I've been recently tempted to re-read the Harry Potter series. Yes, I'm 21. Please don't judge.
I adooored these books when they first came out. My mom read The Sorcerer's Stone first with her "unofficial work book club" and later gave me it to read so we could discuss it before the movie came out. I was instantly hooked and impatiently waited for the series' consecutive releases. I was 19 when the last book, Deathly Hallows, was published. Nostalgic moment, but a friend of mine and I would spend our summers reading this series. We would put our copies on hold at the bookstore and race, like dweebs, trying to finish first because we were so afraid the other would ruin the parts we didn't get to. Those were good summers. <3
I was waitressing during the summer the last book came out and on one of my daily trips to Costco I saw the most amazing thing: A mother grocery shopping with 3 kids, ages roughly 6 to 8, sitting in her oversized shopping cart, each completely engaged in their own individual copy of Deathly Hallows. It was a really, really beautiful sight. I think I may have turned slightly stalkerish because I ended up following them around a bit. I just never thought I'd see something like that again. Books rarely contain the power to ensue phenomena, but J.K. Rowling made children love to read again. It is truly amazing if you think about it.
Now let's not confuse this phenomena with "The Twilight Saga" hysteria because in all honesty, the Twilight books are really bad. Stephanie Meyer simply feeds off of the one prominent desire embedded within every teenage girl from here to East Bumble. You know, the one where we all want to be completely swept off our feet by that attractive unattainable guy who only has eyes for us. Sound familiar? It should. It's beneath Sociology 101. In reality, it's the only thing keeping this series afloat. I've read the books (back in the day when Twilight was actually in hardcover) and I never "fell in love" with it the way most people do. I found it to be cheesy and it dragged on for ages. I couldn't wait to be finished. I even have a theory on how this obnoxious hysteria ensued. Once a small group of girls started squeeing over Edward Cullan, a snowball effect most likely occurred until it was dubbed "popular" by the masses. Followers following Followers because it only takes one moron to give a novel critical acclamation. It's kind of like Hitler and his Nazi's - just not as dangerous. However, they are equally annoying, close-minded and all up-in-your-face. Untasteful comparison? My apologies. Anyway, this effect is easy to accomplish, especially with internet. This has seriously got to be the only logical reason because God knows no one can honestly be a fan of Meyer's "talent." Like most, I wanted to see what the fuss was about so I continued to read her series. I couldn't finish the last book though, the writing was so awkward - I was in pain. In fact, I'm not the only one who feels this way.
According to Stephen King, “Both Rowling and Meyer, they’re speaking directly to young people… The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good.” While Stephen may not be a fan of Stephenie’s writing, he understands the appeal of the series. “People are attracted by the stories, by the pace, and in the case of Stephenie Meyer, it’s very clear that she’s writing to a whole generation of girls and opening up kind of a safe joining of love and sex in those books. It’s exciting and it’s thrilling and it’s not particularly threatening because it’s not overtly sexual.” He further explains, “A lot of the physical side of it is conveyed in things like, the vampire will touch her forearm or run a hand over skin, and she just flushes all hot and cold. And for girls, that’s a shorthand for all the feelings that they’re not ready to deal with yet.” [Source:
MSNBC]
When it comes down to it, Twilight is a fad. Most people "love" it because they feel like they are suppose to love it. The Harry Potter Series, however, will be read in classrooms and put on Summer Reading Lists next to The Little Women. Rowling created something amazing with these books and for the rest of my life I will never forget those 3 tiny children in a shopping cart reading books the size of dictionaries.
It breaks my heart to know that my four year old niece, Amina, missed out on the Harry Potter excitement. It kind of makes me wonder if she'll ever experience anything like it. Hopefully in the next few years, a Rowling 2.0 will emerge and parents will stay up until midnight with their kids and buy them books rather than take them to movies. Either way, Amina's got Me, so I can assure you that when she's old enough we will spend every summer reading Harry Potter books. Then, we'll discuss them before finally watching the movies.
