"...and I am starting to wonder exactly why people like John Granger find her works Christian?"
I have the same problem. Not to mention that 1) Harry doesn't actually die, so he makes no actual, lasting sacrifice, and 2) the various other problems with seeing Harry as a Christ figure brought about by Rowling's use of magic to bring about the 'miracle' and her (IMHO) materialization of notions like love, soul, etc. There's no miracle in the Potter books, because there is no room left for anything approaching the divine, IMHO. Not that she'd have to present it directly, just leave room for it. But I don't find it there at all. Despite the reams of so-called "critical" literature on HP claiming Rowling to be the new Shakespeare and Dante in one. (A little of my bitterness showing, perhaps?)
To be clear, I don't think you don't have to have the divine directly involved in the story to have a Christ figure - I've heard somewhat convincing arguments that certain figures in Brecht's Marxist plays can be considered Christ figures. But Rowling, I think, wants it both ways - she wants to present Harry as literally as possible as Christ, and yet without actually dealing with what that would entail. She tries, here as elsewhere, to have her cake and eat it too. And that frankly pisses me off. So I share your pain.
And yes RE Ende, imagination is key for him - and for me, which is one reason I like the books. They are perhaps a bit more consciously intellectual than most fantasy, but I don't think they're intended to be distant (I will say I find the second half of TNS better in that regard, when Bastian is directly part of Fantasia). Momo is perhaps the more pointedly allegorical. I will say that, so far as I can tell, he's coming partly out of a tradition of consciously 'literary' German fairytales like Goethe's "The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily" and Hoffmann's "The Golden Pot." So that element is present a bit.
So I can see where you're coming from, and of course not everything is to everyone's taste. However, if you do decide to give them a chance, I think (I hope) you won't be disappointed. Somehow he does manage, I think, to keep imagination actually alive in the stories too.
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I have the same problem. Not to mention that 1) Harry doesn't actually die, so he makes no actual, lasting sacrifice, and 2) the various other problems with seeing Harry as a Christ figure brought about by Rowling's use of magic to bring about the 'miracle' and her (IMHO) materialization of notions like love, soul, etc. There's no miracle in the Potter books, because there is no room left for anything approaching the divine, IMHO. Not that she'd have to present it directly, just leave room for it. But I don't find it there at all. Despite the reams of so-called "critical" literature on HP claiming Rowling to be the new Shakespeare and Dante in one. (A little of my bitterness showing, perhaps?)
To be clear, I don't think you don't have to have the divine directly involved in the story to have a Christ figure - I've heard somewhat convincing arguments that certain figures in Brecht's Marxist plays can be considered Christ figures. But Rowling, I think, wants it both ways - she wants to present Harry as literally as possible as Christ, and yet without actually dealing with what that would entail. She tries, here as elsewhere, to have her cake and eat it too. And that frankly pisses me off. So I share your pain.
And yes RE Ende, imagination is key for him - and for me, which is one reason I like the books. They are perhaps a bit more consciously intellectual than most fantasy, but I don't think they're intended to be distant (I will say I find the second half of TNS better in that regard, when Bastian is directly part of Fantasia). Momo is perhaps the more pointedly allegorical. I will say that, so far as I can tell, he's coming partly out of a tradition of consciously 'literary' German fairytales like Goethe's "The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily" and Hoffmann's "The Golden Pot." So that element is present a bit.
So I can see where you're coming from, and of course not everything is to everyone's taste. However, if you do decide to give them a chance, I think (I hope) you won't be disappointed. Somehow he does manage, I think, to keep imagination actually alive in the stories too.
/long-windedness :) Long live Sev.