Harry Potter

[Rhishisikk]

Sorry, this started in another thread.  I was told that Harry Potter was written with kids as its target audience.  Does anyone else remember a quote, supposedly by JK Rowling, when her books started going dark?

"Whoever said that I was writing the books for children?"

Admittedly, the series wasn't Dirty Harry Potter (ya feeling lucky, Voldy?), but does anyone else feel that there are subtexts that are just not intended for children in the series?

[Agent 333]

The target audience gets progressively older as the books go on. Ideally, the reader is Harry's age when he reads a particular book, starting at 11 and going till 17, though honestly you can read all 7 books at the age of 11 (well, if you're a fast reader) and get them. Just don't start your kids on it when they're five.

[ThunderMonkey]

Another thing to keep in mind... the British version of "dark" is far different from the American version.

[spinningdice]

How so? Having never left my little island I sometimes find myself inadvertantly hitting cultural walls.

[Krensky]

I think it's less a matter of that the US and UK definitions of dark differ, but more a matter of what Joe Average considers age appropriate and where they draw the line between 'dark' and 'depressing'.

[ThunderMonkey]

I think it's less a matter of that the US and UK definitions of dark differ, but more a matter of what Joe Average considers age appropriate and where they draw the line between 'dark' and 'depressing'.

To some degree... I've found that American "dark" tends to gravitate towards violence, whereas the British (and most other countries) tends to be in tone (language and tension).

[Gentry]

British dark, for me, has also generally been bleak.  Warhammer 40,000 is probably the biggest example that comes readily to mind, though it's certainly not alone.