Inky Feelings on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Harry Potter is a generation thing. Like 80's music and movies. Or 60's fashion. Every generation following that eras have a different take on it. Same with Harry Potter. And the last installment, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, is the generation definer.

Following all the reviews, I came to the conclusion that there are two main generations here:

1. The kids who grew up with Harry Potter. In other words, when Harry was 12, they were 12.
2. The "older" kids. Those of us who were in our late teens to twenties or thirties when Harry first entered Hogwarts. (Not as old as Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall - although I do know a couple of "elders" who also read Harry Potter) Closer to Snipe's age.



The first generation mentioned above, didn't rate The Cursed child very high and I get the impression that they were rather disappointed with it. Why?? Is it perhaps because they struggle to "picture" Harry as a happily married husband, but an unhappy dad? Or that he doesn't get to slay dragons every day but actually has to work for a living? A responsible job at that, tedious too. Ginny is lovely yes, but she frowns upon him quite often. And the kids - the kids are NOT your average 2.5 Colgate Smile youngsters. They have issues and throw tantrums and fight with each other. Nope, all is not The Brady Bunch in the Potter household (and now they ask who's The Brady Bunch...).

And then there's the second generation. I fall in that group (by a margin... yea right). And we are shouting with joy!!! Thank Dumbledore!!! Harry is dealing with the SAME shit I have to deal with everyday. Big sigh of relief. Shit just got real.

Enter Dumbledore. (Somebody needs to build the bridge between the generations)

"There is never a perfect answer in this messy, emotional world. Perfection is beyond the reach of humankind, beyond the reach of magic. In every shining moment of happiness is that drop of poison: The knowledge that pain will come again. Be honest to those you love, show your pain. To suffer is as human as to breath." 

I absolutely loved Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Yes, the script thing did throw me a bit in the first ten or twenty pages. Didn't like the stage directions - it was as if someone else wanted to paint pictures on the canvas of my Harry Potter mind. You're not Voldemort - GET OUT.

 Luckily, the magic soon returned.

As a member of the second generation, we love trips down memory lane. We got to do that quite a number of times during the course of this play. There's a lot of criticism towards character development as well, but I didn't struggle with that. I pictured them all perfectly well and loved both Scorpius and Albus. Even Delphi. I had no problem picturing our old friends and acquaintances either. I know that I don't appear to be 18 any more, neither should they get that privilege.

My very last inky thought on this one is: THE END. It has to be over now. Although I loved seeing Harry & Co. again, and are relieved that they grew up to be responsible adults like me, I don't want to know more. Keep the magic.

"The truth is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution." - Dumbledore (who else??)

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