[HPforGrownups] A loving companion ( What do you like best about the HP books?)

[Heather Gauen]

No: HPFGUIDX 72999

Wow. For someone who claims to have an uneasy grasp of
English, this was very eloquently written :)

Really, all of your observations resonate with me
because they go a long way towards helping me
understand my own obession with the books. I, too,
have had friends dismiss them too quickly as
"mainstream" and think that I'm strange for liking
what they think is a children's book. (This angers me
for two reasons: one, because I picked up SS when I
was 12, long before Harry Potter was a household name,
and two, because the books truly are of high literary
merit. I'm waiting for the day they appear on a
school's required reading list.)

iris_ft wrote:
>I'm not saying that JK Rowling's style is
poor...(snip)...She forced herself to use an
"essential style", banning out of her books the
temptation of complication. This doesn't mean that
Harry Potter's style is dull, easy, or that she
doesn't care what she writes. On the very contrary,
I'm sure she chooses her words and structures with a
lot of care. Simply, she doesn't want to lose touch
with the essence of the story, with the signification
of what happens to her young hero. She doesn't want to
close the door she's trying to open to all of us.     
                  

Me:
*Exactly.* I'm the first one to wave the "They're NOT
kids' books" banner, but I'm thrilled that they are
written in a way that everyone can enjoy, not just
English teachers ;) I'm a huge Lord of the Rings fan
now, but when I first read them at age 10 or 11 I
couldn't hack them; they were just too complicated and
verbose. It really took the release of the movies to
make me love (and understand) them, and I know that's
true of a lot of people. Rowling skillfully avoids
"closing that door" (again, beautifully said!) to her
readers. I think it is the mark of some incredible
storytelling to say that if I fell into the story, if
I got a Hogwarts letter and went off to the wizarding
world tomorrow, I would have no trouble fitting in. I
think Hogwarts would feel like home and Harry, Ron,
and Hermione would be my best friends simply because I
feel as though I already know them all so well. Though
I love many different books, I don't know of any other
I could truthfully say that about.

iris_ft writes:
Universal books. Easy to read, gripping, full of
invention. Resisting a sharp analyze. A total work of
art. A total micro cosmos. And, yes, a companion for 
our own journey. When I realized, after my very first
reading, what this book really was, I cried (if you
think that I was stupid, well, I won't disagree). It
was the first time I did it because of a book. It was 
the same emotion as the one I had felt while listening
to Haendel's Messiah for the first time, or
discovering Giovanni Bellini's paintings in Venice.
Book, oratorio, paintings. Loving companions. I
received the Harry Potter books as I received
Haendel's oratorio and Bellini's paintings; as a gift
I had been waiting for for a long time.

Me:
*Sniffle.* Certainly I can't call you stupid, because
I've sobbed over Harry more than once (and not just at
the sad parts). And I always did wonder if I was a
little odd, getting *too* into them, but you're
absolutely right. It's no different than falling in
love with art or music. And I think it's for all the
same reasons- we love the things we love because we
identify with them, they resonate with us, they speak
to us, and they accompany us on our own journeys. I
adore your use of the phrase "loving companions"
because that's *precisely* what Harry has been to me.
I was going through a very rough time in my life when
I began the books, and they were a kind of friend to
me. Since we've remained close in age (I actually was
Harry's age for books 2, 3, and 4, though the delayed
release of OoP lengthened the gap a bit), I feel as
though Harry and I have grown up together. And I have
Rowling to thank for all of this, for sharing her
story. Reading her books has made me want to be a
writer, and that's probably the highest praise I can
offer.

As for the symbolism, I certainly can't claim to
understand all of the symbols in the books, and while
I enjoyed Hans' "Path of Liberation" posts I also
can't claim to have fully grasped all of it. But, hey,
that's why I'm here- in addition to all the healthy
debate, I've probably learned as much about literature
in the two years I've been a member here at HPfGU as I
did in a whole year of AP English! And everything I
learn makes me love it all a little bit more.

Okay, I'm now feeling so emotional about the whole
thing that what I really need is a stiff drink...but
that's the other reason I joined this group- I get to
talk to people who feel the same way about it that I
do.

Just my, oh, 5 knuts,
Heather
- Wonder what liquor mixes well with pumpkin juice? :)





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