Exactly 20 years
ago - June 26, 1997 - there was a novel "Harry Potter and the
Philosopher's Stone" published by Joan K. Rowling. It was the beginning of
a whole series of books about a little wizard. Harry Potter became the most
important literary character of the 21st century and certainly the most popular
one. Adults and children fell in love with books written by Rowling - with
detailed descriptions of the magical world, a complex plot, and humor.
The first edition
of the book about Harry Potter was released by English publishing house
Bloomsbury on June 26, 1997. Only 500 copies were issued, and 350 of them were
bought by provincial British libraries. Ten years later, on July 21, 2007, the
seventh part of the cycle was released. Only for the first day of sales of the
book in the world was brought out 11 million copies. And today, ten years later,
the total circulation of novels about the wizard boy has exceeded half a
billion.
A queue for a book in one of the shops in
California.
"Harry
Potter" has formed a whole generation. And this generation is truly
global, universal. Today you will not find a person under thirty, who wouldn`t
have heard of the novel by Joan Rowling. Whoever knew the word
"Quidditch", didn`t say, "fifty points to Gryffindor!". And
at the least once in my life, I didn`t have a magic wand in my hands. For many
people around the world, the universe created by Joan Rowling has become an
international code system. The world today "speaks" in the language
of "Harry Potter" without even thinking about it.
Harry
Potter Wizard's Collection
The main knowledge
that the history of the wizard boy gave us is that barriers separating people
are nothing more than illusions than was commonly believed. Eight publishers
rejected the Rowling manuscript. The refusal was based on the slow development
of events in the book, a lot of details and complexity that may be too hard for
children. They also doubted whether children would read a novel written by a
woman. Therefore, the name "J. K. Rowling" was written in such a way
as to conceal the sex of the author.
Harry Potter
struck this wall. The bastion of the "incomprehensible children's
world", in which long books do not have the right to exist, fell without a
single shot. Children had to read simple stories, but they always dreamed of a
real novel, which was written by Joanne Rowling. The appearance of the novel
caused a change in the traditional system of children's reading.
"Platform 9¾" sign on London King's Cross
railway station.
Harry Potter
destroyed the unspoken taboo on "frivolous" reading for adults. The
history of the boy wizard freed children from compulsory literature. Rowling
showed that a fairy tale about wizards can be of interest to people of any age.
Joan K. Rowling with Harry Potters fans.
Twenty years ago,
a story began that showed the world that it is much more complete. People
belonging to different civilizations can shout with pleasure
"Expelliarmus!" and fly on a broomstick. Adults aren't different from
children in their tastes and interests. Cultural barriers, which seemed
insurmountable, were scattered by a single swing of the magic wand. And all this
we owe the thin and shaggy orphan in ridiculous round glasses. There are only
few heroes in the world who have made such a generous gift to humanity.
1 Are
you familiar with the story of Harry Potter? Have you read books or watched a
movie? How old were you, when you first heard about Harry Potter?
Did
this story affect your life, and if so, how?
What
are your favorite characters in the novel? Why did you choose them?
Sources:
Comments
Story affected me in the way that now every book I'm reading is average. To be serious, there is something in this books, maybe magic itself? Story is so special that I can not find words to describe it. If you haven't read those series, change it and read it today - you will not be disappointed! I've read series from Stephen King, George Martin, Tolkien etc. but in my opinion there is no other book series that can be compered with HP.
HP has a lot of great supporting characters. My favourites are:
- Professor Lupin, mostly because he is so interesting and warm character, also he is very funny. His introduction was great, funny and mysterious at the same time. Favourite character, for sure.
- Sirius Black, because his character changes a lot during books. He starts as a villain to end as a one of favourite characters from series. Well played, ms Rowling!
- Bill Weasley, mostly because I found him very cool when I was younger - piercing, dragons and most beautiful girlfriend? I wanted to be like him.
- Dolores Umbridge for being best villain in book, even better than Voldemort.
There are ton of others characters that I like, but those are my favourite ones.
Above all, the main three, Harry Potter, Hermiona Granger and Ron Weasley :) I like also Severus Snape. Although at first I thought he was on this dark side, but later it turned out that he always had good intentions and protected Harry. I would like it to be a continuation of this story :)
Watching this movie always brought me a lot of emotions but the perceprion of the movie would be different if I watched it today.
As a rule, in contrast to Draco Malfoy and Slytherine I loved the trio- Harry, Ron and Hermiona. I choose them cuz they generally fought against evil.
