I know lots of librarians who have given kids LOTR/the hobbit to read when they ran out of Harry Potter - so I guess that part is true. The fantasy genre is taking off in a huge way but I really don't credit Harry with this! In terms of literary merit in Harry, I don't actually see much. But then I'm a librarian and I read about 100 books a year.<BR>I think that Harry is a step on the road to witchcraft and creates a lot of interest in it. How far down that road it takes you depends on you.<BR>I don't think the media can possibly cause violence. But popular media certainly condones and desensitises people to it, which must contribute to the problem.<BR>I agree 100% with you Rosa about philip Pullman - his books set off more spiritual alarm bells in me that Harry did.
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2A Balrog. A demon from the underpants (Gandalf)
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