Well, by now -- if you care -- you know how it all ends. And then you have to come to grips with the fact that there will be no more Harry Potter books.
None.
It's over.
I've never read one. But as a recovering bookseller, I sure sold my share of the damn things over the years. For "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," I worked the midnight shift and then turned around a scant four hours later to open the store and make sure everything went smoothly.
So as a former bookseller, I have my own opinions on the topic of Harry Potter and his influence on childhood reading. Unfortunately, some book critic got around to expressing them in last Sunday's Washington Post. So, I can't swear all of these thoughts are 100% original to me.
Now, as a commercial bookseller, I liked it anytime we could move mega-quantities of books. But as a booklover, I'm not so sure Harry had the impact on kid's reading that it is sometimes claimed to have. I know it is fashionable to say that Harry Potter introduced millions of children to the pleasures of reading. I don't buy it. "Deathly Hallows" had the largest printing in the history of the world -- hundreds of thousands were sold to vendors, and by next week, I'm sure only a few thousand of this first printing will be left on all the store shelves of America. (BTW, if you're trying to get a copy in the next few days... Don't go to a "Bookstore." Try Toys R Us, or a Target, Wal-Mart, or other place that sells books, but not as it's mainline.) But do those kinds of sales mean that all of those Harry Potter fans will be running back to the pick up another 800 page novel? Probably not.
I dealt with hundreds of customers over the years who had finished all the Potter books. "What else is there, you know, like Harry Potter?" Now this is a great question for a bookseller. It gives us an opportunity to share wonderful series with customers. Depending on the age and apparent interests, I recommended The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lord of the Rings, His Dark Materials, Spiderwick Chronicles, Neil Gaiman's output, Tim Powers' novels, "Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell," "The Prestige," Jim Butcher's Dreden Files... There is no shortage of marvelous books for a Harry Potter fan to dive into, no matter how old or young. But often, the customer would read the coverflap or back cover copy, shake his or her head, and leave the book behind (usually in a pile I had to reshelve, but that's a different gripe).
All those kids who stayed up all weekend to finish an 800 page book? Just two months ago, they wandered into the same bookstore with a summer reading list.
Now, the ritual of selling the summer reading list is familiar to any veteran bookseller. Teenager walks up to the information desk and asks for a particular title (BTW, getting the title right is optional). The bookseller directs the teenager's attention to a table clearly labeled "Summer Reading List" usually no more than five feet from the desk, and clearly visible from the front door. The teenager looks at the table vacantly until the bookseller walks the shlub to the table. The teenager purses his or her lips while looking over the books for a pretty one. Then the book is picked up, and the teenager flips quickly to the last page to see what page number it is... "Are they any shorter ones?" will be asked. Typically, the length of a book will be the determining factor in the decision to purchase one. Rarely will the bookseller be solicited for input, and more rare still will the teenage customer bother to review the backcover copy to find a story that is particularly interesting. And these are the kids responsible enough to come into the store in the first place.
Yeah, Harry Potter really prepared these kids for a love of reading.
Has the fantastic adventure of Harry Potter opened the doors to new worlds for his adult readers? No, in fact, I'd say that by industry standards and measure, adults are even worse. Pull up any major Bestseller list. It's mostly potboiler trash. The bestseller lists are dominated by the same handfull of authors, churning out the same tepid thriller plots or non-fiction self-help books. Harry Potter was probably the last time a decent novel was recommended by word of mouth (by a mouth other than Oprah's) all the way onto the bestseller list. Go to any gathering of mid-list authors and you will hear the same complants about how the publishing industry is shrinking. Publishers will tell authors that they are always looking for the next big thing, but they push more of the same old tired plots, and they put their advertising dollars behind the major authors (who at this point really shouldn't need the help).
So, if you are really depressed that Harry Potter's journey is finished, I have some advice on what to do while you wait for the next movie... Explore the fantastical world of your bookstore, preferably a locally owned one. Wander into past the bestseller stacks deep into the shelves. Make time to spend a good hour browsing the shelves of a fiction section that appeals to you. And promise yourself that you will walk out with a title that you have never heard of before, and no one has recommended to you. It should be a book that gives you the sense that it wants to be read. You might find that you find your own personal Hogwarts and start a magical journey of your own.
Geez, Harry, you need to be a little more megaforce and a little less obvious...
4 comments:
I just read the editorial in the Washington Post. A bit cynical, don't you think? No one said HP was a savior for the book. That is the job of parents, to be encouraged by teachers. HP in some respects is a competition, sad to say. Did you get the book yet? Are you finished? And little else is discussed except the release date of HP6 in theaters by many. But my kids do read HP and other books. My daughter has a stack of books a foot high next to her bed, Some required reading, and other books are for fun. My son enjoys, a few other book series. He may even pick up a few Newberry Award winners laying around the house, saved from my childhood. All of that interspersed with a healthy dose of manga.
On the subject that more adults may be reading HP than kids. Great!
Just my two cents.
A bit cynical? No, it was a lot cynical -- and so am I.
No one has said HP was the savior of reading? Well, I saw a columnist in today's local paper (which I call "The Eclipse") again say he's all for anything that fosters a love of reading. Uh, yeah, I am too. But I don't think this is really indoctrinating too many kids with a love of reading.
Have I read the book yet? No. In fact, I've never read a HP book. I began suffering HP Fatigue many, many years ago. That doesn't mean I think HP is bad literature. In fact, I suspect it's very good. So I don't have anything against HP itself, just the overblown hype.
Is it a parent's job to teach a love of reading -- YES. And it sounds like you're doing a good job. Keep it up. But my problem, one which we pick up again some day, is that adults don't read. Or, and in a way this is perhaps worse, they only read "Nonfiction." As if "facts" are the only things worth reading.
Please, go browse your local bookstore's shelves. Find something that speaks directly to you and give it a try.
All the hype over HP sickens me as well. And as far as getting kids into reading? Not really sure about that either. Probably just one more crutch for absentee power-broker dads and prescription drugged up soccer moms to use instead of actually raising their kids themselves. It probably does give the little hellions something to read as they are being shuttled to the next venue of extra-ciricular "parenting through others"with an aging ex trophy wife behind the wheel of a truck big enough to shuttle troops in Iraq.
Here little Johnny, have another fruit roll up and go read your Harry Potter book so daddy can get back to his internet porn.
Getting kids into literature indeed!
My magazine has inspired far more adolesent boys to read than any HP book.
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