A Good Lark

Rating: 6/10 (10 January 2002)

Clearly there is a dearth of literature in this country. I sat down to read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone expecting a prime example of children's literature - what I got was a good story residing in a mediocre book. It was something akin to the novellas of Robin Cook. J.K. Rowling seems to have been given the tremendous gift of imagination. She creates a whole world outside our own to show us how Harry Potter learns to be a wizard, unfortunately, she lacks the grasp of the language required to turn her imaginings into a great work of children's literature. She is not to be blamed for it as it is a very rare gift, shared by greats such as Roald Dahl and in a different way, Dr. Seuss.
It is my honest opinion the movie was substantially better than the book. In most cases, the written word provides enough details to give the reader a clear image of what the author intended, leaving just enough to the imagination to allow the reader to create as scary, loving, ugly, or intense image as s/he chooses, this book did not. In the case of Harry Potter, Rowling provides too much detail in some places and not enough in others. Had this been written for a creative writing class, the instructor would no doubt have used up copious amounts of ink requesting that Rowling "show, not tell." The imagination of the movie maker must work differently. Those who create works for film are charged with dazzling the audience with their imaginations. Columbus succeeds in taking all the details from the book and making them larger than what had been put down in words by the author. Hagrid, the Quidditch match, the portraits on the walls all are crafted by Columbus with a view that seems to reach into the depths of J.K. Rowlings mind and extract all of the glory of what she was imagining, but failed to put down on paper.
The cast was remarkable as Alan Rickman and Richard Harris were both perfect for the roles in which they were cast and their performances were marvelous, as always. The other adult actors and the children all performed at top level as well.
In conclusion, I can certainly recommend this movie to virtually anyone. Their is only one word of caution. Read the book first, you won't enjoy the book once you have seen the film.