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Harry Potter is the informal name given to a series of fantasy novels by J. K. Rowling, and the movies based on them. They are named after the protagonist, Harry James Potter, who was born on July 31, 1980 (see timeline). The first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United States), was released in 1997.
Overview
The Harry Potter books are primarily aimed at older children, but have fans of all ages, as demonstrated by the publication of editions of each book with more mature cover artwork. There is also a series of Warner Brothers films of the same name and based directly on the books, the first of which was released in 2001.
According to Rowling, the stories appeared in her head, fully formed, while she was on a train from Manchester to London, although her favourite place to write the first book was a table in a café while she drank endless cups of coffee.
The sales from the books as well as royalties from films and merchandise have, according to unsubstantiated rumours and magazine articles, made her richer than Queen Elizabeth II, though in a 2003 interview, Rowling denied having more than £280,000,000 (which is, supposedly, Queen Elizabeth's fortune).
Each book so far chronicles one year in Harry's life at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where he learns magic. Rowling has announced that seven books are planned, each gradually a little darker than its predecessor as Harry ages and his nemesis, Lord Voldemort (Tom Marvolo Riddle) gains power. As of 2004 five books have been published and an English language publication date of 16 July 2005 has been announced for the sixth volume Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Hints about the plot of this book have been revealed by Rowling on her personal website [1] (http://www.jkrowling.com/).
The books are written in the third person, with limited omniscience, from the point of view of Harry. (As an illustration, imagine a map of the North Pole. The center is the pole itself, and everything around it — Greenland, Canada, Russia, etc — can be measured by its distance from the Pole. This is how the narrative of the novels unfolds; Harry is the Pole, and all of the action happens around him or to him. Otherwise, the action doesn't take place directly either to Harry or to the reader. This is one reason readers feel such a strong kinship to Harry — the story is literally told through his character.) There are three exceptions:
- Chapter One of Philosopher's Stone : half of it is written from the point of view of Harry's uncle, Vernon Dursley and the other is written from an objective point of view
- Two Quidditch matches in Philosopher's Stone are written from an independent point of view, depicting events which Harry would not be able to see while playing the game.
- Chapter One of Goblet of Fire : apart from the initial scene-setting, this chapter is written from the point of view of a minor character, Frank Bryce; the action is however witnessed by Harry himself in a dream.
The books have been compared to Ursula K. Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea, C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, the novels of Diana Wynne Jones, and the works of Philip Pullman; they also fit into a British genre of novels about boarding school life, and the sections involving The Dursleys - Potter's relatives - remind some readers of Roald Dahl's works. Based on their common fantastic elements, the appeal to both children and adults, the fantasy-genre crossing over into mainstream popularity, and the movie adaptation, the series has also drawn comparisons to J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
Elements of the Potter story also echo that of Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars saga: both Skywalker and Potter are orphans raised by an aunt and uncle. Both posess a magical power that they do not fully comprehend and occasionally use recklessly. Both feature a messenger (Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars, Hagrid in Potter) sent to lead them to a sage (Yoda and Dumbledore) who will instruct them further. Also, Lord Voldemort and Emperor Palpatine are very similar in appearance and demeanor. Some have even compared Harry's observation of Snape's Worst Memory to the revelation at the end of The Empire Strikes Back.
Certain aspects of the Harry Potter series have even entered the real world as products to be purchased by fans of the series. One such merchandising example is Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans.
Several unauthorized derivative books have been written, either directly featuring Harry Potter, or using similarly named characters. J. K. Rowling and her publishers are making attempts to stop the distribution of these books.
Novels and films
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
- Story time: 1991–1992
- Book release: June 26, 1997
- Film release: November 16, 2001
- Note: Both the book and the film were retitled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the U.S., with similar alterations to the text
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
According to the timeline given here, the seventh and final book would cover 1997 to 1998. Harry is expected to leave the school in mid-1998, at age 17 — supposing, of course, that he lives to do so (as Rowling likes to remind her readers when asked about Harry's career after school).
The books have become popular enough that bookstores now hold "midnight release parties" on the day Harry Potter books are released.
Daniel Radcliffe played Harry Potter in the first four films.
For details of which actor plays which character in the various movies, see the Harry Potter cast article. For information on the film crew, see Harry Potter crew.
The Harry Potter books have been translated into many languages. See List of titles of Harry Potter books in other languages and Harry Potter in translation series.
To read a complete synopsis of the story, broken down into the seven books, see Harry Potter (plot).
2001 also saw the publication of two books supposedly reproduced from copies held in the Hogwarts library (complete with notes scribbled in the margins by Harry Potter and friends): Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander and Quidditch Through the Ages by Kennilworthy Whisp. They were written by J. K. Rowling with proceeds going to Comic Relief.
Controversy
The books have provoked various kinds of controversy.
Accusations of promoting witchcraft
The American Library Association tracks the number of challenges (formal written complaints made to a library or school about a book's content or appropriateness) made to books annually.
The Harry Potter series are among the most frequently challenged from 1998 to present.
The complaints allege that the books have occult or Satanic themes, are violent, and are anti-family.
Some Christian groups in the United States have denounced the series for promoting witchcraft or Satanism.
"It contains some powerful and valuable lessons about love and courage and the ultimate victory of good over evil," said Paul Hetrick, spokesman for Focus on the Family, a national Christian-fundamentalist group based in Colorado Springs. "However, the positive messages are packaged in a medium — witchcraft — that is directly denounced in scripture."[2] (http://www.cesnur.org/recens/potter_06.htm). See Christian views on witchcraft.
