Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
I am somewhat unique in that I am a huge fantasy reader and I have never even read a page of Harry Potter. I wanted to wait until all of them came out before reading them, and now’s the time for me to start. What I wanted to comment on was not that, but how cool it is that J.K. Rowling has managed to get so many people interested in reading. I went to the local Borders at midnight with my wife for the release and there were hundreds of people there, not to mention thousands in Harvard Square. I hope this means that these readers are actually readers and not just Harry Potter readers, because I love when people actually read instead of watch the crap that’s on TV. Anyway, keep reading even if Harry Potter is all you’ve really enjoyed–there are hundreds of other books just as good, if not better, out there.
Well said.
I’ve never gotten into The Potter series, though I’ve tried. It’s just not for me. That said, I’ve got nothing but respect for Rowling in that she has turned a generation of kids into readers. Kids who, without Harry, would probably have never picked up a book for enjoyment.
My only fear is that school will curb their enthusiasm for reading. Fantasy is not usually looked all that kindly on by many school teachers. It’s why I built a section over at Bobs boards called “In School with Drizzt”.
I suspect Harry Potter will lead children to further reading in the same way eating McDonald’s leads them to try different foods. Certainly, neither of the two English language publishers of the Potter novels are considering a bright future now Rowling has finished the series[1].
The behaviour of supermarkets over here has also been telling. Almost all of them were selling the Deathly Hallows at £5 – nearly half the wholesale price – in order to get people in to buy groceries. Booksellers, even the large chains, couldn’t compete with that, so lost people who might otherwise have bought other books – though some of the smaller shops took advantage by replenishing their stock from the supermarkets[2].
1: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22116254-7582,00.html
2: http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article2087268.ece
Just fair warning, IMO, you have to soldier on through the first two books before the series becomes really compelling. The first two are essentially kids’ books. The rest are “young adult”, and it shows.
I’m a huge fantasy reader and while this was never on my must have list I did finally read up to the previous book.
As mrdowns said those first two books can be rough on an adult reader since she was definitely not aiming for an older audience at the time. It’s nice to watch her style and tone of the books mature as the protagonists have. Order of the phoenix was quite good. I’ll eventually get around to reading the new one.
The series I definitely want to see finished is Wheel of Time. Preferably with Robert Jordan still alive to finish it (which is somewhat in doubt due to his illness).
Back when I was in primary school, the books that got me into reading were the Goosebumps series.
I had not read any of the Harry Potter books either, but recently my fiance and I started watching some of the films. We bought a few of the books also and hadn’t read them yet.
On this recent trip to Germany, I purchased Deathly Hallows and started reading it, though I haven’t read the book previous to it. All in all, it has encouraged me to read more and tahts a good thing!
I read a lot as a kid, and remember fondly a similar series that started with “A House With a Clock in Its Walls”. It was a young adult contemporary fantasy story with magic and witchcraft. I was delighted when I later saw it referenced as recommended reading in the Basic D&D rule set. The series was nowhere near as popular as Harry Potter, but it was just as engrossing.
I attended another Harry Potter book release with some friends a few years ago. The waiting crowds reminded me of the Cabbage Patch Kids’ riots of the early ’80s, but with less anger. It’s encouraging to see so much hype about a book.
Goosebumps got me interested in reading, The Hobbit got me interested in fantasy, and The Eternal Champion got me interested in writing.
Margaret Weiss & Tracy Hickmans, Dragonlance Chronicles, sealed the deal for me and fantasy reading. I have since read just about everything writting in the genre, but try as I might, I just can’t get into the Harry Potter series.
I would also like to echoe the above sentiment that a completed Wheel of Time series would be nice. I’ve only waited like 15 years at this point…
Well, you will be happy to hear that some studies have shown a large number of kids who were not pleasure readers before harry potter have become so after.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_potter#Cultural_impact
For me, Lord of the Rings got me into reading. Bob Salvatore kept me into reading.
Funnily enough my closest friend has taken the same approach as you have. She now has all 7 books with matching covers for her collection
Power to JK Rowling. I would be proud as an author if I had inspired the imagination of one child, or encouraged one person to enjoy the art of reading. She has achieved so much more than that – a wonderful legacy.
The number of us walking around the office having hushed conversations about Harry this week is amazing – none of us wants to spoil the end for anyone else
Happy reading
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[...] you have not read the books for whatever reason, I recommend doing so. There’s a wonderful world awaiting. You may be tempted to just wait [...]