on from Harry Potter
It is 15 years since the world first met The Boy Who Lived and discovered magic,Hogwarts and Quidditch,and all manner of other fantastic things. A whole generation grew up with Harry Potter. They shared his journey through to the end,waiting to discover if he could vanquish He Who Must Not Be Named,or if he would perish in the attempt. Though the final book of the series,Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,released in 2007,the movies were yet to come. It was possible to hold on to Harry for just a little longer.
But the final film came out in July last year and J.K. Rowling,the woman whose vivid imagination built Harrys world,announced she was writing a new book,this time for adults,earlier this year. Now her novel is out,and if there is one thing she and early reviewers have made clear,it is that it is not Harry Potter. The Casual Vacancy has no hint of flying broomsticks,talking spiders or three-headed dogs. It is,instead,a blackly comic tale of heroin addiction,child abuse,suicide and accidental death in a sleepy English town. Theres even some sex.
Rowling has put Hogwarts behind her and gone back to being a Muggle. There are to be no more stories of Harry dealing with the freedom he suddenly has after completing his quest,no details of the time when Voldemort first terrorised the wizarding world. Harry Potter is forever frozen on that train station in the Deathly Hallows epilogue,but his story will continue to unfold in the imagination of his legions of fans.
