This is a published review on our college paper. Hope you'd enjoy it... If there's anything offensive here, just let me know. If you want to cite something, here's how you can do it:
Guinto, Nicanor L. "Harry Potter and the Epic Journey to Fame - A Scrutiny of the Greatest Bildungsroman Ever Told." The Footprints. Vol. 13, No. 1. June - December, 2007. pp. 18-19.
I really worked so hard to write this. I hope you could appreciate it.
Harry Potter and the Epic Journey to Fame
A Scrutiny of the Greatest Bildungsroman ever told
For seventeen years, we have seen how a fictional character by the name of Harry James Potter grow up in the hands of a newbie in the literary scene. We have sympathized with Harry’s plight as an orphan, tasted triumphs and defeats in his wealth of adventures, delivered peace and battled adversities in light for goodness, deciphered clues and uncovered truths enroute out of trouble and savored glory coupled with bliss for every trek well-passed. We have also seen the lighter side of Harry as he learned to love, reach out for love and fall out of love. Indeed, nothing is comparable with the vividness and subtlety of Harry’s character in the sea of fictional outgrowth – a character who lives not merely as a personality in a book but a living person in the hearts and minds of Potter enthusiasts and who in one way or another had been a companion, a comrade and a friend.
Every bits and pieces of Harry now provides the living proof of Joanne Kathlene Rowling’s magical wisdom and impeccable ingenuity. Her extraordinary jumpstart came to redefine the prodigious history of fiction writing, as she was hailed today as the author who rekindled the beauty of writing as well as the burning desire of readers in hope for a good story.
But there is more to Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling, which in itself a story of some kind. And here, I highlight some vital points which ushered this bildungsroman to an epic journey to fame.
Harry Potter and the Magical Writer
Imagine yourself as a plain language teacher with no other goals than to give your daughter a brighter future singlehandedly because your husband felt that you do not deserve him. Then after a couple of years, while sitting on a train station as a nobody, you became very very excited on something – a peculiar tale that keeps on urging you to put it into writing though you know that there’s not a single drop of a writer’s blood that flows in your body. But then, you finally decided to let it overcome you and in an instant you became the face of every magazine and the words of every newspaper print.
In Rowling’s case, it’s not a mere imagination, though. It’s a reality which is worth the buzz since if she never let loose such an overwhelming thought, she would never have been richer than Queen Elizabeth herself and as highly acclaimed as the man who was crucified to death.
“There is a J.K. Rowling who lives in the hearts and minds of children everywhere,” writes Lev Grossman in TIME’s July 23, 2005 issue. The kids and adults alike who share the same interest with the literary feat will forever remember the picturesque world of witchcraft and wizardry nor will they forget the times they took part to a history in the making as they stood to wait in a seamlessly endless line of devouts to the cashier in every book release.
Interestingly, as Grossman reveals in his interview with the author, this woman who invaded bookstores worldwide by storm through her spellbinding tale does not even like fantasy novels. She did not even finish reading Lord of the Rings nor did she lift her fingertips on a Narnia book – two early 50’s novels to which her books are being compared a lot. She tells that it was only when she finished writing the Philosopher’s Stone (Sorcerer’s Stone in the US) back in 1997, that she realized she had produced a 309-paged one.
The fiction writer, however, stood to her decision, until the release of the last installment last July 21, that she may never again write a Harry-Ron-Hermione sentence in her future books. But, nevertheless, fans are still hopeful that one day, Rowling would eventually give in and write another Harry.
Harry Potter and the Monumental Climb
The Harry Potter series by far has bent substantially all the records a book could ever have. Primarily, The Deathly Hallows soared as the fastest selling book of all time, having been sold with eleven million copies in the first 24 hours of its release worldwide. That’s roughly 127 copies per minute! Accordingly, the series became the primary cause why The New York Times introduced a Children’s Book Bestsellers back in 2000 because Harry Potter never left the number one spot.
Would you believe that before the bestselling series trailed its way to success, the author has been turned down by a number of publishers claiming that the theme and the universe of the story is so obsolete and fictionally clichéd? It was Bloomsbury which first saw the potential of Rowling. By now, the British publisher enjoys several billions of dollars and innumerable submissions from other prolific writers. It’s the same with the American publisher, Scholastic through Arthur A Levine, which holds majority of outside UK publications.
