Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Script) By: J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne
What’s it like to have The Boy Who Lived as your father? What’s it like to be related to the Golden Trio? What’s it like to be the famous child of the most famous man? The answer to all of those questions is difficult, at least it is to Albus Potter. In this eighth installment of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne expands the story to follow young Albus Potter, through his first few years at Hogwarts. While Harry is trying to deal with his past coming back to haunt him and try to be a father to a son that is completely different then him, Albus is trying to do anything to rebel against Harry. But in doing so, the pair discovers that darkness never leaves and it has a way of popping up when you least expect it…
“Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, a new play by Jack Thorne, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage. The play will receive its world premiere in London’s West End on July 30, 2016.” –Goodreads introduction.
There will be spoilers. You’ve been warned.
There are so many good reviews and bad reviews for this book/script. And I see both sides of the coin and completely understand the problems some people had with this. But, I also think that some people are being overly critical of a book that didn’t go the way that they were imagining it to go. It is not your job to write the Harry Potter eighth book, it was J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany’s job. It was there vision, and their idea. People need to start looking at it as the whole picture instead of just glaring at it for not being the perfect next chapter to the seventh book. Your opinion is wonderful, and I don’t mind hearing it, in fact I respect it, as long as you don’t mind hearing everyone else’s and respecting theirs too. Was this SCRIPT perfect? No. Was it absolutely horrible? No. I actually really enjoyed this book. I had no issue with reading it as a script because this gives you a chance to truly imagine everything. The dueling fights, the dementors, the flying around, being flipped into the air, the crackling of the energy and magic, the lights, the cold seeping around, the hissing around each corner, the drastic pain of emotion, the hurt in the voice, the feeling of being yanked into a time warp… You have to use your imagination because it is a play. This was meant to be watched not read. You can’t judge a fish by its ability to fly just like you can’t judge a play by its words alone!
This is not a continuation of the Harry Potter series in the way that you might think, there is a disconnect and for that I am actually grateful. Nothing could replace my love for the characters from the original series, but this, this takes the world we love and tries a different angle. When I see a movie that was originally a book, I never go into the theatre thinking, “I hope it’s exactly like the book and if it isn’t I’m going to be so disappointed!” I go into the theatre having already separated the two in my mind. I read one version and now I’m going to see it in a different version. It makes life so much more fun knowing that all these stories can be done many different ways. That is what Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was for me. Another version of a much loved story and it deserves to be treated as such, not as an immediate failure because it didn’t become the next book in the original series. Were there plot holes? Of course! It’s not perfect, but was it so horrible that I threw the book? No.
Now…this book is a SCRIPT. If you don’t like reading scripts, that is fine. If you are upset with the lack of depth, the plot holes, the lack of description, etc. it is because it is a script. This is how they work. The actors and directors give the script more with their words, actions and props. Please do not let this be the reason for all the hate I am hearing because this is how scripts work. And this is one of the better scripts I have read too! The dialogue is perfect and I don’t know why people are saying “it’s so obvious J.K. Rowling didn’t write most of this” because I see her style all over it especially since this play (which is the definition of being viewed on stage) can be just as easily read like a book tells me she had a ton of input. Especially when you look at the humor in the book too which though there is more of it the humor was consistent (though I must admit, though Ron is quite a joker in the original series this book he’s a bit more of the clown and I don’t know how I feel about it!)
This book is less about magic and more about relationships and conflicts and is best done in play form anyways because that is how the story unravels- through speech. This story feels older and I think this is the most important concept. For those of us who grew up with the Harry Potter family, we too have gotten older, this is so important because it is taking into account who we, the fans, are. We remember the battles, the death, the war, we grew older and wiser but we still make mistakes. We have troubles and conflicts of our own and so does our favorite characters in the series. This concept makes me smile because without us this series would have never taken off and now we are living through the next installment, the next generation, and the next great adventure. And there is something magical in that.
Overall, I loved this story, and because I’m pretty open-minded I have no problem with the friendship between Scorpius and Albus, the little Slytherin boys, Draco and Harry being fiercely caring about their sons, the humor between Ron and Hermione and of course, all that time travel.
What do you think about Harry Potter and the Cursed Child?
Makayla
Scrubs and Stuff 