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Harry Potter and the Motivated Reader
Jul. 5th, 2005 11:14 amI flew home yesterday from Fort Lauderdale. If I get around to it, I will write more about the trip, but of particular note was a conversation between the woman in the seat next to me and the stewardess seated facing her.
The woman, probably about 25, had a copy of Dan Brown's Angels and Demons, though it remained uncracked while I was paying attention. Their conversation shifted to books.
"I really never read anything until Harry Potter," explained the woman. "Then, suddenly, books became interesting to me!"
She went on to explain that the whole fantasy genre, itself, does little for her. She likes thrillers a bit, but most of all, she enjoys "True Crime" books.
I have been poo-pooing HP for a fair while. They are usually an okay read, but nothing that made me want to write home, unless to complain about the poor editing job! I could, at a stretch, see their appeal to young'uns, though ven then, not why they are better, more approachable than many another book. And yet...
Here we have a person who acquired the reading habit as an adult or at least an older teen as a reult of THIS series of books and nothing else! I have NO understanding of why this book or series would have that impact on a new reader. Just none.
What allows this book to provide entree into the world of the written world so well? What makes it superior in that regard to other book o its genre and audience level?
The woman, probably about 25, had a copy of Dan Brown's Angels and Demons, though it remained uncracked while I was paying attention. Their conversation shifted to books.
"I really never read anything until Harry Potter," explained the woman. "Then, suddenly, books became interesting to me!"
She went on to explain that the whole fantasy genre, itself, does little for her. She likes thrillers a bit, but most of all, she enjoys "True Crime" books.
I have been poo-pooing HP for a fair while. They are usually an okay read, but nothing that made me want to write home, unless to complain about the poor editing job! I could, at a stretch, see their appeal to young'uns, though ven then, not why they are better, more approachable than many another book. And yet...
Here we have a person who acquired the reading habit as an adult or at least an older teen as a reult of THIS series of books and nothing else! I have NO understanding of why this book or series would have that impact on a new reader. Just none.
What allows this book to provide entree into the world of the written world so well? What makes it superior in that regard to other book o its genre and audience level?