Rowling remembers that when her first book finally flew right onto her hands, ambivalence, instead of uncanny euphoria took over her. Would you blame her for such a shrill emotion when your little piece of ingenuity will fall under the conservative eyes of literature pundits?
But no negative comments made this phenomenal book break the sturdy wall that for so long have separated the young from the old. After months of the quiet launch, an unprecedented number of people in various ages and nationalities have learned their faithful ways to every book shop selling the novel and have embraced the thought that there will be a more enticing world in the perspective of a newbie in the fiction scene which they’ll be following all through its very end.
It reached its peak when it finally entered the United States. Early raves in Britain brought about unparalleled curiosity to each and every sons of Uncle Sam. What was then a silenced book launch became a tumultuous line of mid-night party releases from different parts of the globe in the book launches that followed.
And now, the image of that small, skinny, bespectacled boy will forever remain in the hearts and minds of people, most of which are adults, which will always remind them that once they’ve felthow to be a child again. By the way, “… old men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young,” right?
Harry Potter and the Ingredients of Greatness
Professor Albus Dumbledore is probably the wisest of the wise in the literary picture today (though recently revealed to be a homosexual by the author herself). His wisdom echoes that of the author’s character. No wonder, her brilliance in concocting the best personality traits of her characters and painting a picture of a more enthralling world through balanced yet exuberant narratives are perhaps the most likely ingredients that paved the way to a “modern classic,” as critics put it, which “will last for a century, and a century after that, and another century after that,’ until mankind dissolves from existence.
Ruel S. De Vera, in his review with the Deathly Hallows (Phil. Daily Inquirer, July 23, 2007, p. C1) wrote “After 10 years…Rowling’s world-changing series about a young wizard growing up at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry reaches its conclusion as the most anticipated novel in history.” Indeed there’s no point of argument over such assertion as perceived from the statistical records earned by the books over the years.
What makes it great then? Not the title, not the cover, not even the never-ending praise and criticisms nor the unkind fate of Harry, his gang and even that of Voldemort’s, but the thought and feeling that there is a possibility of a thoroughly established world where magic really does exist just lingering somewhere around our planet.
They have a bank run by goblins, a form of currency in exchange of products and services, a marketplace – the Leaky Cauldron, a school – Hogwarts - which trains potential children, a concrete law, a variety of means for transportation and communication, a well-reserved history, a treasure trove of culture, traditions, practices and beliefs and of course, a government agency, the Ministry of Magic, which acts as mediator and overseer of the wizarding community. An extraordinary world as such, as Ms. Rowling puts it, is hidden under the International Confederation of Wizard’s Statute of Secrecy - a brilliant scheme to introduce a world that neither exists in the eyes of muggles (non-magical people) nor is acceptable in the olden days.
The author even made a strong relation to that of our written history because several centuries back, witches have been dispersed and worse burned to death by old Europe which may have caused them to go into hiding from the public’s eyes, given that the tale is true. Hence, the Potter books may be regarded as another living proof that if history and fiction connives, any imaginary piece will shine a brighter glow in a multitude of colors of prominence. Talk about The Da Vinci Code.
Harry Potter and the Sinister Attacks
J. D. Salinger, with his forceful novel The Catcher in the Rye have been in the prime light for scrutiny over the years due to its exposition of explicit and unacceptable language in his narratives and expressly including in improper teenage pretentions and angst. But then, it’s ironical that the novel now fulfills its greatness in various academic curriculums, including that of the Philippines’.
The same with the Potter books, the Order of the Phoenix became the talk of conservatives and fundamentalists regarding the outward expression of love and lust of the character towards one another and the “below-the-belt” violence spiced even more by death as its main theme. For an instance, Harry and Ron caught Ginny and Dean kissing with one another in a very conspicuous place and time but the latter dismissed the idea of doing their thing somewhere private. For those reasons, it now appears at the list of the Most Challenged Book of the century in close rank with that of Salinger’s.
Again, ironically, California State University, and now a number of other academic institutions, have introduced a course “The World of Harry Potter” in their curriculums. Some initiated various other activities related to the series which are geared towards promoting a thorough study of the novel.
