Review Page: The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy
| Title: |
The Worst Witch |
| Author: |
Jill Murphy |
| Genre: |
Magical Realism |
| Publisher: |
Puffin Books |
| Date of Publication: |
1 October, 1998 |
| ISBN: |
0141303301 |
No. of Reviews: 1
Av. Rating: 7/10
Buy this book from the Amazon website.
20.10.2000 - Indigo - 7/10
List of Reviews | Bio
There's not a lot of the Worst Witch to review. It's a hundred pages of very large text liberally interspersed with illustrations in fine ink by the author, Jill Murphy. The text would probably make for about 25 to 30 pages of "normal" text, so reading is quick work. I mainly read this book as a comparitive exercise with Harry Potter. Not being female, I don't have quite the perspective of the schoolgirl reader or the nostalgic connection with my own childhood. Nevertheless, not only can I see the book's merits, I really enjoyed it.
Trying to ignore the obvious target age differences between Potter and the Worst Witch, there are many comparisons that can be drawn between to two. The first is that whereas Potter has a real-world reference in the "muggles", the Worst Witch has no community outside the school, and so the "secret society" millieu that is so popular in adult speculative fiction and has now crept into Potter is nonexistant: as a result, the magic is by and large irrelevent in the Worst Witch, and the whole emphasis of the story is simply interpersonal rivalry and relationships between girls and between girl and teacher. This is a theme which is confused by the "grand plot" in Potter. As an example, broomstick formation flying works in the Worst Witch because it is an accepted event in a totally magical world. Quiddich is by comparison banal because, in a world where wizards do fantastic things away from the sight of muggles, the use of a broomstick as a glorified motorbike (albeit a flying one) is not a novelty - the game could just as easily be played on muggle motorbikes, by muggles.
The Worst Witch is not long enough to have much of a plot. What it does is take a few days in the life of Mildred Hubble (the Worst Witch) and sketch her relationships between her teachers and schoolmates. In doing so, there is a sense of progression of Mildred's emotions as events progress for the worse despite her best intentions. Murphy shows guilt, childhood depression, and the casual cruelty of children without being heavy handed or formulaeic. And despite the brevity of the character sketches, there is a true sense of three dimensional personality in all of them - characters are all motivated, and never evil.
Naturally the book would not be quite as special without the illustrations, all of which are delightful. If Rowling could have married her plotting with Jill Murphy's flair for human character, then the Harry Potter books really would be deserving of the adulation they have had heaped upon them.