Is Harry Potter Becoming Obsolete?
Thanks to Travis for the heads up that for the first time in ten years a Harry Potter book is NOT on the New York Times Best -Seller List.
What is interesting is that this comes on the same day as Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People came out with JK Rowling conspicuously NOT on the list.
So what does this mean? Now that almost a year has passed since “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” was released, is Harry Potter slowly but surely fading into obscurity? I know it isn’t reasonable to assume that Harry Potter would stay on the Best-Seller List forever, or that JK Rowling would continually be honored for her influence on the world of literature, but this seems like a hasty fall from grace in my opinion.
More and more schools are making Harry Potter required reading so children will still pick up the series and hopefully devour it with the same zest that we’ve all done. Unfortunately there won’t be any “between the book excitement” that helped to make the series as exciting as it was; however, we can hope that these children will still eagerly anticipate the beginning of each new book as they finish the last one.
But one has to wonder how many new adults will start reading the books at this point. Have we come to the end of the mature examination of this series? Adult fans of the Harry Potter series were forced to analyze the books prior to the release of each one. In order to get the most out of the series, we spent hours pouring over the books to look for clues and hints to what was going to come. This won’t be the case anymore. Analysis will be all but unnecessary and this saddens me the most.
So now we can only hope that either JK Rowling will somehow decide to continue the Harry Potter Series or hopefully the next JK Rowling will emerge sooner rather than later.
Tags: Harry Potter, JK Rowling, New York Times Best-Seller List, Time Magazine 100 Influential People
May 1st, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Harry Potter is not going to become obsolete any time soon. There have not been any other books of similar popularity this millennium. Analysis of HP is also just starting. Some colleges have British Literature classes which emphasize HP extensively. There’s no reason to be worried about Harry. His seven amazing books are a new an interesting combination of so many different themes and archetypes that they are immortal.
May 1st, 2008 at 4:36 pm
As long as all of us loyal fans remain to force HP down the throats of all non-fans, and so make them realize what good books they are, HP wont really become obsolete.
May 1st, 2008 at 4:40 pm
It’s been replaced by Grand Theft Auto 4 and Guitar Hero.
May 1st, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Overall, I think you’re right, Aaron, but Rosie too has a point that the fans (us) make HP what it is. I’m still going to listen to this podcast for as long as it airs. …how ’bout you guys?
May 1st, 2008 at 5:17 pm
I will remain faithful as long as Greg and Penny keep podcasting.
It is our duty as fans to keep finding new fans, and waking old fans who have forgotten their duty to fandom.
May 1st, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Although you bring up a valid point, harry potter can’t be on the bestseller’s list forever, and J.K. Rowling can’t be the most influencial person every year either. This year she hasn’t done anything to be influencial, although her books continue to influence.
I also don’t think that discussion will come to an end with harry potter. If a series of books/tv shows/ movies ends and then discussion ends with it, then you wouldn’t continue to have star trek, star wars, or lord of the rings conventions now would we? as long as there are people around that love the books there will be people that love to discuss them. And no matter how popular Twilight becomes (which apparently it is) it can’t replace what harry potter and J.K. Rowling did for the literary world.
May 1st, 2008 at 5:51 pm
I don’t think that HP should be on bestseller lists forever, nor should JKR be influencial every year, but we can’t let that stop us from loving HP, or from introducing new people to it.
It will take a long time for HP to become completely obsolete, but we have to make sure that that day is as far in the future as possible. Besides, its fun keeping HP alive, don’t you think?
May 1st, 2008 at 6:34 pm
I disagree. HP will never become “completely obsolete.” People are still reading the Bible, Shakespeare, Homer and the rest. It’s inevitable that some people will be avid enough fans to continue these types of discussions until either a new generation takes up the banner or else it becomes cannon in classic literature.
May 1st, 2008 at 7:02 pm
This is Penny. I didn’t mean to imply that I thought that the HP books should stay on the Best-Seller list forever. But I do think that these two things being announced today do symbolize something.
May 1st, 2008 at 7:04 pm
I don’t know if Potter will ever be classic, but it may become completely obsolete. I didn’t say in the near future, and I didn’t say in the distant future. Do you really think that five hundred years from now, some grade nine english class will be reading HP DH and discussing it? Or maybe a thousand years from now? Eventually, people will stop reading it. Have you ever read a book written in 1008?
May 1st, 2008 at 7:37 pm
when is the podcast coming out
May 1st, 2008 at 7:39 pm
harry potter forever
May 1st, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Austin, tonight.
May 1st, 2008 at 8:09 pm
The # 3 podcast of all time new month time to vote.
May 1st, 2008 at 8:13 pm
Can’t believe it is May already.
May 1st, 2008 at 9:09 pm
I’m a little bit late on this, however, i just re-read Goblet of Fire in my off time when i’m not doing homework and noticed something that really goes along with the theme of this being the somewhat turning point when the series changes from a child’s novel to a more dark series. The fourth book starts with Harry at the Dursley’s, as do the first three, but in books 1-3 it is before Harry’s birthday and his birthday is specifically acknowledged. However, the fourth begins after Harry’s birthday and only makes a very short mention of it. This makes it seem much less of a big deal then in the first three. When you’re young, in elementary and middle school, birthday parties are a huge deal for everybody. But after you turn thirteen they are not really very important anymore. Harry is right at that age in the fourth book, and I just thought that was another less obvious reason that the fourth book seems to be the switch from his childhood to his growth into adulthood.
Thanks,
Milt
May 1st, 2008 at 9:41 pm
Rosie: I’ve read books from much earlier than 1008. People haven’t stopped reading those major classics like Homer etc. I agree that it’s really really difficult for a novel to achieve that type of status.
I don’t know if HP will ever get that kind of classic status. It’s well placed to though, considering its popularity and the explosion of Web 2.0 and such. Not to mention the fact that people like us and more “officially” literary folk like professors are already digging for deeper meaning.
People may stop reading HP per say, but its effect on society will never die. With the digitization of books and its huge effect on pop culture, HP is already history. So this debate might not even matter. People who care about literature will be able to find it in the future.
May 1st, 2008 at 10:08 pm
It’s virtually impossible to predict with absolute certainty whether HP will drift away. The emergence of Web 2.0 as a vehicle for real-time literary analysis (as “Brian from Facebook” mentioned) makes this a whole new game.
Still, enough evidence is there to suggest HP will stick around for a long time, will make the list of classics, and may even find a place among the “Great Books” canon. The depths of Deathly Hallows have still yet to be fully mined. And I’d argued there’s as much depth in that book as there is in the entire rest of the series (and that’s saying something!).
So what these two news items mean is that the pop-culture hype is ending. And that’s probably a good thing.
May 2nd, 2008 at 7:57 am
Brian from Facebook: Yes, people still do read really old pieces of writing, but they aren’t all that well known anymore, among the general public. Not many “average” people will sit down in the evening and say, “I think I’ll read Romeo and Juliet tonight.” By average I mean someone who isn’t a big reader, or really into that historical era, or Shakespeare.
Now I wouldn’t compare HP to Shakespeare, but what will happen to it in, say, five hundred years could be similar.
May 2nd, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Travis: I totally agree. Web 2.0 adds that new viral dynamic. For example, I can’t even tell you how I found this podcast a year or so ago because I simply don’t remember. We need to keep in mind, though, that we are very biased towards HP.
Rosie: We can finally agree. You are right about the average public reader. A lot of the more literary people keep works alive though. And HP definitely isn’t Shakespeare–it’s a lot more fun to read!
May 2nd, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Brian: Glad we can agree, because I hate having to admit that I’m wrong, and I did just a few weeks ago.