You know what’s really hard for me? Talking about J. K. Rowling objectively (and on her birthday, too!). And it’s not just because she wrote one of the most successful book series of all time, teaching millions of children to adore reading in the process. Not just because she has used her well-earned gains to promote so many charitable causes. Not just because the world loves a good rags-to-riches story, and hers is one of the best.
It’s because she described herself as “the biggest failure [she] knew” before she sat down to write one of the most beloved fantasy worlds on paper. It’s because she turned the sorrow over her mother’s death into a tale where a mother’s love for her child ultimately saves the world. It’s because all of the first publishers to read her three chapter sample rejected her book. It’s because failing made Jo Rowling push back hard against depression and poverty to find her very best calling.
It’s because she gave us Harry, Ron and Hermione, and so many of us wouldn’t recognize our childhoods without them.
The United Kingdom is dotted with magical nooks and crannies celebrating her tale. The Elephant House in Edinburgh, Scotland where Rowling wrote during the day calls itself “The Birthplace of Harry Potter.” There’s a bust in a room at the Balmoral Hotel where Rowling inscribed the date when she finished The Deathly Hallows. King’s Cross Station in London had Platform 9 and 3/4 marked out with a trolley firmly stuck halfway into the wall. They’re little portals, really, places of contact where one might absorb a bit of that magic.
We search often for “real” versions of the stories that we love, proof that the impossible is possible, that fiction isn’t as far away as we’re assured by practical and serious people. J. K. Rowling’s story easily fulfills all requirements and then some, almost as though she were being written about in the contemporary three-part novel of some alternate dimension author. She started as a single mother, supporting her daughter through a time when her hope and fortunes were in short supply. In a period of great loss, she discovered her superpower—writing—and proceeded to use that power for good. (And more than one form of good, it turns out, as her philanthropic work has shown over the years.) Despite having so much expectation placed on her with every book release, she proceeded to be unflappably frank and focused on what she loved. She remarried, had more children, finished her series and wrote more books. She got the happy ending to end all happy endings.
She is a bonafide superhero. She’s what Cinderella would be, if Cinderella had gotten to the ball on her own steam and know-how. It’s not reality that sounds like fiction; it’s reality that’s better than fiction.
Then again, Rowling has attracted her fair share of criticism from both literary and fan circles. As a Potter devotee, I feel I should add to this list. After all, I blame her for a lot of things, including the following:
- Entire nights spent up reading.
- Needing to get my own wand.
- Waiting on line in a bookstore until well after midnight.
- Trying a vomit-flavored jellybean.
- Thousands of words of fan fiction written.
- Millions of words of fan fiction read.
- Countless tears and endless laughter.
- Friends with whom I bonded.
- Communities where I was welcomed.
- Huge amounts of valuable brainspace taken up by wizarding facts.
- Using chocolate as a cure-all.
- Ever thinking I might like to write… and write. And write.
- The fact that I, and many others, are convinced that we all went to the wrong schools because our letters to Hogwarts were lost by daffy owls.
And what’s there to say about Harry Potter in all of this? Well… Rowling did give The Boy Who Lived her very same birthday. (He would be 37 today, I believe.) So that’s two cakes to put candles on—just make sure the ice cream going with it came from Florean Fortescue’s. And never forget that while so many authors create magic in their minds and on the page, J. K. Rowling was powerful enough to manifest it in her own life. She is truly the greatest witch of them all.
This article was originally published July 31st 2013
Emmet Asher-Perrin would relive those midnight book releases if she had a time turner of her own. You know it happens. You can bug her on Twitter and read more of her work here and elsewhere.
I was a bit of a late-comer to Harry Potter. I was a senior in high school when Goblet of Fire came out (or at least when I remember being aware of it, perhaps it came out early). I was definitely skeptical of all the hype and craze. At that time my favorite books were (and still are) Lord of the Rings, Wheel of Time, and my German teacher had just gotten me into the works of Guy Gavriel Kay. Harry Potter just seemed like kiddie books to me (which is not to say I don’t enjoy reading children’s books sometimes, but I do think Harry Potter has helped me appreciate them more and realize some of them can be quite good and deeper than we give them credit for). But then I saw a good friend reading Goblet of Fire – somebody whose intelligence and taste I respected. In fact, she was one of the few people I acknowledged as being more intelligent than me, haha. I asked her about it and she said they were really good.
