Theoretical boundaries

[dumbledore11214]

No: HPFGUIDX 120245


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "lupinlore" <bob.oliver at c...> 
wrote:
Well, I understand where you are coming from.  But then I ask, why 
are these books so popular, not just with kids, but with adults?  
The only thing I can really come up with is the themes and messages 
(the one implies the other) that are in the narrative.  The 
popularity means that something about the HP themes resonate very 
deeply with people on a rather profound emotional level.
Now, the fact is that people take messages and themes very seriously 
when they have been touched on that kind of deep emotional plane.  
Sure, the books as literature are fun and it's interesting to 
speculate about different POVs and possible theories.  But I don't 
think all the people who read the books do so for that reason.  Many 
read them because of their emotional connection with the characters 
and narrative.  In other words, *because* of the relationship they 
sense between the themes/messages of the books and real life as they 
experience it.  And therefore something like child abuse by the 
Dursleys, for instance, becomes deadly serious, because it *is* 
about real life as people *really* experience it.  And the 
perception that abuse is being approved of, *in this narrative which 
touches them profoundly and thus relates to their real life in a 
very powerful way*, is an extremely important matter.



Alla:


Yep, absolutely. This is exactly how I feel. These books touch 
something within my soul that not many of the books I read before 
touched. I am still trying to understand this phenomena, because I 
read and continue to read A LOT of the books, other than adventures 
of Mr.Potter. I grew up reading and studying russian clasical 
literature. I would NEVER consider Rowling to be the same quality 
writer as I consider .... let's say Tolstoy to be, but at the same 
time, none of the books by that writer resonates with me as deeply 
as some of the characters of the "potterverse" do. 

Wierd? Yes, you bet. I, who NEVER was obsessive fan of any book or 
musical group, became an obsessive fan of the children's series.
Oh, well. There are worse things to obsess about, me thinks.


Yes, I DO have fun when I talk about the books, but some of these 
issues are indeed serious and as long as we are talking about the 
issues and not making judgments about fellow posters based on what 
they like and dislike in the books, I think we will be fine.