the deathly hallows
I remember recently reading someone, in some comment, on some blog, somewhere on the internets, saying something to the effect that if she did kill herself it wouldn't be until after June 21, 2007, because that's when the next Harry Potter book would be released. I think she was kidding. I hope she was kidding.
But it made me wonder about the whole Harry Potter phenomenon, which is something that I just don't get. I've read a couple of the books and they were, well, okay, but it's hard for me to understand the obsession that so many people seem to have with them. Understand, I'm not saying this in a negative way. I have my own obsessions that I'm sure would be massively boring and incomprehensible to, well, practically everyone else on the planet. Maybe it's just that the books are popular because they're popular. But it seems like there has to be more to it than that. Any guesses?
Oh, and despite what I've said above, my theory of a fitting ending would be that Harry saves the world from the really evil guy (I'm too lazy to look up his name), but that, in exchange, Harry has to give up his magical powers. It would be kind of a metaphor for the author having to sacrifice her own magical powers to bring the story to a close.
2 comments:
At one time I wanted to believe the books were popular just because they were popular... then my husband, an English teacher, read the first one, and he said, "you have to read this." And I did. And I was hooked. It's embarrassing to be a 33 year old lawyer wandering around with a paperback of HP in your briefcase.
I really think the books are popular because they tell such a classic tale - it's the classic hero story, but, I think what makes them so great are the "little" things that Rowling incorporates into her story. I cannot explain it exactly, but, I do think that there is a lot more to the books than the "popularity for popularity's sake" theory.
LM
I just like them because they have castles and castles make me feel warm. Like reading about old houses or mead halls or inns... those places make me feel warm inside. I'm not sure why because they are probably drafty.
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