I,like Jar and a few others, have never opened a cover let alone read a sentence of the Harry Potter series. After being on this site and getting to "know" people, I may have to change that. I keep getting hit on daily basis with all of you posting about the series and questions (I can't answer)in the quizzes. I have finally gotten beyond my extreme irritation about all the questions. Do we ALL have to be knowledgeable about "muggles" or whatever the heck they are called? Okay, got that off my chest. I will now commit, on this post which I take very seriously, to read the first book in the series and go from there. Whew! I can only hope that I will have the ability to post at a later date and say "Guess what. I too "get it now".

Good for you Jordandog! Just give it a try. You never know...

I started from the beginning. You know, I picked up the first book and said, 'wizards, magic, might be goo." And then I locked myself away and read it. You know, after reading the entire series, I can appreciate it because she's got so much going for it. Romance, humour,and action all in one place. With the intertwining story lines, it's hard not to like it unless your against magic or something.

This is a great question. What is it about Harry Potter that made the world crazy? I'm sure it's different reasons for different people.
I read book one when Chamber of Secrets was being released. I remember thinking it was an ok book. By the end of book 2 I was to a certain point obsessed, along with my daughter. We have shared many many conversations and e-mails about details and characters.
It's the depth that J.K. went to that had me hooked. She didn't just name her streets or characters, she researched or created a whole world that was more unique than anything ever written.
My first Aha! moment was reading about Diagon Alley. How creative was just that simple street name?
Well, I was 42 yrs old the night of the 7th release. I was not the oldest or the youngest there, but we all chatted about the last 10 years and how we have been a part of history. It was an amazing night.
I personally was not happy with the ending but...It was an amazing journey.

To put it in the simplest terms, I think that it's just a clasic tale of good vs. evil. I guess its reassuring to keep the idea that anyone could be that hero alive.

Since I started this thread not only have I read the first Potter book, I just finished Harry Potter and Chamber of Secrets.

The second book was more interesting for me. It felt like there was a bit more intrigue. It also appears the author was growing more in her writing. It was more enjoyable than the first Potter book.

Oh dear, I just may have to read the next (Prisoner of Azkaban?) book. At least at this point I can still put the book down and not feel that I "have" to read it right now . I will enjoy seeing how Rowling grows even more.

I'll share my journey. Just before the fourth book was released, on my birthday, a friend gave me the first three. My birthday was on Thursday. By Friday, I'd read them all, and I bought the fourth the morning of its publication. Since then I've bought them all on the first day. I've loved them all, and have even written a quiz on Book 7. What does everyone think JK will do now?

I just came across this thread and had to add my two cents! My sister-in-law has read each book as it came out. My husband decided that he was going to start reading them when book 5 was released. He read books 1-5 in about a month and I was really impressed by that.. though I still didn't have the desire to read them myself. My husband is almost done with book 7 now and I have to say the thought of him knowing how it all ends and me not knowing is what did it for me! I started book 1 on September 3rd and am actually going to be starting book 4 tonight! I've seen all the movies and love them and now that I've started on the books I've certainly been sucked into the world of Hogwarts. I have to admit I'm a bit upset I hadn't started sooner!!

I reckon the success is due in a large part to the media, publicity and other 'modern' factors.

Yes the stories are well told, they develop over time into a series which appeals to a wide range of people over a wide range of ages. Its staightforward method of delivery, honest, down-to-earth language and basic tale of good struggling to triumph over evil is a timeless formula which guarantees success.

Had this series been written 100 years ago it would have been mildly popular, but the explosion of HP-mania would not have occured. The publicity on TV and radio, internationally, is what has made this a GIGANTIC success.

Personally, I read the fourth book first. I think had I begun at the first it would not have captivated me enough, as an adult, to continue reading the rest of the series.

What appealed to me? The straightforward delivery, imaginative 'modernisation' of a classic theme, the simple accessibility of the tale to all levels of readership, the believeable characters, the potential to daydream.

Edited for that darned 's which shouldn't have been

I understand Jar's reticence to be dragged in as it took me major urging on my daughter's part to read the first one and she saw the film was coming up and wanted me to read the book. As she was a teen and very picky about reading material and I was into sci fi and fantasy anyway, I FINALLY read the first one and got into it reasonably well.

I read all the others and am waiting for her to finish up the last one and she's twenty now...quite the grown up career girl student and she wanted it for her birthday.

I enjoy the little details thrown in for those of us in Rowling's generation that children do not notice. I also loved the films for those details. There are puns etc that I like.

I read lots of things, but, I also have this real reticence whenever people go on and on about something and I don't get the point. I have this for the Da Vinci Code as well as a few other sci fi series that I find ok but not fantastic events.


It may be the horse dragging to water and forced to drink syndrome on my part though.

I see my niece totally absorbed in Harry Potter and it's part of her childhood now as she's eleven this year.

Santana, I think you've hit the nail on the head. I very nearly did not read the second book because I was so indifferent to the first. In between the first and second I read a totally different book (mystery) and then decided, oh, what the heck, I'll give it one more try. And to me, it was more interesting than the first. I could see the author developing not only the story, but her writing. I think the second book was definitely better written than the first. It's a growing thing not only for the characters, but the author.

I suppose I see this series not simply as "what Ron does next," or "what trouble Harry gets into in the next book," type of discussion, but how the series as well as the author expands, grows, develops. I think this discussion we are having in a bit more depth interests me.

That phrase of yours 'It's a growing thing, not only for the characters but the author', is exactly right.

The story develops and becomes more complex, in tandem with the author developing a style of writing which is more mature, in parallel to the characters growing in age, maturity and behaviour. This has fascinated me throughout the series, and when it comes to the crunch, it's the element which, alongside wanting to know 'the end', kept me reading even though the 6th book (in particular) was lacking.

Reading it to my kids was far more enjoyable than just reading it myself. That's what really kept me going, discovering it and sharing it at the same time. It's one of those books you can act as you read and the humour in it works far better that way.

I totally agree with you. The films are hard to follow if you haven't read the books. They leave out so much, but then expect you get references from the books later on in the same, or different films.

I writing in response to an earlier post about someone who read the first book but didn't enjoy it as much as the
so many people who endorse the series.
I, like other posters as well, didn't want to read the books as well. I read the first two out of boredom and if it wasn't for my reading the third I might not have stayed hooked. This is of course, because the first two books are geared for children.
But I recommend the series to anyone, and I always tell people I can hook them on the books as long as they read the third.
I find its the same with the series Lost. I've hooked many people on that show, but I always tell them they have to stay and watch until at least episode 8 or 9 before they can say they dont like it.

I guess all that really matters is you give books a chance.
Lol there's never anything wrong with reading a little too much

I got number 1 and 2 when I was a child, for Christmas. After that, mym mum read them before me just to make sure they were suitable. Eventually I got sick of that because I was reading adult and late teenage books anyway (In year 5...) so I read them at school where she didn't know that I had them...Then I had to pretend that I had never read it before when she got it for me for Christmas.

I started reading them late. I was in year 7 when they came out and everyone (including the teacher) were talking about them. The year after I finished school I found them in the TAFE (Technical and Further Education- mostly courses for trades or basic education courses) bookshop and I liked them (I was still kind of young in my maturity at that point) and then I bought the 2nd and subsequent ones from the bookshop. 5 was the first one I had to preorder. Still haven't read 7 as I am reading something else at the moment but I look forward to it.

There are lots of differences between the books and the movies.Read the books.