I'm sorry, I just don't get it
I see that, with all the appropriate fanfare, that the last ever Harry Potter book has been released.
About time.
I’m sorry for taking such a seemingly negative stance, since I’ve never actually read any of the volumes in a series that seems to have been going on for entirely too long. I mean, I just don't get it.
I haven’t read any of them because they are kids’ books, and I actually gave up reading kids’ books back when I – oh -- was a ‘kid,’ for want of a better word. When I stopped being a kid I began to read grown-up books that revolved around the lives of grown-up people doing grown-up things.
But, it’s not fair for me to judge this Harry Potter realm because, as I said. I never read any of them, nor do I intend to read any of them. I mean, I know who Harry Potter is – sort of. He’s a dorky-looking English schoolboy in John Lennon How I Won the War specs, and has a couple of little playmates and there is magic afoot, I understand. I liked that sort of stuff when I was about nine. Sort of before I discovered Mickey Spillane and my fantasy world moved into a different realm.
Oh, and I’ve also heard that Harry Potter dies in this one. Maybe that’s not true, but I heard that. Hope so. Kind of a Gotterdammerung is apt for a series that seems to have gripped a society and has become a multi-gazillion dollar industry. Weird thing when I think of all the amazingly talented writers who struggle daily to keep off the welfare rolls.
Anyway, I have no quarrel with kids becoming Harry Potter obsessed. I hope they’re actually reading the books, and not just watching the movies. Reading is a good thing. I read many fine books when I was a kid. Such things as Treasure Island, Kidnapped, Tom Sawyer, The Secret Garden, the Jungle Books, King Arthur and others enchanted me. If I were a kid, I would probably read Harry Potter, too.
But, as I said, I am not a kid. I can be childish, but that’s somewhat different. So, what I don’t get is adults being obsessed with this stuff. It may be well-crafted, though I’m in no position to say, but it’s still just a series of damn books that have captured some sort of popular imagination, and are also hyped in an almost nauseating fashion, so that the arrival of a new volume becomes not a literary event, but a media circus. Somehow I find that profane. But, that’s just me, I guess.
And, why does the author, this J.K. Rowling person, always look so taciturn? She should be grinning from ear-to-ear and having to change her wet undies three times a day just from the excitement of being such a staggering success in an otherwise ruthless business. Yet she looks like either she has stepped in something, or worse, like that scrawny Spice Girl Beckham woman whose face would crack if ever she dared to even smirk. I mean, Ms Rowling has more money than France, all thanks to Harry Potter. The odd “nyah” and cartwheel would be in order, and I would understand.
By the way, there has been outrage in the UK because supermarkets are selling the new Harry Potter for half the price of conventional bookstores. That is apropos of nothing other than to nod in the direction of what an industry this thing has become.
Good on you, Harry. Now shut-up and go away.
About time.
I’m sorry for taking such a seemingly negative stance, since I’ve never actually read any of the volumes in a series that seems to have been going on for entirely too long. I mean, I just don't get it.
I haven’t read any of them because they are kids’ books, and I actually gave up reading kids’ books back when I – oh -- was a ‘kid,’ for want of a better word. When I stopped being a kid I began to read grown-up books that revolved around the lives of grown-up people doing grown-up things.
But, it’s not fair for me to judge this Harry Potter realm because, as I said. I never read any of them, nor do I intend to read any of them. I mean, I know who Harry Potter is – sort of. He’s a dorky-looking English schoolboy in John Lennon How I Won the War specs, and has a couple of little playmates and there is magic afoot, I understand. I liked that sort of stuff when I was about nine. Sort of before I discovered Mickey Spillane and my fantasy world moved into a different realm.
Oh, and I’ve also heard that Harry Potter dies in this one. Maybe that’s not true, but I heard that. Hope so. Kind of a Gotterdammerung is apt for a series that seems to have gripped a society and has become a multi-gazillion dollar industry. Weird thing when I think of all the amazingly talented writers who struggle daily to keep off the welfare rolls.
Anyway, I have no quarrel with kids becoming Harry Potter obsessed. I hope they’re actually reading the books, and not just watching the movies. Reading is a good thing. I read many fine books when I was a kid. Such things as Treasure Island, Kidnapped, Tom Sawyer, The Secret Garden, the Jungle Books, King Arthur and others enchanted me. If I were a kid, I would probably read Harry Potter, too.
But, as I said, I am not a kid. I can be childish, but that’s somewhat different. So, what I don’t get is adults being obsessed with this stuff. It may be well-crafted, though I’m in no position to say, but it’s still just a series of damn books that have captured some sort of popular imagination, and are also hyped in an almost nauseating fashion, so that the arrival of a new volume becomes not a literary event, but a media circus. Somehow I find that profane. But, that’s just me, I guess.
And, why does the author, this J.K. Rowling person, always look so taciturn? She should be grinning from ear-to-ear and having to change her wet undies three times a day just from the excitement of being such a staggering success in an otherwise ruthless business. Yet she looks like either she has stepped in something, or worse, like that scrawny Spice Girl Beckham woman whose face would crack if ever she dared to even smirk. I mean, Ms Rowling has more money than France, all thanks to Harry Potter. The odd “nyah” and cartwheel would be in order, and I would understand.
By the way, there has been outrage in the UK because supermarkets are selling the new Harry Potter for half the price of conventional bookstores. That is apropos of nothing other than to nod in the direction of what an industry this thing has become.
Good on you, Harry. Now shut-up and go away.
