FAQ -- The Universal Appeal of Harry Potter

[foxmoth at qnet.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 23558

	I think Peter S. Beagle said, writing about the Lord of the Rings, 
that certain books have the power to draw you into a world of their 
own, which seems to have been going on before you got there, and will 
continue to exist after you leave.
	Books like that come along maybe once in a generation, and they 
have the potential to become enormously popular. They bring us as close 
as most of us will ever come to real magic. They give us what Tolkien 
called the power of "sub-creation". By creating an interior universe  
they restore us briefly to Paradise...erasing the distinction between 
the self and the other, allowing us, in discovering a new world, to 
recapture our innocence.
	This is the 'escapist' power which  critics are wary of, either 
because they think escapism itself is bad (Tolkien said the only people 
who are opposed to escape are the jailers) or because they think they 
have a better path out of the dungeon of self we are all in. And 
because this escapist effect is so powerful it can be addictive, as 
Dumbledore himself warns, "It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget 
to live."
	 Literary critics find it vexing that a book need not be well 
crafted in order to have this effect--it's just our good luck that the 
Potter books do have interesting characters, an innovative structure 
and loads of wit both subtle and obvious. As my mom (who loves the 
books) would say, "What's not to like?"

Pippin