Some groups have burned or attempted to burn (such burnings require permits in most locations) J.K. Rowling's books, often with other books deemed to contradict biblical teachings.
See: Harry Potter censorship, book burning.
In contrast, the Catholic Church gave the series its approval by saying that it is imbued with Christian morals and that the good versus evil plot is very clear. Christian Congregationalist minister John Killinger also argued that, rather than corrupting children's minds, the novel encourages young readers to follow the teachings of Jesus. The book The Hidden Key to Harry Potter: Understanding the Meaning, Genius, and Popularity of Joanne Rowling's Harry Potter Novels, written by John Granger, a Reader in the Orthodox Church, claims to uncover Christian themes in its analysis of the story.
Far less such controversy has occurred in the United Kingdom, where religion plays a much smaller role in public affairs than in the United States.
Accusations of plagiarism
Rowling was sued by Nancy Stouffer, writer of The Legend of Rah and the Muggles and allegedly of Larry Potter and His Best Friend Lilly. The first book features creatures called "muggles". Stouffer alleged copyright infringement, but U.S. District Judge Allen G. Schwartz rejected Nancy Stouffer's claims that she was plagiarized and fined Stouffer $50,000 for "submission of fraudulent documents" and "untruthful testimony."
Stouffer was also required to pay a portion of the attorney's fees incurred by Rowling, her U.S. publisher Scholastic Press, and Warner Bros. Films.
Though these charges were shown to lack any evidence, the original name of the character and the famous first line of the first book are quite similar to one found in episode 7 of Monty Python's Flying Circus. This is a transcript of the narration compared to the first line of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone":
| Python
| Potter
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| "It was a day like any other and Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Brainsample were a perfectly ordinary couple, leading perfectly ordinary lives - the sort of people to whom nothing extraordinary ever happened, and not the kind of people to be the center of one the most astounding incidents in the history of mankind. . .so let's forget about them and follow instead the destiny of this man. . .Harold Potter, gardener and tax official."
| "Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious. . ."
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There are also similarities with Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach. In that book the main character, James Henry Trotter (as against Harry James Potter), is an orphan raised by his two aunts after both his parents were killed by a giant rhinoceros. In Eva Ibbotson's book, The Secret of Platform 13, there are two boys who resemble Harry and his cousin Dudley. One of them is actually the prince of a magical kingdom, which can be accessed through platform 13 of King's Cross train station. And in Jill Murphy's book, The Worst Witch, Mildred Hubble studies magic at a Witch's academy, and her nemesis is teacher's pet to the cruel and sinister Potions teacher.
Comic book fans have noted that a comic book series first published in 1990 by DC Comics called The Books of Magic by Neil Gaiman shares many similarities to Rowling's book. These include a dark haired young boy with glasses named Tim Hunter who discovers his own potential as the most powerful wizard of his age after being approached by magic wielding individuals, the first of whom gifts him with a pet owl. Rowling officially denies being aware of this series, and Gaiman has gone on record stating that he believes similarities to be either coincidence or drawn from the same fantasy archetypes.
Parodies of Harry Potter
Books
Other
Unauthorised books featuring Harry Potter
- Written in Bengali
- Harry Potter Kolkataye (Harry Potter in Calcutta), by Uttam Ghosh
- Written in Chinese
- Harry Potter and Leopard-Walk-Up-to-Dragon
- Harry Potter and the Porcelain Doll (哈利・波特与瓷娃娃 or Hālì Bōtè yǔ Cíwáwa)
- Article (http://www.cjvlang.com/Hpotter/ciwawa.html) on the cjvlang website
- Harry Potter and the Golden Turtle
- Harry Potter and the Crystal Vase
Trivia
See also
External links
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Harry Potter
For further fandom links, see Harry Potter fandom.
Official websites
Unofficial websites
- Chamber of Secrets Forums (http://www.cosforums.com/): The most popular (unofficial) Harry Potter community
- The Leaky Cauldron (http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/): The most popular (unofficial) Harry Potter news weblog
- HPANA (http://www.hpana.com/): A very popular news site with large, active community (JKR Fan Site Award winner December 2004 (http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/fansite_view.cfm?id=16))
- MuggleNet (http://www.mugglenet.com/): The most popular (unofficial) Harry Potter site (JKR Fan Site Award winner October 2004 (http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/fansite_view.cfm?id=15))
- The Harry Potter Lexicon (http://www.hp-lexicon.org/): A comprehensive repository of Harry Potter information (JKR Fan Site Award winner July 2004 (http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/fansite_view.cfm?id=14))*
- Veritaserum (http://www.veritaserum.com/): A popular Harry Potter news site.
Articles about Harry Potter
- Catholic News (http://www.cathnews.com/news/302/10.php) article on the Vatican's approval of Harry Potter
- MSN Slate (http://slate.msn.com/id/2084960/) article on the shut down of unpermitted Harry Potter books
- MSN Slate (http://slate.msn.com/?id=2073627) negative analysis of Harry's character
- Bibliography-TXT (http://www.eulenfeder.de/hpliteratur.txt) and Bibliography-HTML (http://www.eulenfeder.de/hpliteratur.html) Potter Bibliography (Further secondary literature)
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