Labels: Harry Potter overkill
posted by Ian Lidster at
9:32 AM
15 Comments:
hahahahahahahaha good one, ian!
my older daughter got me to read ol 'arry... and the ones i read were fun, if not outstanding
but i agree about rowling, from a single mother on welfare to a billionaire, she should at least smile, now that she's remarried and a mother of another one :(
sorry it's taken me so long to visit.... will now, more often :)
Ian, I love this post. I agree completely, right down to the part about not having read any of the books or seen the movies, but being uncomfortable with the whole thing nonetheless.
Perhaps Harry has also discovered Mickey Spillane and has no interest in prepubescent magic any longer.
I remember sneaking a copy of "I, The Jury" under the covers with a flashlight at about that age, and still remember the last lines, approximately,
"She came toward me, a curve at a time, and it was then I saw that she was a real blond.
She gazed at me as if to say, 'how could you?' and I had just time enough to say, 'It was easy,' before I was talking to a corpse."
It's hard for me to fathom Ms. Rowling's taciturnity as well. I would be thrilled beyond belief with just a small portion of her success. Since I haven't read her work, this will surely sound like sour grapes, but it seems that the worst authors become the wealthiest and most widely read, like Jackie Susann, Irving Wallace, and Danielle Steel.
This does not say good things about the general level of literacy in the English-speaking world.
Hi Ian,
Obviously you're no fan of Harry Potter. Well, some grown ups want to be kids indefinitely and they sometimes relish kids stuffs like Harry Potter. A shade of Peter Pan who never grow up in never never land.
Probably, some people's inclination towards a make believe world is an indication that they want to escape the harsh realities of life. They seek the solace of a two hour or so fantasy movie to just escape for a moment from all the pressures and strains of life. Well as they say, different strokes for different folks.
Thanks for your interesting dissertation of the Harry Potter genre. And many thanks for visiting my blog and leaving a very kind comment. I'll treasure that.
God bless you with all the good things in life.
I read the first book aloud to my daugher and was enamored with the magical language, creative artistry and delight of the story.
The series can be enjoyed by children and adults alike who want a magical fantasy.
However, I lost my zest for Harry by the third one. And I haven't read any since then. My daughter, though, continues to read them with a passion. I am grateful. that she can find such enjoyment from a book. Now if I can only get her to read more of the classics!
Actually Ian there are adult versions of these books too. I had never read one either until a couple years ago when someone showed me this. If one is into magic and fantasy etc then they will enjoy them. The underlying theme is that in the end Good wins over Evil. I think for most people they appeal to the child in them. I never was interested enough to read the rest of the series but the one book was ok. Rowling's agent told her years ago 'don't ever quit your day job!'...yet finally a publisher took a chance and they took off unbelievably well.
i've never read any of the books, nor seen any of the movies, nor have any desire to do either.
It's out? I thought it was coming out at the end of July, the 20th or something.
I have read them, and found them amusing. Bloody minded that I am, I'm hoping Harry will die. Enough with the happy endings all the time.
I'm evil that way.
Rowling wrote books that kids actually want to read. Good on her. And all the media hype, well, it is obscene, but if makes some kid who never read a book pick up Harry Potter and read it just because it's the cool thing to do, bonus.
But like you, damn I wish that woman would look a little happy about it all.
V.
yeah, i don't "get it" either...i read about two chapters of one of these books, don't remember which one, and i have nooooo idea what i read, and absolutely no interest in all the hype.
cheers,
pj
Ian, you've been tagged. Please come by for details.
LOL, well, each to his own. I have to confess to reading ALL books and seeing ALL movies so far. (My nephew nagged me every day until I did.) Although there have been great chunks of information where I've speed-read, for the most part I just found them great fun.
Some of my nephews and nieces have read each book several times. Now that I don't get ...
I'm of mixed opinion. I LOVE that kids are reading. Reading anything is good (well, within reason).
But the billions of dollars generated?
Wow.
Emily Dickinson never saw that kind of money but her works are classics.
Will Harry Potter survive the next 20 years?
I don't know Ian, I'm catching a whiff of a green-eyed monster here. If it's the "media circus" about the book that bothers you it seems this post would have been about the media, but you made a sorta personal attack on J.K. Rowling and her "look." I'm just saying.
We own all of the books and my husband has read them (but, no kidding, he is a big Dungeons and Dragons person) but I have only seen the movies. And they are fun.
ALthough I mostly read adult books (and by that I mean nonchildren's books, not porn), there is some really great children's literatire out there that you don't have to give up just becaus eyou are over 18. I adore the HP series. They are magical. They encompass the basic struggle between good and bad, they take a look at kids' relationships and the insecurities of adolescence, and remind me of my one year in a Bristish boarding school. When a new one comes out, I will stay up all night to finish it. And I cried like a baby when Dumbledore was killed. And it is just plain fun to talk with other fans about the possibilities fo rthe final book - who is really dead, who is on the dark side, what evidence exists for one theory or another. And its a bond I can share with my sons. Is it a bad thing to escape once in a while into a child's mystery? I don't think so.
I've only read one of the Harry Potter books, and only then because I ran out of adult books on a three-week rail trip around Europe. My wife has read them all and thinks they're great, and has already ordered the final book, due out next week.
Having only read one of them, I'm in no great position to comment, but it didn't blow me away. It was enjoyable enough, I suppose, but then it is targeted at kids. Certain aspects of it seemed to rip-off Roald Dahl, and not even in a very clever or masterful way. And some of it was just gibberish.
The two positive things I can say about Harry Potter books is that: 1) They've got kids reading again, which is great; and 2) They're better than the Harry Potter movies, which suck ass.
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