[HPFGU-OTChatter] Urgent email opinions request from journalist in Chile (about Potter adult fans)

Wed Mar 3 13:17:04 UTC 2004

Thank you very much for your help!...I will try to
send a link with the web version of the article or the
page in PDF format!..

--- Shaun Hately <drednort at alphalink.com.au> wrote:
> On 3 Mar 2004 at 4:44, marcelocordova2004 wrote:
> 
> > Hi:
> > 
> > My name is Marcelo Cordova and Im a journalist
> from La Tercera
> > newspaper in Chile, South America
> (www.tercera.cl). I work in the
> > Trends section and I send this message because Im
> writing an article
> > for this friday (march 5th) about the phenomenon
> of adult fans of
> > the Harry Potter saga. This because the last book
> was just released
> > here and is already sold out!. Many people who
> bought it were grownups
> > and we would like to get some comments about this
> trend around the
> > globe.
> > 
> > If any of you have some time could answer these
> questions? You can
> > post your opinions directly here or send them to
> > marcelocordova2004 at yahoo.com. Please put your name
> (or a nick if you
> > want), age, occupation and country. Many thanks in
> advance:
> > 
> > 1. In an article published by The Orlando Sentinel
> about Nimbus
> > 2003, it says that individuals on that event were
> "college professors
> > and college students, advertising copywriters and
> unemployed computer
> > consultants, substitute teachers and wanna-be
> teachers. They've come
> > from California and New York, Australia and
> England. Above all else,
> > they are Harry Potter fans. And they are adults".
> First of all:
> > Could you tell me how did you get fascinated by
> the saga of this small
> > kid? And how could you explain that many adults
> feel fascinated by a
> > book with a kid as a protagonist? From that point
> of view: Do you
> > agree with miss Rowling when she says that "it is
> my sense of humour
> > in the books, not what I think children will find
> funny, and I suppose
> > that would explain some of the appeal to adults"?
> 
> Shaun Hately, 29, Student Teacher, Australia.
> 
> Answering this question... I do voluntary work with
> gifted children 
> - and when I first encountered the Harry Potter
> being discussed, it 
> was specifically within the gifted community - I
> think the books 
> caught on there a little earlier than they caught on
> in the general 
> population. The book was being described as being of
> far higher 
> quality than most children's fiction, and having a
> clearly gifted 
> major character (Hermione). Gifted children also
> commonly have an 
> experience of not fitting in with those around them,
> because they 
> are not like other kids and often find great joy
> when they discover 
> others like them - so Harry's story resonated with
> these children 
> as well.
> 
> I read the first book basically to see what people
> were talking 
> about - and immediately, as a former gifted child
> myself, I found 
> myself being sucked in in the same way things had
> been described to 
> me. I could really relate to Harry - my own
> childhood experiences 
> of never quite fitting in, and then finally finding
> a school where 
> I did fit in, and could be happy, really resonated.
> Hermione was 
> great as well - seeing a bright child in a book who
> was a fully 
> developed character, not just a caricature of the
> smart child - 
> that impressed as well.
> 
> The books were also more subtle than most children's
> books I've 
> read. I do read children's books. I do watch
> children's TV and 
> movies. It fascinates and interests me - and these
> books were more 
> detailed, and required more intelligence than many
> children's 
> books. Kids had to understand quite sophisticated
> concepts - 
> history and mythology as well - to get everything
> out of the books. 
> But could still enjoy them even if they didn't have
> that knowledge 
> yet - in which case it could encourage them to learn
> more.
> 
> The books also didn't pull punches and treat
> children as 
> unsophisticated people who needed a happy ending.
> There is moral 
> ambiguity in the books. And there is evil. Too many
> kids books 
> sugar coat the world - or go too far the other way
> and make it too 
> bleak. J.K. Rowlings acknowledges things like evil,
> pain, 
> suffering, and death - but there is always hope as
> well.
> > 
> > 2. From that point of view: Which are the elements
> of the books that
> > you feel as most appealing to you? Stories,
> characters? Do you think
> > that this is a good read for any adult? You think
> no one should feel
> > ashamed of reading these "child" books?
> 
> Definitely not.
> 
> The Harry Potter books aren't great literature in my
> opinion - but 
> they are certainly good enough to earn adult
> respect. These aren't 
> really childrens books in my opinion. They are
> novels with children 
> as protagonists, and which children can read. But
> first and 
> foremost, they are novels.
>  
> > 3. Bloomsbury spokeswoman Lucy Chapman said in an
> article from BBC
> > that she "thinks that adults can find another
> level in the Potter
> > books". She said that people can read "into the
> mythology that runs
> > through the novels, they pick up on more, such as
> the Latin school
> > mottos." Do you think that is a key for success
> between adults? From
> > that same point of view: It is possible to think,
> like mister Joel
> > Rickett - news editor of the Bookseller website-
> says, that the "Harry
> > Potter phenomenon also coincided with a time when
> it became
> > fashionable for adults to indulge in children's
> activities, such as
> > computer games"?.
> 
> I think Chapman is right - although I think many
> children pick up 
> on many of these levels as well. There is a lot of
> subtext, the 
> books can be read simply as stories, but there is so
> much more 
> there.
> 
> As for Rickett - he might be right. I've always
> indulged in 
> children's activities as an adult - in many cases,
> more than I did 
> as a child. I'm not sure if it's more fashionable or
> not.
>  
> > 4. Mister Rickett also says that the aura
> surrounding the author as
> > a factor in Harry Potter's appeal to an adult
> audience. "The books are
> > the product of one person which gives them an air
> of authenticity.
> > The romantic image of a single mother writing
> stories in a caf is
> > appealing.", he says. What do you think about
> that?
> 
> It is appealing, yes... it's a success story and
> that does have an 
> appeal. But I don't know how major it is. I started
> reading these 
> books before I had a clue who J.K. Rowling was.
> 
> > 5. "Families were going into bookshops and buying
> up multiple copies
> > on the first day of sale. Adults could not wait
> for the paperback
> > grown-up version to come out," said a Bloomsbury
> spokesperson. 
=== message truncated ===

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