My favorite character was always Harry Potter himself, because of his problem solving skills and being a great quidditch player :)
This story did not affect my life.
But I will remember all my life how the best tale :)
Favorite character in the novel is Severus Snape. He showed himself as a villain, but all the time helped Harry.
My favourite character was Harry, because as a small girl I was in love with him. Hm, actually I was in love with every main character in every movie/book when I was a child haha
I am very glad to meet a person who also admires this universe. I'm ready to agree, the films were terrible. I can review the first three. Maybe I'll make myself see the fourth. But the rest is a nightmare. Especially the seventh, I'm not ashamed to say that I saw them only once, at the cinema. I also read the eighth book, but alas she disappointed me. I tend to the idea that the desire to earn in it was stronger than the desire to please the fans.
I love to read the fantasy books. I will not lie if I say that I read one book a day. But still, Harry Potter forces him to come back to him again and again.
It's cool that we both love Sirius Black, I'm very saddened by his fate. And I don't stop to think how the story would have changed if he did not get in prison. Thank you for your lovely comment.
This story didn't affect on my life, it is just a tale and even when i was about 8 years old, i was not naive )
My favourite character is Ron Weasley, he is so funny and making me laugh all the time. All things that he made were so clumsy and i can't imagine movie without this kind of character. Also i was a fan of Hagrid, just because of his beard, it's crazy and huge.
Well the story affected my life is such way that rather than doing my school homework I was reading the damn books about wizards. Right decision 10/10 :D
The question about favorite character is difficult. Maybe Fred and George Weasley? They were crazy and funny and I liked it.
I know a lot about the world of Harry Potter however I'm not a geek. I consider it only as a good book and great movies (I love the soundtracks).
My favourite character is Sirius Black, Harry's uncle. He was a noble person and could transform into a dog ;)
Has it affected my life? Of course not :) It's unreal film and it can't happen in our life.
My favorite character was Harry Potter. He was very helpful and showed that good always triumphs over evil.
I learned to read using those books. Not in general, but an a middle school level. I always got bored by reading books, I doubt I've ever finished a book for school, but this series was always special. I used to read them aloud to my younger sister, we used to fight whose turn it was to read. I used to own all the books in audiobook format and listen to them while falling asleep (I found it really helps you calm down when you're ill and are having some crazy exhausting dreams). It was an undeniably huge part of my childhood, and the fact the the characters grew along me only multiplied my fascination with it.
Favourite characters :)
I recall my friend writing love letters to Emma Watson, the actress who played Hermione in the movies. Apparently he was able to obtain her "real" e-mail address. And out of the male fans of the movie, he certainly wasn't the only one. You could probably call her the "princess Leia" of out generation.
There were many likeable characters in that book, the great strength of the main hero, was that he had complexity. He had problems, vices, he behaved like an asshole from time to time, making him much easier to connect with.
Personally I liked how she completed the Snape's story arc. Can't say that I've liked him in the past, he wasn't written to be a likeable character, but that ending was a true masterpiece of storytelling.
Did this story affect your life, and if so, how?
What are your favorite characters in the novel? Why did you choose them?
I really hate it. Tried to watch it many times and I can only use censored words to show my true emotions about this movie. It is so unreal and foolish I really cannot watch it. But I also do not like Lords OF The Rings so maybe I just do not like this kind of stories.
When i heard about Harry Potter for the first time i was probably at 10 years ago but i'm not sure. It's fascinating that first Harry Potter movie was directed at 2001 when i was only six years old!
The story didn't affect my life, i enjoyed watching it but it's not my favourite movie.
My favourite character from the novel is professor Snape beacuse of his shocking ending.
Thanks to this story and the story of live J.K. Rowling (she had really hard situations in live, respect for her!) Now i belive that good good overcomes :)
I really like Luna and of course Ron :D He is my favourite wizard! :)
Yes, i'm familiar with the Harry Potter story. I have watched and read all books and films. For the first time about Harry Potter I heard when I was young, 1st or 2nd grade in elementary school. I love this story and think that it allows children to develop their imagination. Of course, my favorite character is Harry Potter.
Did this story affect my life? I guess in some way. This story teaches a lot of good things concerning friendship, family and etc.
My favorite character in the novel is Ron Weasley, he is funny and brave.
Also, the “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” was quite fun. The world created in the books has such a great potential for new stories.