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Books read: Harry Potter
Dec. 4th, 2019 04:13 pmI decided on impulse to re-read the Harry Potter series. My feelings about Harry Potter are complicated. It used to make me Very Cross Indeed when adults would come into the children's library seeking Harry Potter books, taking care to declare loudly to everyone in earshot that although children's books in general were worthless and trivial and couldn't possibly be of any interest to them, or indeed to any adult, Harry Potter was unique and different - the only children's book that could possibly be of any appeal to an adult. It made me Even Crosser when people would pick up a book that was published years before Harry Potter came along, read the blurb or the first page, and toss it away dismissively as a "blatant Harry Potter rip-off." "JK Rowling's written 7 books set in the same setting," I used to mutter darkly. "Diana Wynne Jones [because some of the books thus tossed away were by her] creates a new, wildly original setting for every single book!"
Pellinor is very smug about the fact that he "rejected Harry Potter." This was back when all new children's novels were read and reviewed before it was decided whether to purchase them or not. To ease the workload, I would sometimes delegate some to Pellinor. His judgement on the first Harry Potter was along the lines of, "Rather mediocre, really. Fairly harmless, I suppose, but not a patch on Diana Wynne Jones." We did end up buying it, but IIRC, this because a colleague realised that it was written by a friend of a friend, took it to read herself, and was rather more enthusiastic than Pellinor was.
I remember it being in the library and very few people borrowing it. Those who started it didn't usually finish. Book two came out with similar lack of enthusiasm... but suddenly the media started reporting that this was a growing craze and that children were all wild about the series. They certainly didn't seem wild about it in my library... until, well, suddenly they were. I don't think I read any of them until the third book came out, when I read all 3 together. After that, I read them as they came out, but never with that sense of burning anticipation that comes with a new installment of a series you truly love. It was more a case of knowing that I would want to read them eventually, so might as well read them straight away at the same time as everyone else, so I'd know what people were talking about.
So far, so lukewarm. But it's hard to extract feelings for the books from feelings about the phenomenon. I do remember finding quite a lot to enjoy in the books themselves, and you can't deny that they've embedded themselves deeply in popular culture, so I thought I'd reread.
( Harry Potter )
Pellinor is very smug about the fact that he "rejected Harry Potter." This was back when all new children's novels were read and reviewed before it was decided whether to purchase them or not. To ease the workload, I would sometimes delegate some to Pellinor. His judgement on the first Harry Potter was along the lines of, "Rather mediocre, really. Fairly harmless, I suppose, but not a patch on Diana Wynne Jones." We did end up buying it, but IIRC, this because a colleague realised that it was written by a friend of a friend, took it to read herself, and was rather more enthusiastic than Pellinor was.
I remember it being in the library and very few people borrowing it. Those who started it didn't usually finish. Book two came out with similar lack of enthusiasm... but suddenly the media started reporting that this was a growing craze and that children were all wild about the series. They certainly didn't seem wild about it in my library... until, well, suddenly they were. I don't think I read any of them until the third book came out, when I read all 3 together. After that, I read them as they came out, but never with that sense of burning anticipation that comes with a new installment of a series you truly love. It was more a case of knowing that I would want to read them eventually, so might as well read them straight away at the same time as everyone else, so I'd know what people were talking about.
So far, so lukewarm. But it's hard to extract feelings for the books from feelings about the phenomenon. I do remember finding quite a lot to enjoy in the books themselves, and you can't deny that they've embedded themselves deeply in popular culture, so I thought I'd reread.
( Harry Potter )
