What Makes Them Special (was POA - Book vrs movie)

[LadySawall at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 100496

In a message dated 06/08/2004 2:15:58 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Annemehr 
writes:
To bring this vaguely on to topic for the main list, there must be a
reason (or several?) why these books mean so much to so many of us. 
Jo Rowling's definitely tapped into something, but I can't put my
finger on it.  And, why could she do it when so many other authors
have never come close?
---

Jo Ann:

For myself, I'd say it's because she does such a good job of creating a 
suspension of disbelief.  Her characters feel real, and the rules of her universe 
are consistent (if not always perfectly so.) 

Another thing is the complexity of the HP universe...there are very clear 
moral underpinnings to the story, but it never becomes preachy, and in places the 
struggle between good and evil gets just as muddy as it does in RL.  The same 
facts and events change as we are presented with new information and POV's.  
(Which may be why you weren't caught until your second reading of SS--each 
time you read it, you reinterpret the events in light of what you know will be 
coming later.  I did the same thing.)  It requires the reader to think, and yet 
in spite of the length of the later books, it's a pretty easy read.

Myself, I haven't come across a fantasy series so elaborately detailed and 
internally consistent in a long time.  I can understand why JKR is often 
connected with the Inklings--Narnia, and especially Middle-Earth, had the same sort 
of richness to them.

And it's clever, and funny.  There are a a lot of familiar or half-familiar 
elements presented in cool new ways, and some completely original things (like 
the Marauder's Map) that make me laugh out loud, or just capture my 
imagination (like Quidditch--which is now officially my favorite sport.  :)   )

I've often thought of the intro to my old paperback 'Lord of the Rings' set 
in connection with Harry Potter, because it seems to sum up nicely the 
attraction that both series share.  (Paraphrasing here, as the books are in storage):

"Lovers of Middle-Earth want to go there.  I would myself, like a shot...For 
in the end it is Middle-Earth and its inhabitants that we love, not Tolkien's 
considerable gifts in bringing them to us."

Which to me illustrates the distinction between books like LotR and HP and 
other well-written, but much more forgettable series.  It's one thing to admire 
a book and the skill of the person who wrote it, and something else to want to 
climb inside and live in it.

Much as I admire and thank JKR, given the choice between meeting her in 
person or visiting Hogwarts, I know which I'd choose...

Jo Ann


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