Harry Potter

1. Introduction

2. Voices from the Press

3. Success of the book in numbers

4. Characters

5. The Author

6. Success???

1. Intro

Who knows Harry Potter???

2. Voices from the Press

The Financial Times

“Rowling is an exciting new talent, and her book is an excellent
reading-pleasure; without end fantastic and funny.”

The Magazin

“The books of the 34 years old J. K. Rowling are written for 9-11
years old childs, but they are better than 92% of the adult literature.”

The Times

“ Such a marriage of good writing, inventiveness and cheer child-
appeal has not been since Ronald Dahl, perhaps even since Tolkien,
Lewis and Ronsome. J. K. Rowling has woken a

whole generation to

reading.”

3. Success of the book in numbers

Joanne K. Rowling, the author, is 34 years old now, got a little
daughter, Jesi, 6 years. And she’s one of the most successful female
writers in the world.

Until now, there were published 3 volumes:

•

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone

•

Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets

•

Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban

They are about 28 million times sold in the world, about 1 million in
Germany. ( E.g. Michael Reich-Ranizki 500.000)
They are translated in about 30 languages.

So, these three books of her are holding places 7, 2, 3 in the New-
York-Times best seller list, in German Spiegel-list they hold places 1,

3, 6 right now.

Well, who is this amazing Harry Potter, who brought so much success
into Rowlings’ live?

4. Characters

Harry
!

Carrying glasses

!

Unkempt hair, doing what they want but not laying flat at the head

!

Not very big for his age

!

Normal at school

!

Not very special...

!

Got there a scar on his forehead
Step-parents told him, this is from a car-crash, when he was aged 1
year, and where his parents died.

Harry’s parents
!

Lilli and James Potter

!

Met at Hogwarts, kind of school

!

Were very talented in magic

Indeed his parents have died, but this was not a car-crash...
They were killed, by Lord Voldemort
!

Ones a good wizard, but power turned him to the dark side of
magic; he became evil

!

He came there for the Potters, killed his parents and he also tried to
kill Harry, but somehow he failed, and from that “try” Harry got
this scar.

After that Voldemort disappeared and has not been seen since that
night...

!

Only called “You-know-who”, cause all the wizards and witches
are so afraid of him

After that “accident” Harry was brought to the Dursley’s;
!

His mothers sister Aunt Petunia and her husband Uncle Vernon

!

Very unpleasant people

!

Try to be very normal, so that the people don’t speak over them,
especially there neighbours

!

They did not tell Harry anything about his forebears

!

They don’t want to have anything to do with this crazy wizard-
world

!

They are so-called “Muggles”

!

Harry got to live in an cupboard under the stairs, wears the old
clothes of Dudley, who is very fat and gets everything he wants
from his parents

!

Dudleys favourite sport is to punish Harry; but he could not very
often get him...

!

Not very pleasant live

At Harry’s 11

th

Birthday Hagrid came into his life

!

Hard-drinking near giant man

!

Around 30-40 years old

!

Gamekeeper at Hogwarts

!

Has been there himself, but got expelled in his third year

!

Gave him a letter, that he got a place there

So, Harry went to Hogwarts
!

Kind of “boarding school”, where you stay the whole year (learn,
eat, sleep, ...)

!

There are 4 houses:
Griffindor
Hufflepuff
Ravenclaw
Slytherin

!

Because there are many students, I think about 400-500

!

7 years

!

very old building, about 1000 years old

getting there, of course, some friends.
Two very specials are

Ron Wesley
!

got 5 brothers and a little sister, Giny, who are all at Hogwarts

!

Family not rich

!

So he got everything second-hand, e.g. Scabbers, the fat, grey rat
(always sleeping)

!

Red-haired

!

Stands always by Harry

Hermione Granger
!

Reads very much

!

Very good at school

!

Smart Muggle-born know-it-all

!

Her family are Muggles

!

Always the best student of the year

5. The Author

So, this woman writing such amazing books, who is she?

Her story sounds a bit like a PR-fairytale.
She was 31, she was divorced, got a little baby there, lost her job as a
teacher; her mother died with multiple scleroses, she have had
depressions. She says, it is not overdone to say that this book saved
her life.
She says, the first thought of Harry came into her head while she was
sitting in a train, driving from London to Manchester. The train got
stuck and so she had many time to think.
That was the beginning.
After that, it took her five years to think the hole wizard world up.
By the way, the story is planned for 7 books, one for every year of
Harry at Hogwarts.

Before Harry, she’d never published a book. She says, there have been
two books for adults nearly ready, but she hasn’t published, because
they were really shit.
Rowling insists that she never consciously set out to write for
children, but that working on Harry Potter taught her how easily she
could tap into her childhood memories.
“I really can, with no difficulty at all, think myself back to 11 years
old. You are very powerless, and kids have this whole underworld that
to adults is always going to be

impenetrable

.

6. Success??

!

Nobody can really explain

!

With the logic of the market it never could have taken place:

•

Books between 350 and 400 pages

•

Antiquated Hardware like owls, broomsticks and potions

•

Uncool topics like friendship, trust and readiness to make
sacrifices

Not very up to date!!

!

It’s like a revolt of the kids against the marketing-strategies and
occupational therapies from the adult-world
You can not really plan kids!!!

!

Hogwarts is a kind of apart from real world. Like a world to escape
from the real world with all this problems like divorced parents,
punishment, nobody caring of them, computers, multimedia,
crime,...

!

This is something we lost in our minds:
Children need this “parallel-escape-worlds”

!

One of the interesting things about Hogwarts in the Potter Books is
that it contains no technology at all. Light is provided by torches
and heat by massive fireplaces. Who needs electricity when you
have many of wizards and magic wands? Who, for the matter,
requires mail pickup and delivery when a squadron of trained owls
flies messages to and from the school? Technology is for Muggles,
who rely on contraptions because they can not imagine the
conveniences of magic.

!

A devote Potter-fans have learned is that knowing magic is not the
same thing as using it;
Harry has to handle his problems the other way, he solves them
with courage, cleverness and deep attachment to his friends.

!

Rowling says, it is not really believable just to rob a ring, and all
problems are gone.

!

She says furthermore, that it is really important that a fantasy-
World has to be exactly-ruled and that everybody can understand
that rules. In her opinion, tension and drama can only be built by
passing the borders.

!

Harry is growing, getting one year older in every book.
So, he’s not staying 11 years old every time like it takes place in
many other books for children; so it doesn’t offer this lie of
everlasting childhood, like e. g. in Peter Pan.

!

There are many really funny things in the book, e. g. that people
don’t stay there in their photos but moving and disappearing or the
“Bertie Bott’ Every Flavour Beans”, which offer every flavour,
ranging from chocolate and peppermint to earwax and bogey or
Quiddditsch

So, to come to a closure:
I can not really explain the success of this book.
Nobody can. Only reading it helps, because then you can understand...
It’s not just like reading this book.
When you start reading, there happens something that is not
happening in many books: you are no longer outside or in front of the
book.
It’s like you are at Hogwarts, and when you turn your head, you can
see the corridors of the building and you can feel the magic...
No matter what age you are...