What does Harry do for YOU?

[nplyon]

No: HPFGUIDX 40499

> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., sabrinarae77 at y... wrote:
> I am a college student writing a paper on why Harry Potter is great 
> for adults and kids.  I would like some feedback/personal opinions 
> about why you like Harry Potter.  Thanks.
>  
> Sabrina
> 

There are so many things that I like about the HP books.  For one, I 
am thrilled that they have inspired a love of reading in children.  I 
think that this is wonderful in a day and age where kids usually seek 
constant stimulation in the form of video games and television.  
There seems to be a lot of poeple who think the written word is a 
dying art form but I, for one, believe it has the power to captivate 
in a way that no other medium does.  I am an avid reader and think 
that almost anything that makes people want to read is wonderful.

However, I am also very heartened when people love to read something 
that is very, very well written.  After all, I don't want everyone 
reading with relish because they think Danielle Steele is the best 
author in the history of the written world.  :)  I would much rather 
they read something by an author like JKR, whose prose is evocative, 
richly detailed, and devilishly clever.  I admire her writing very, 
very much.

These things aside, I just love the books.  They are so richly 
detailed and I like being transported to an unfamiliar world.  I like 
the sly humor in them, I like the fully-drawn characters, and I like 
the interesting, exciting plot lines.  I think that one of my 
favorite things about them, though, is the idea of seemingly ordinary 
people doing extraordinary and heroic things, and this is not just 
shown through Harry.  As many people have mentioned, even poor 
Neville Longbottom shows a great deal of courage when he stands up to 
HRH in SS/PS.  I also like the undercurrent of morality that runs 
through them.  Harry has his moments when he acts in a manner that is 
not entirely nice but, underneath it all, he is a decent person who 
is trying to do the right thing.  Actually, I'm glad that he 
sometimes reacts to things in ways that are petty and selfish because 
that makes him human.  He'd be boring and preachy if he was 100% good 
100% of the time.

In sum, I just think that JKR has the great gift of writing something 
to which so many people feel they can relate.  The people who read 
her books see glimpses of themselves in some of the characters.  
These are people they can imagine themselves befriending or 
detesting.  The readers of the books genuinely care about the 
characters and what happens to them and that's what keeps them coming 
back for more.  As I told my husband tonight, I hate finishing book 4 
because all I want to do is pick up book 5 and keep on reading!

~Nicole, who remembers the glory days when I was young and my parents 
couldn't have *paid* me to stay inside and watch TV rather than 
running around outside using my imagination with my friends.