"Can I tell you something without you thinking less of me?" I asked Aaron the other night after the kids went to bed. A little too reluctantly he said, "I'll do my best not to think less of you?" To which I admitted, "I think I might read the Harry Potter books." And Aaron burst out laughing.
I think he was expecting something more serious. But in a way, it is serious. I have boycotted reading Harry Potter for years. I've seen 2 or 3 of the movies (one of which was all in German), and thought they were dumb. But the biggest reason I haven't ever read Harry Potter is mostly just because everyone under the sun and their dog told me I just HAD to read Harry Potter because it was the BEST book ever. I'm not one to read a book just because it's the latest craze. In fact, I usually purposely avoid the latest reading crazes. And I highly doubt that I'll think Harry Potter is the best book ever. Besides, there are WAY too many titles on my list of to-reads that I would consider to be of a higher quality than Harry Potter, so why waste my limited amount of reading time on that, when I could be using that time to read other things?
And my above stated positions mostly still stand. I think I might mildly enjoy Harry Potter, but I think it will be a brainless, lite, fluffly read. I usually like to read something that leaves me thinking hard about it after I walk away from it. The kinds of books that don't wrap themselves up into neat little packages at the end. Ya, I'm that nerdy kid whose most favorite books include Lord of the Flies, The Grapes of Wrath, and Frankenstein.
But it did occur to me the other day that, although it probably won't qualify as classic literature any time soon, there might be some kind of historical merit to reading the series. Harry Potter has caused a pretty big stir, and inspired lots and lots of other series of the same kind. I like the idea that the author wrote the books at a level that matured with it's audience. I don't know if that's ever been done before, so that's a point in it's favor. Not to mention that Harry Potter has inspired a lot of people, who normally wouldn't be caught dead reading a book, to read thousands of pages, and that's a pretty big feat. In other words...
My jury is still out...so be prepared, I might be doing the unthinkable one of these days. :)
5 comments:
I don't know if I'd call that a burst... but I was definitely expecting something more serious :)
I was going to tell you today that you should really just take the plunge. The first ones are light and fluffy and maybe not your style, but I think you'll really enjoy the later ones. Don't judge the rest of the series by book 1. I really didn't enjoy book 1 the first time I read them because it was kind of simple. By the end of the second book I was hooked. They do get darker and heavier as you go. And they don't all have nice, happy, packaged endings. There is a deeper, underlining meaning in all of them surrounding prejudice and the human condition. I'm not going to say that you will love them and they will be your favorite books, but I really think you will enjoy them.
-Misty
I was always in awe of JK Rowling when I read the books - that some nobody author came up with an incredible world of fantasy and magic that literally hooked millions. Not every author can claim that ;) But anywho, there were some of the books I didn't like as much but some that were pretty good. Good luck with your reading ;)
I felt the same about them as you did the more people telling me I had to read them the less I wanted to but then my english class 10th grade we read the first two in class. It was enough to get me intrigued but i didnt not finshes reading the series unitl a couple years ago when I cheated and listened to them on my MP3 player while I was working instead of actaully reading the book i did end up enjoying them.
I was also the same way when they first came out...I was in high school and "too old" or something like that. Or maybe I was reading "more important" books. But I'd also say go for it--they're some of my favorite books and have given me enough to think and talk about for a long time!
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