My mom had gotten my sister the first book, but my sister never bothered to read it. She was only 5 or 6 at the time, so still a bit young for that. I was packing for a Spring Break road trip and on a whim, grabbed it for some light reading in the car, thinking it would be a fun diversion.
I WAS HOOKED. Even the first book, which is definitely a bit lighter in tone, definitely impressed me with the writing style, the character development, the dialaogue, the humor, the world building, etc. I couldn’t wait to get the next one. And of course the later books just got better.
I am pretty convinced that Harry Potter is going to be considered a classic for all ages years from now – it’s not just hype, and will continue to stay popular, along with things like Lord of the Rings and Narnia. And the fact taht JK Rowling is so awesome it’s like icing on the cake. My husband and I have also recently started exploring Pottermore, for the sole purpose of finding all the backstories and extra tidbits JK Rowling put in (and, okay, we wanted to be sorted, haha). It’s amazing how well thought out and complete her world is in her head. I would say in some ways it IS comparable to Tolkien, although he obviously had more of a linguistic and mythological approach.
Although, full disclosure, LOTR is still my very favorite :D
I didn’t get into HP until after OotP came out, I was in my early 20’s.
And I was in my early 30’s when Deathly Hallows came out, and I still bawled my eyes out when I saw Hagrid’s illustration over the beginning of “A Flaw In The Plan”.
This series is one of the favourites in my extended family, starting with my nephews who were just the right age to grow up with the books. My mum would read the latest book each summer to them when the came to visit her. They even let her read the prologue to Deathly Hallows even though they were a tad too old for it. ;-)
I have nothing but respect and admiration to Rowling for what she accomplished. You add in her good works and you have someone very special.
So a big “Hippo, birdie, two ewes!” to Ms. Rowling!
Kato
PS – A local summer program puts on a Harry Potter camp every year & my 11 year old has gone the last two years. They have their own houses. Compete for the quidditch & house cups. Take potions classes. And yes, he gets his invite on lovely silver stationary welcoming him to Hogwarts.
I was also a late-comer to the Potter series. I didn’t start reading them until after Goblet of Fire was released, and I was already in my 30s. I don’t even have kids, but if I did, these novels would definitely be required reading. I cannot thank this woman enough for sharing her gift with us, and I’m delighted for her success.
I was in my 20s and didn’t get to reading the series until Goblet of Fire. I read free pdfs and then went and found the series, and then started standing in lines for the new books. I even took a regularly offered class at my univeristy–always one of the first lit classes filled those semesters–on Harry Potter, its influences, and some contemporaries. I went to midnight releases of the movies.
Do the books have their flaws and problems? Of course. But they were darn good reading, and a good story with good characters overall, that held peoples’ imaginations, of all ages and any gender. That takes something special.
I remember being pleasantly surprised when I realized the trio was actually my age; even as an adult, it made me feel a connection to them and their troubles, made them identifiable in a way. It also made the epilogue a little more poignant; we’re about to that time now, when I think about it. And it’s something amny of my friends are dealing with; kids, sending them off to places, life, etc.
Jo Rowling is one of my favorite authors anywhere, not only for the books she’s given the world, but for the work she does, and just being a decent person. Happy birthday to her!
The luggage cart isn’t in the wall at King’s Cross station any more, but I think they might bring it out for photo ops if you pay them.
Since everyone else who commented here seems to be coming from the “got into Harry Potter late in the game”, I thought I would express my regards for JK as one of those children who happened to be the perfect age for HP.
I was in the seventh grade when Prisoner of Azkaban came out. My friends had been telling me for a while how awesome HP was (a teacher at our fifth grade school read Sorceror’s Stone aloud, hooking an entire group of them two years previously). But at the time, I was a diehard Science Fiction only sort of person. And I was reading adult books. I thought I was too good for that little kid stuff. I had my Star Wars EU and Asimov books. They could keep their Harry Potter.
Then one day I saw Sorcerer’s Stone in paperback at Walmart. I figured I’d try to see what all the hype was about, so I asked my mom to buy it for me. Saying it “changed my life” might seem hyperbolic, but seriously, you guys, it changed my life.
Harry Potter connected an entire generation of readers. Heck, it connected across generation in my own family when I hooked my college age older siblings on it.
