There may be some raised eyebrows, but I want to shed some light on an author who is without doubt a genius of our time.
When the first of this series came out, Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, English teachers across the UK held their breath.
Before this magical fantasy novel was released there wasn’t really anything on the market that captured the hearts of tweens, teens and adults alike.
It was actually my husband that queued outside our book store for two hours to purchase The Chamber of Secrets released a year after the first book.
I was teaching English in high school at the time and I have never found it so easy to engage students in class, and my husband and grown-up children at home.
This is not the preconceived tween book for children only, Joanne bridges a generation, the series follows the life of a boy named Harry Potter.
In the first book, Harry lives in a cupboard under the stairs in the house of his aunt, uncle and cousin, who all treat him poorly.
At the age of 11, Harry discovers that he is a wizard.
He meets a half-giant named Rubeus Hagrid who invites him to attend the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and Harry learns that his parents were murdered by the dark wizard.
When Voldemort attempted to kill Harry, his curse rebounded seemingly killing Voldemort, and Harry survived with a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead.
Presently, this may indeed sound like a children’s fairy tale but don’t be fooled, as the series progresses the darkness builds.
The novels fall into the genre of fantasy literature and qualify as a type of fantasy called urban fantasy, contemporary fantasy, or low fantasy, but they are mainly dramas and maintain a fairly serious and dark tone throughout, though they do contain some notable instances of tragi-comedy and black humour.
In many respects, they are also examples of the bildungsroman, or a coming of age novel, and contain elements of mystery, adventure, horror, thriller and romance.
The books are also, in the words of Stephen King, “shrewd, ingenious mystery tales” and each book is constructed in the manner of a Sherlock Holmes style adventure.
The stories are told from a third-person, limited point of view with very few exceptions (such as the opening chapters of Philosopher’s Stone, Goblet of Fire and Deathly Hallows, and the first two chapters of Half-Blood Prince).
The Harry Potter series has been a global phenomenon since its debut with more than 500 million copies sold worldwide, and it has officially been translated into 82 languages.
Success of the book series also led to eight film adaptations and earned an estimated $7.7B in sales revenue for JK Rowling, who became a billionaire.
Harry Potter is the top-selling book series in history; this alone should pique your interest but please trust me, keep an open mind and delve into this series. My son was so enamoured he even named his dog after Professor Remus Lupin.
Julie Chessman – The Bookshop Umina