And I admire her not for a whole lot of things… its quite unbelievable that her imagination has captured the hearts of “god-knows-how-many-people” of the world… what an imagination man!!! Incredible!!
To think that all those funny wonderful characters came out of her thinking is quite something!
I was introduced to Harry Potter when I went to Bangalore to visit my cousin… I was so bored that my cousin bro’ Arjun gave me this book and asked me to read it… I was hooked! The first book that I read was “The Chamber of Secrets” and it’s still my favorite of the lot… after that it was a race… To see who would get to read the remaining books that came out in sequence… we used to have quizzes on the spells and the potions and the other stuff from the books…
The way Rowling has developed each of the characters in the books giving as much importance and characterization to them as much as to Harry is really superb … right from the first book “The Philosopher’s Stone”, till the last one “The Deathly Hallows”, she has kept the torch of suspense burning alive in the reader’s minds all through an entire span of a boy’s maturing into manhood..!!! Each book has a new twist, a new turn, introduction of new characters, death of a couple of old ones… dark and dreary at times, funny and hilarious at times, scary and forbidding at times… it’s a whole plethora of emotions weaved into one single story…!!!
I used to wonder how she used to make up all those spells and the different magical words, incantations, et al… When I was preparing for my placements, we (our group) used to sit and go through the lexicon to prep ourselves for the aptitude tests… it was worse than cramming for the CAT, XAT etc.. Most of the words that JK has used have their basis in English words… Levicorpus meaning to levitate, Expelliarmus meaning to expel from the arm, Crucio to cause crucial pain, Impervious meaning to resist…. And more of them… it’s a marvel..!! :-)
The way she brought out Snape as one of the most likeable characters is just splendid!! To say the least, Snape I am sure is one the best characters in the book… heroic and gallant in a very subtle way…
(For more info on the books - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter )
Man I could go on and on about this… HARRY POTTER series has always been and will be one of my all time favorites… I have actually lost count of how many times I have read the books over and again…
And for all those who say that Harry Potter is only for kids and all that crap… I think you should rephrase your statement… But I would not blame you because it takes a special kind of mind-set… that of openness towards everything… every kind of story without looking for logic or reasoning for the same… you can’t expect to have everything on a practical, realistic, staid and sensible framework… that’s expecting the bull not attack you coz’ u r a vegetarian …
Sometimes some things have to be taken at face value..!! :-)
why are u getting so worked up about ppl terming it for kids. Well, forget it yaar.. they don't know what they are talking about. Dont spoil a decent post full of positive energy into a diatribe against the ignorant.
ReplyDeleteBut yes, it takes open mindedness and imagination to accept her concept.
And when we love something very much, then why should we be worried about who reads it and does not, who gushes about it or doesn't. Care two hoots about them yaar.. not for nothing is J K Rowling such a super hit.
Cheers to the wonderful world where we let our thoughts free ! Enjoy it ... forget the rest ! :-)
@ anon -->
ReplyDeleteYup pal!! point noted..!! :) but i have come across a lot of such ppl who put down books like these coz' they r magical and in a fantasy world.. and that from ppl who enjoyed "Matrix" and LOTR and the like... :P