Meanwhile other religious analysts argue that the book is highly heretical because it not only neglected God as the supreme being, it also promoted the vindictive deeds of witches which in the medieval ages have been condemned and kept into oblivion till now by none other than the church which dominated Europe back then. They say that a children’s book must inculcate the idea of a God as what its predecessors had done - The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia - which were mainly based on Christian teachings.
However, as I see it in a perspective of a devout, there are certain points in the novel which may have implicitly promoted a religion – Christianity to be exact. Didn’t Harry receive gifts from persons he loves when it is Christmas Day? and didn’t they have the so-called Easter Holidays?
In addition, isn’t Rowling’s stance of not defining a specific religion on her novels a brilliant scheme? If she never did so, no Muslim, nor Hindu nor Jew nor Bhuddist would have leafed through the pages of her book only to find out that a religion that is foreign to them or maybe which they probably condemn is highly appraised on the fictional work. If she did so, it wouldn’t be a worldwide craze as it is now.
Furthermore, Rowling was outwardly criticized for treating her story non-sentimentally. But Grossman in his article in TIME - J.K. Rowling, Hogwarts and All - gave the most appropriate notion as to why the Potter books now lies in the pinnacle amidst a sea of negative reactions. “It’s precisely Rowling’s lack of sentimentality,” Grossman writes, “her earthy, salty realness, her refusal to buy into the basic clichés of fantasy, that make her such a great fantasy writer.” And for that, she became a one of a kind trend-setter. Look at how James Patterson’s Maximum Ride Series, Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart Series and many others sprouted so fast in the bookshelves. Truly, the aforementioned answers the reader’s hunger for more plots similar to that of the Potter books while they stand waiting for the next volume to be released.
Copyright lawsuits were also thrown upon the author and her books. Even the-not-so-famous The Legend of Rah and the Muggles and Larry Potter and His Best Friend Lilly, a novel by Nancy Stouffer in 1984 partake in the Potter craze. Stouffer claims that she is the rightful owner of several concepts in Rowling’s work and that she (Rowling) plagiarized her work. But later on, the case was “dismissed with prejudice” and she was fined $50,000 for her "pattern of intentional bad faith conduct." However, in another interview with TIME, Rowling revealed how affected she was by the issue saying “It felt as if some strange woman had come out of nowhere saying she was my children's mother ... It was like a punch in the stomach.”
Moving on, when it comes to book releases, the author had always set a particular date for her work to be published. The problem is, spoiler embargoes had not been evenly tight. In the release of the Deathly Hallows, copies were delivered and contained in high security vaults, as if the book is jewelry worth several billions! Dealers to where the books were delivered were also forced to sign a contract which mandated them not to open the boxes till the official release date. Reports even say, that just to keep the suspense in tact, the publishers printed the books in pitch darkness yet, no substantial details could support such claim.
But here’s what’s true. Analysts revealed that the publishers have spent several millions of dollars to be assured that copies will be taken out of the box in the exact day and time prescribed by the author. But then, “technical” failures caused a copy (Deathly Hallows) to fall in the hands of a 17-year old in the U.S three days before the official release date. They say that Scholastic paid the teenager with a great amount (exact figures were not identified) just to stop him reading the book and continue it only on the day prescribed.
***
The fun never ends as some would say but with the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows last July 21, a period has already been drawn in the story which means Harry-Ron-Hermione is most likely over and done with.
However, more and more enthusiasts began their advocacy of continuing the story through signature campaigns which would be submitted to the author as a plea to create a Wizard University. With only two movies left in the line, Harry Potter is in danger of becoming a figment of history as its predecessors had become. It’s the greatest fear of majority of Harry Potter fans. But let’s not go away with the possibility that the Potter books could have hatched a generation of superb story tellers, far more better than those we now have. Since everyone is considered a good writer at their own disposal, we can say that the possibilities are endless. Perhaps, one of Potter breeds could be the next J. K. Rowling who would soon arrive in the avenues of success and streets of fame (and fortune). It could probably be any one. It could probably be you.
© Harry Potter is a copyright of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury in U.K. and Scholastic Press in U.S.
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