I remember how the entire school filled with large doorstopper books for the week after a new HP book came out. Everyone had the same book, and you could tell by book mark placement where someone was and then talk about it with them. It didn’t matter who they were. You had this common things. No one in my generation was considered “weird” for liking fantasy. Quite the opposite, you were weird for NOT liking it. No one was mocked for being a reader or reading big books because everyone–jock, nerd, punk, everyone–was reading Harry Potter.
The seventh book came out the summer between my sophomore and junior year in college. At that point I had been reading these books for ten years, literally all of my teenage years. I remember the silence in my home as me, my little sister, and my older brother (we all had our own copies) each read it. I remember going on Facebook as soon as I finished it to try and figure out which other friends had also finished it because I had to talk about it with someone!
Harry Potter defines my generation. It’s mind boggling and it’s amazing. JK Rowling was the amazing woman who gave us this, and she will always have my thanks because of it.
J. K. Rowling is Good People. There aren’t that many of them. Even my spouse who cares nothing for Fantasy, has never read a word that Rowling has written, isn’t sure who Harry is, etc. — he has good words for this writer* who remains true to herself, keeps working and challenging herself despite having wild success — and looks to do good and make a difference beyond the pleasure her books have provided so many.
Love, C.
—————–
* He goes so far as to send me links to articles he runs across that speak of her charities or has news about her new books.
Love, C.
What a lovely article, Emily!!! Thanks for sharing. It’s a fitting tribute to a remarkable trailblazer, one who gives me hope that I might follow even a little bit in her footsteps… and one whose stories have helped me and so many others through some seriously rough times in the muggle world.
I love this tribute! :)
They may not be the best books I’ve ever read, but I can’t think of series of books that were more fun to read than Harry Potter.
The bullet points are all true for me (except the writing fan fiction part). I don’t know if I will ever live to see another book provide all of the experiences Harry Potter provided again. Either way I cherish the memories and the bonding experiences with people that this series opened up for me, and I am eternally grateful for having grown up with these books.
This was a great tribute.
If you’ve not read it, here’s an article she wrote about single parenthood.
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I’m confused as to how you could have been in your early 20s when OoTP came out and in your early 30s when Deathly Hallows came out when there were only 4 years between the two books’ release dates. In fact, all 7 books were published within 10 years.
I got into HP after GoF was released. I was 31. Someone at work turned me onto the Jim Dale U.S. audiobooks, but I wanted to read the books first so I devoured all 4 books out at that time in a couple of weeks and then listened to the audiobooks. So much fun and joy in that series, along with heartache and pain. It’s got it all.
I, too, have tried a vomit-flavored jelly bean. I blame society.
@14, Mid 20’s and Late 20’s then. Could have sworn I’d hit 30 before Deathly Hallows came out.
I absolutely LOVE the Harry Potter series I really got into the books in the 4th grade. Reading these books was my ascape from my life. Each book is absolutely unputdownable. I would read by flashlight until 2 in the morning every nightand yes I have been tempted to try a vomit-flavored jellybean but I decided against it.
Other birthdays include Primo Levi (1919), the author of The Periodic Table and several SF stories, Steve Miller (1950), half of the Liaden team, film critic and fantasy author Kim Newman (1959) and the anthologist and magazine editor John Joseph Adams (1976).
The luggage cart isn’t in the wall at King’s Cross station any more, but
I think they might bring it out for photo ops if you pay them.
It was there yesterday… It disappears for maintenance now and then but I go past it every work day so I can assure you it’s still there and so are the queues! (Top tip – go in the morning – never a queue then).
Like others, I was a bit older than the intended audience when the books came out. I’d been hearing good things about The Philosopher’s Stone as I graduated college (in 2001, the year the book came out), so when I went to London that year for year living abroad, I bought it on a whim. And I was hooked, buying each successive volume as it was released. I always pictured what my life would have been like if I’d managed to get into Hogwarts (I would have been a year ahead of Harry, I imagine, so I would have graduated as Albus was buried).
When I lived in London, the series was still new, so there was no marker in Kings Cross for platform 9 3/4. Didn’t stop me from looking!
A truly special series, a series that started as children’s books but transcended that label to become something greater.
