So, I've been pondering in these recent few days since the publication of the final installment of the Harry Potter series (thanks, by the way, to the unnamed individual who revealed the ending to me) some of the reasons that I find Rowling's work so troubling. Though I feel, having made my way through the previous six installments, duty bound to read the last, if only to satisfy my obsessive completist tendencies, I can't help agreeing with some of those I've recently heard criticising the franchise. Unlike many, I don't for a second believe that the books fail in their duty as good reading material for children; those who point out the derivative nature of the literary world inhabited by Potter et al. are somewhat blind to the formulaic nature of all children's novels - even (or perhaps particularly) C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. I don't even worry particularly about the fact that many young fans of the series struggle to find other books to their liking; it must be hoped that the magic of those childhood experiences may translate into an adult faith in the power of reading, and that those who read nothing but Potter as children may progress, through perhaps Pullman, Tolkien or Lewis to the adult imaginative world of Garcia Marquez, Rushdie or Borges.

No, what has been bothering me is a train of thought spurred by Mariella Frostrup on Radio 4 the other day. She was arguing - and somewhat playing devil's advocate in doing so - that she couldn't understand why adults would want to read Harry Potter when there was a world of adult fiction that remained unexplored. Whilst I believe that there is room for HP in a balanced literary diet, I do sort of see her point. The first thing to say is that the Harry Potter phenomenon has had a pernicious effect on the publishing industry in this country. Not only has an ailing trade begun to bank all of their annual hopes on one boy wizard, leading to endless promotion and the absurdity of pre-ordering (have you been anywhere in the last three days - be it supermarket, book shop or newsagent - that doesn't have stock of Harry Potter VII?), but the depressing phenomenon of selling the novel as a loss leader (the hardback is £5 in Asda) has a devaluing effect on books as a whole. I understand that twenty pounds for a book seems like a lot of money. However, it must be taken into account the astonishing reward you get for your outlay. Even a short novel will take twelve hours or so to read and, if the book is any good, it can be returned to time after time for years to come. In terms of entertainment-per-pound, that's better than any DVD or CD. In selling the book for the same price as a monthly magazine, retailers are sending the message that the book is nothing more than a commodity, to be read once and then happily lost or thrown away - something to provide a day's diversion and to be thought of no more. Once that approach to book buying is instilled in the reader's head, how easy will it be, do you think, to persuade them to part with twenty pounds for the new Don Delillo?

However, my main worry around Harry Potter as adult fiction relates to a trend I've been noticing in popular culture in general in the aftermath of September 11th and the "War on Terror". More and more, literature and film are being viewed as a means of escape from the realities of the world. This phenomenon is reflected in the simplistic good vs evil message of the dominant literary and filmic success stories of the last few years - Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Spiderman I & II etc. We are returning to the cartoon safety that formed the pre-eminant thrust of popular culture in the period of the cold war. The conception that all will be well in the end, that there will come a force of light which will sweep away the darkness which encroaches on our collective way of life - these are the central messages of the novels and films mentioned above. Whilst I can understand the desire to take comfort in such simplistic conceptions of worldly forces, I believe strongly that sustained reflection on the society we live in and how we as individuals can influence the progression of that society is an absolute essential in uncertain times. We cannot rely on those in power to make the right decisions, to be the force for good that we want and so obviously need. Independent thought, sustained reflection on the deeply complex matters that trouble our world is an absolute necessity. I can think of no better rebuke to the black and white social perspective of Harry Potter than the recent failed terrorist attacks in London and Glasgow. These potentially catastrophic attempts were not orchestrated by nefarious Al-Qaeda operatives sequestered in a cave on the Afghan/Pakistan border. They were organised and carried out by those we rely on when most vulnerable, and whom we hold in our society in the highest esteem - NHS doctors. These are the faces we perceive blurrily as the anaesthetic takes hold.