Reviewers, Fans, and the Reception of DH (was Re: Stephen King on Book 7)

[lupinlore]

No: HPFGUIDX 175128

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Lee Kaiwen <leekaiwen at ...> wrote:

> 
> OK, I'm just going to repeat something I heard somewhere, but I 
thought 
> I recently read a bit of research that suggested the HP phenom 
hasn't, 
> after all, had a measurable impact on youth reading rates. Kids who 
> read, read HP; kids who don't just wait for the movie.
> 
> Ring any bells with anyone?
> 
> Lee Kaiwen, Taiwan
>

It certainly has been quoted in the Washington Post by the head of 
their Book Section.  Of course, not having the raw data, I can't say 
whether he was correctly quoting the evidence or not.

It was part of his comments about HP in general, which I thought very 
interesting.  He has become progressively suspicious of the HP 
phenomenon over the years, but not because of JKR or the books.  He 
said, and I'm paraphrasing, he thought they were an enjoyable set of 
children's novels, but he finds some of the beliefs percolating 
through the fandom to be, at the very least, questionable.

Specifically, he said that he always gets a queasy feeling when asked 
to speak about the Potterverse, particularly when he's asked to do so 
in his professional role as a literary critic.  When dealing with many 
Potter fans, he feels they are demanding he stand and swear an oath of 
allegiance to the idea of JKR's literary greatness and the incredible 
service she has done for the cause of children's literacy.  Once again 
paraphrasing, "If I have the temerity to mention anything about the 
pedestrian writing style, the repetitive and derivative plots, or the 
characters that never seem to change or grow and are inserted and 
discarded whenever required by the plot's mechanics," he has to dodge 
flying cutlery.

The comment about reading rates refers to something he found to be 
even more of a problem.  According to the figures he referenced, the 
Potter phenomenon has had essentially no effect on reading rates (by 
which he means reading of fiction for pleasure and edification, non-
fiction is a totally different ball of wax).  When you control for 
population, etc., rates of reading both overall and as a function of 
age continue to decline at pretty much exactly the same pace as ten 
years ago before Potter came on the scene.  What happened, he says, is 
that JKR managed to catch lightning in a bottle, capturing such a huge 
segment of the reading market that it created the illusion that the 
market was expanding when in fact it continues to contract.  He futher 
pointed out that this is totally in keeping with the dynamics seen in 
the fiction market overall during the last decade or so, as a narrow 
group of authors monopolize a greater and greater proportion of a 
declining readership.  In 2005 five authors accounted for over 70% of 
all fiction sales (JKR was one, King was another), and there is no 
reason to believe this has changed.  This proportion looms even larger 
when you consider that much of the remaining 30% of fiction sales was 
probably accounted for by Harlequin romances and media tie-ins.

But, he said, if he has the gall to mention this in front of a group 
of Potter fans, they scream "HERESY!!" and chase him down the road 
carrying wooden beams and crucifixion nails.

Just his experience, but I have no trouble believing him.


Lupinlore