Dept. of Mysteries, "Love" room.

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 130394

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "madorganization"
<alishak at s...> wrote:

Alisha:

> However she (JKR) has said over and over again that she is
> writing these books for herself, not for any of her readers. She
> also said that she never expected the books to be so popular. So,
> while the Harry Potter series may end up being immensely popular
(no
> matter how much I love it, I don't think it will ever be
> a "classic"), JKR is /not/ writing a classic story. She's writing
> her story, and if Harry (or Ron or Hermione) has to die in order
> for her artistic and literary conscience to be pacified, then he
> will.

Geoff:
One of my dictionaries has, among its definitions of "classic", the
following:
Adjective (1) judged over a period of time to be of the highest
quality
Noun (1) a work of art of established value (2) a thing recognised to
be an excellent example of its kind.

My own personal view is that the Harry Potter books fit those
definitions. There is no law which states that popular fiction cannot
be classic. Much of Dickens' work was published as magazine material
to begin with yet remains judged as being of the highest quality.

I am not necessarily drawn by a story that is labelled classic but by
a story which, once I have read it, I feel I want to read it again
(and possibly again and again...). One of the great attractions to me
about JKR's work is that, like Tolkien, it is unique as a genre in
its blending of the real world with the Wizarding World and its
ability to make us see our real selves – with our lack of magical
ability – as almost deprived within the context of the book. And,
like "The Lord of the Rings", deep down at its heart, it draws on the
Christian - and common sense? - background of British culture without
brandishing it in our faces.

I make no bones about the fact that I dearly want to see Harry live.
There are few characters in literature to whom I have felt such
rapport as Harry because, as I have said in previous posts, I see
myself behaving in similar ways as a teenager growing up into the
adult world and enduring the setbacks, uncertainties, the highs and
the lows of that particular time of our lives. I agree with what many
folk have said in that he has moved from being a withdrawn,
dysfunctional boy of 11 suddenly thrust into the spotlight and
catapulted into a new world, to someone who has been forced to
develop coping and people skills. Yes, he doesn't always listen to
advice, he thinks on his feet and makes the wrong decisions; but he
stands by his friends, he sees which side is right and he tries to
use his powers and knowledge to shape the world he lives in rather
than sitting back and letting Voldemort make all the play. In that,
he is an everyman for us all to recognise.

I hope Jo Rowling does let her hero live and come out of the
experience in one piece. Not a "happily ever after" scenario; very
few of us in real life do that. We all come out of life like a well-
used car with dented bumpers and scratched wings! Then will he retain
classic status and give encouragement to those folk who do not feel
that they are among the movers and shakers but who would like to feel
that they have left the world a little better because they passed
that way. In the film version of "The Lord of the Rings", Galadriel
says to Frodo: "Even the smallest person can change the course of the
future" and that should be an encouragement to all those of us who
are "Harrys" at heart.