I long to write about Patricia Wrede but that will have to wait. In honor of this the final Harry Potter movie and the end of an era, I want to talk a little bit about J.K. Rowling and what she has done for children, magic, and literacy.
According to Rowling's website, Harry Potter was first conceived during a train delay and finally came to fruition years later in Edinburgh after the birth of her older daughter and the dissolution of her marriage. As if single motherhood to a real child wasn't difficult enough, Rowling worked hard to give the world Harry Potter. My mom bought the books as a set: the first four hardcovers in a box, just for my little brother to interest him in reading. I, for one, had refused to take part in such a ridiculous movement and anyway, at 14, I was clearly too old for these children's stories. Anyone who knows me, though, knows that I can't be in the vicinity of a book for a prolonged time without reading it. And there these four books were, in my very house, waiting. Possibly staring at me. Certainly demanding my attention. I gave in and, immediately rapt, read one after the other, after the other, until I was done and when was this fifth book coming out, anyway? These are not exceptionally well-written books nor is the concept that magic is hiding in everyday life just out of our reach totally original. Rowling's true genius in Harry Potter was that, as her initial batch of readers grew older, as did Harry...and his story. Correct me if I'm wrong, but no other children's series that I am familiar with has evolved from book to book, aging the character and making the plot darker and more complex, with such excellent pacing. This is a series that grabs your attention and refuses to let it go, refuses to allow you to grow out of it. Harry Potter grew up with me, so much so that I dragged my fiance along with me in 2007 for the midnight book release for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. He now asks me every other day when we're going to see the last movie. Soon, I say.
I also love what Rowling has done for children's literacy. I subscribe to the books=drugs theory in that there are gateway books that will lead people to more difficult and totally hardcore books or even just more books in general. Rowling's Potter books are the ultimate gateway books. She's created a recognizable world but with a twist, a sympathetic hero and surrounded him with a great complementary cast of characters, and a wicked villain who everyone loves to hate. They're accessible and interesting, funny and sad, and best of all, they're addictive like crazy and they'll hook 'em while they're young. Children who work their way through all seven Harry Potter novels are not going to simply stop reading at the end of Deathly Hallows. They'll want more books like Harry Potter and then more books, any books that sound interesting. Rowling is creating a whole new batch of book junkies out of a generation that would have likely found its place permanently parked in front of the television if it hadn't been for her. I think that's beautiful.
Thanks to Rowling, too, other authors are getting exposure that they deserve. (See, I'm going to work her in anyway:) Older books involving magic for the same general demographic of readers are being reprinted and released with shiny new cover art...wonderful books like Mairelon the Magician and The Magician's Ward by Patricia Wrede have been combined in an omnibus edition titled A Matter of Magic. Granted, themes will fall in and out of fashion (vampire books were cool when I was a teenager 13 years ago and, thanks to Twilight, are back in), but it always takes one big book to act as a catalyst and I believe that Rowling brought back the magic to young adult literature with Harry Potter.
A single mother created an outcast boy and in introducing magic to his life, she gave it to all of the rest of us. It's not so much the ordering of her words but the fact that they exist, that they caught on like fire, and that the story she began burns on in the people who read it--that's the magic. Thank you, J.K. Rowling.
It's funny that you wrote this post because I wrote one in a similar vein just yesterday. I do have to disagree with you on one point: I am of the hard-core fan opinion that they are exceptionally well-written. Her pacing, humor and true feelings of angst and self-doubt are things that I only wish I could recreate in my own writing.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the genius of her aging the series with her first batch of readers was incredible. Now that they're all out, though, I find that this poses a problem. My nephew, for example, is about to enter second grade and while his parents let him read the first two books, they won't allow him to continue on (for obvious reasons). As a child, this would have frustrated me to no end. Don't rope me into a series and then tell me I'm too young to finish it! But what's the alternative? Making all children wait to read until they're old enough for the last book poses the risk of them finding the first couple books too juvenile and then losing interest. This is a problem I'm sure I'll grapple with as my own son grows up because there's no way in hell he's growing up without Harry Potter. :)
I read your post; it was excellent. :)
ReplyDeleteMy books are in Minnesota, otherwise I'd go into greater detail about the things that bothered me about her writing. There were word choices that bothered me that I can't just chalk up to British-English vs. American-English and some character behavior that I just couldn't see the drive for. You and I should have this talk sometime in September when I'll have brought all the rest of my things to NY.
You're very right--that initial stroke of genius is turning out to be a bit counterproductive when it comes to new readers. While not ideal, they could be meted out as birthday or Christmas presents, one a year, and made a traditional gift. But I can see the frustration: what worked out so well for us is going to be really difficult to manage for our children. Let me know when you come up with a solution!