hmm....All this buzz about Harry Potter really forced me to think.
WHY?
Why is Harry Potter so goddamn famous. Its almost iconic today. If you havent got Harry stuff you just aren't COOL. But why should I have Harry books? They certainely aren't the best ones around.
So why are they the most famous books of our times?
The major reason is the marketting. The people at Bloomsburry jumped on the gun as soon as they saw its potential. And follow it with movies and kidstuff. And Voi-la.....we have a bestseller. Their target audience was a generation of TV bred kids like us. Hardly one out of ten reads. Soon word spread about this new book, the Potter Mania was born and the buzz just got bigger and bigger.
Parents loved it because it taught their children the ' value of reading' but honestly tell me, How many kids whose first book was Harry Potter ever read anything else?
For me Harry Potter is akin to a scar on the fantasy genre of writing. It really doesn't involve the two main ideals of fantasy to a very great deal- Dream(imagination) and Freedom(the creation of another world).
What Rowling has done is to embibe the true myths of many countries into a typical hollywood plot. Add to them just lots of colour without depth and average teen thoroughfare and you get Potter. The young teen who supposedly symbolises all of us.
But no matter how much I may be biased against it I might be wrong. The reason I despise it is because it really steals the fame from other books that are much better in plot, fiction, creation and emotions in everyway.
I myself am a slave for Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. Such depth of charecter, such deep politics, the reality of his fiction is unnerving. The true humane weaknesses and strength of his charecters leave me spellbound , the way RAnd Al'Thor rises from a mere shephard to the Dragon Reborn and rewrites all history. SPELLBINDING. Also the colours of all the cultures and groups with their political ambitions is amazing. It would take a master to think such plotlines up. When I first read the first book of the series I thought it would end in the next book, but no 11 books and it still hasnt ended . At at no place is it a drag. The plot keeps on dragging you in. Ah and as budding author I just can stop from mentioning the fact that the names in his books are amazing, Rand Al'Thor, Perrin,Lan Mandragon,Sightblinder,Moghedion,Moiraine,Lanfear etc..
I must say I enjoyed reading the harr potter books a bit, but only because I like things very easily, but it pales in comparison to Tolkien, Jordan or Pullman.
Please do give your comments. I eagerly await them.
Arul Vanorien
4 comments:
Well presented .... cool in fact ... But don't you think that you were a little bit too biased ... Because only publicity ... could not sell these many copies ... Harry Potter revived the children's literature, which was heading towards a dead end . And yeah, I might say that she lost a bit of grip in the sixth book, but till then it was really fantastic. And lets see how she wraps it up ... We Indians are prone to fantasy...We are fed on it ... and hence may under rate it ...Good Analysis though ...
True man....was a little biased....actually I am frustrated by the fact that loads of aother authors who are way way better than her are struggling with mediocre or lower status, fame and earnings. She is too over hyped.
And ya we indians are bred on myths and fantasies from the cradle itself.
Thanks for your comments.
SHUT UP
kyun chhavi...why should i shut up...wana argue about it then lets hit the gas...............
Post a Comment