Americans love crazies. The foundation of pop culture is the crazes it creates. In our life time, we have seen the hula hoop, we have obeyed Andre the Giant and become part of his possie, and we have seen the rise of literary sensations, as Harry Potter and Lemony Sticket. No matter your view point on the famed J.K. Rowling , pronounced rolling, you can not dismiss the craze she had with her 7 book series, based around the exploits of the young wizard Harry Potter. Lemony Sticket appeared to rise on the tail winds of Rolwing success, and one wonders to what end.
I have heard many opinions on J.K Rowling. She looks like a hotter, blonder, Ann Cuthor, and is a Brit with the right idea. Harry Potter and his 7 book set are the best piece of fiction on childhood and one of the most informative social artworks of our generation. Rowling infuses Potter’s magical sub world with a canvas of reality and introduces revolutionary concepts to her young audience.
“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” starts out as any childhood book with a clear distinction between good and evil. Readers understand the abused Harry Potter is good, and Voldermort, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, is evil. However, as one dives deeper into the world of Harry Potter things become more complicated.
Inner politics rage the wizard’s discourse and Rowling is excellent her quest to display “Magic is not the element to pacify human drama.” While there is bright line between good and evil, good men break their own code to resist the evil. By the 5th book, “The Order of the Phoenix”, things really heat up. Mass confusion sweeps the wizard’s world and chaos breaks out among their ranks.
While there are many who reject Rowling’s work on the face of her popularity. One must understand Harry Potter is a tad like Elton John, a classic. Everyone enjoys Elton John for his toe tappin’ feel good beats, while his songs are at heart about personal times we all have had.
In the same way, we share Potter’s trials and tribulations through the rigors of young adulthood. He lives in a fantastic magical world, but Rolwing highlights the likeness to the real world with accents of magic. The various adventures of the Hogwart’s trio, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, we see our own growing pains on the page; their young love, quest for acceptance, and struggle to do the right thing. By the last page of the 7th book, the characters are no longer words on a page but a friend you can picture in your mind.
Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events , the smaller digestible children’s series about the troubled lives of three children, is the worst piece of capitalistic propaganda slop in print. I read the first book and struggled to make it that far. While the series is intended for a younger audience, one has to wonder if Lemony’s intent is to capture readers when they are young.
Where in the Harry Potter books, you feel a vile hate for Mrs. Arabella Figg, a antagonist in the 5th book. The artistic antagonist in “A series of unfortunate events” is more laughable and hints at a conjured nature. Rowling created her charters and detailed their adventures. Lemony Sticket created his characters and told everyone how to act.
Save the room on your book shelf for all 7 of the Harry Potter books and leave Lemony at the store. As the age of original Harry Potter readers become legal, many of your female callers will know Rowlings work intimately. You will want to have her books on your shelf; If only for an icebreaker to move on to more intimate subjects.
Tags: Books
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