I think it was when Prisoner of Azkaban came out that I discovered the series. Friends with middle-scool aged kids turned me on to it. I was in my late 30’s.
49 now, and rereading the series again.
I was a young mother when Harry came into our lives here. I started reading the first book with my bookworm 8 year old daughter and my reluctant reader eldest son soon joined the party. I raised my 4 kids on these books. When they were young and a new book would come out I would quickly read ahead to make sure the content was appropriate for my daughter, who would grab the book up and devour it as soon as it left my hands. When she was done I would sit down with the other kids and read a chapter a night to them until we finished the book. Each of the kids later came to read the novels again on their own and our annual holiday down to Florida included my rereading the latest tome.
I still have the now thoroughly broken in hardcover copies of those books – the wear and tear evidences our love of the stories and this wonderful author.
I greatly appreciate everyone’s taking time to share their stories and thoughts on this awesome reread!
Side note: anyone notice that the date stamps on the post are wonky? Some of you are posting from quite awhile ago and some are dated tomorrow! Can’t wait to see where I end up in time!
This was originally posted last year, it’s rerunning because today is her birthday again.
I must say, I was a late addition to this beautiful world she created.
And… I can honestly say that I quit my job as a result of these books. I was a salesman at the time, and worked my own hours. At the time, I was dating a woman who was crazy for these books, obssessive to say the least. I remember her pleading with me to read them as well so we could share this thing together.
I relunctantly opened up Sorcerer’s Stone or was it Philosopher’s Stone at the time? I don’t quite remember, but either way, I was hooked. I spent the next 2 weeks, working a little, and mostly reading, watching the movies and bonding with my ex over this wonderful story.
Needless to say, I quit, I just couldn’t get myself to continue pushing sales, and doing something I hated. I had dreamed of being a teacher groing up, so I set myself hard at work, at loving what I do.
Fast forward 6-7 years. Here I am, a teacher, reading these books to my classroom. It changed my life as well. I have JK and HP to blame! :)
Usually David Johnson’s illustrations are right on the mark, but this one just doesn’t work for me. I’m very familiar with Jo’s face and this just doesn’t really look like it – unless I’ve missed something obvious and it’s meant to be someone else?
Heck yes. I was eight when I read the first HP book. Well, actually, my mom read most of it– we were on a long roadtrip, and she’d picked up the book to read to me and my six-year-old sister.
By the time of the fourth book or so, we had a complicated system in place to guarantee that all members of the family got a chance to read the new releases ASAP. We would buy two copies, one for my sister and one for me, with an extra bookmark in each for my parents, who would read after we went to bed. First pair done with the book was required to pass their copy on to my grandparents, who lived down the road. The household anti-spoiler policy was absolute.
There are a lot of things that can be said about HP in retrospect, but this much is true above all: we loved that shit.
The early HPs passed me by initially. I was just out of college trying to decide what to do with my life and it was a couple of years before I decided to go to grad school to become a children’s librarian, so I was sort of out of touch with the children’s book world at the time. I remember being in a Borders in Santa Barbara on vacation when PoA came out, seeing all these kids and thinking “what’s the big deal with these books?”
Then my brother, who was 13 at the time and had never really liked reading (my parents used to bribe him to get him to read), read them and LOVED them. So I thought “well, maybe there is something to this after all”. Read the ones that were out (1-3). My parents and sister did the same. And the rest is history.
I remember when DH came out and I read it before my father did — he was probably waiting for me to lend him my copy cause he’s cheap like that — and he started asking me about what happens in the beginning. I didn’t want to spoil him, but he was insistent. So I told him about Mad-Eye and Hedwig’s deaths, and I he actually cried a little. I don’t think I had ever seen my dad cry before.
In my opinion, the genius of JKR’s writing style in this series is how she changed the tone of the books to match the ages of Harry and his classmates. I have read some great fantasy series before and after. However, the tone is consistent throughout the series. With HP it was different. Although I do not have children (and was not a child when I first read these books), I could imagine that it would be appropriate for an 8-10 year old to read the 1st 3 books on his or her own. However, I do not believe it is appropriate for an 8-10 year old to read the final 4 books on his or her own. These last books are darker and deal with a theme that is probably not age appropriate for an average 8-10 year old. Other series do not have that same change of tone.
I cannot think of another author who has successfully pulled this that off. The closest example I come up with is Tolkien. However, his difference is between the entire LotR trilogy (which I believe is geared for an slightly more mature age group) and the Hobbit (which I think would be ok for a slightly younger reader).
Thanks for reading my musings.
AndrewHB
I must admit to having read the first HP book and not being especially moved. It was a nice little book, but it filled me with no urge to read further. *shrug*
But I have nothing but tremendous respect for Rowling both as a writer and as a person. She has done amazing things, and comported herself quite well for the most part. Brava to her, and happy birthday!
—Keith R.A. DeCandido
First I do want to say I have nothing but respect for Rowling. The HP books may not be perfect in my eyes, but I can’t deny that the story they tell is wonderful and I think they are great children’s books. The same cannot be said of Twilight.
I’m in a weird spot in regards to the HP books I think. I was a teenager when the HP craze was blazing (in high school at the time) so young enough to get into them, but I also had more “mature” tastes in books then. So I think that my initial distaste for them was due a lot to hype backlash. I felt myself “too mature” for simple kids books, and couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about. Plus, a ton of my classmates who, to say it as nice as I can, were simpler than me loved the books. So again, I felt, if they liked the books then clearly they wouldn’t be good enough for me. (Yes, I was and probably still am quite a snob).
But even more, hype really turns me off to things. The only reason I bother sticking around with GoT is 1) the books themselves had no hype before the show came out except among die hard fans, so it wasn’t a big deal and 2) with the show now being so popular I usually just try to avoid the more rabid fandoms. Also, watching the show doesn’t require me to slog through a store full of other frothing-at-the-mouth GoT fans. I can just enjoy it from my couch.
But when HP was the craze it was the biggest thing since sliced bread. And I was a kid so I had to hear about it ALL THE TIME. My classmates wouldn’t shut up about it, my teachers wouldn’t shut up about it, my family wouldn’t shut up about it! And since everyone knew I loved to read, WHY WASN’T I READING IT?? It got really old, really fast.
And the idea of standing in lines waiting for books? You gotta be kidding me.
But I did go to see the movies as soon as they were out–because let’s face it I love fantasy and will go see any movie that looks remotely promising. And I really enjoyed all the movies. But I still vowed to never read the books–it was pure stubbornness at this point. And I still haven’t, though I will probably cave and do so soon (the main thing holding me back right now would just be the cost of buying all the books).
Oh, come on nauphtia :) Joooin us! I remember having a similar reaction as I was also in high school and was similarly obnoxious ;)
But check them out from the library and then you can catch up with the re-read :)
A crazy true story about the power of Potter. September 12th 2001, I was living in residency at the local college in Stephenville NL, Canada. The day before the world watched in shock and horror as two planes destroyed the Twin Towers. All flights into the USA where cancelled, planes in route to the USA had to be diverted to the nearest available airport. In the small West coast town of Stephenville Newfoundland, eight passenger planes carrying 1200 unexpected guests had to be accommodated for. for a town of 8000 that was no issue. Homes were offered and the residency freed up extra rooms, many of the residents cramming into rooms together to help make the space. We all helped the next few days as best we could to feed, entertain and just make our new visitors unexpected layover as enjoyable as possible in a terrible situation. Again, on September 12th of that year, I was in the colleges main lobby and I over heard two elderly British ladies talking about a very familiar character. I heard the name “Hagrid” being mentioned over and over again. “Hagird? I know Hagrid!” At this point I became a little snoopy and started to drop a few eves. The ladies were trying to figure out the name of his large 3 headed dog. Being Greek and knowing a thing or two about cerberus’s, I pardon myself and said, “I think you two are talking about Fluffy?” The ladies were overjoyed at my intrusion and happy to finally hear the name. We started talking about the books excitedly and loudly, which in turn added more passersby’ers(?) to the conversation, within a few minutes the lobby was full of people from across the world, different cultures, different colours, different accents, all chatting and laughing about the magical fun world of Harry Potter. It was a terrible time, and yet for 20 minutes people came together and were able to laugh and smile. It is a bright memory I have of that year, which the “Joy” part of my brain will always hold dear.
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve read and listened to the books since I found the Sorcerer’s Stone in 1999 at the library I work in. More importantly, I’ve actually lost count of the number of times I’ve read the series aloud to my children. My high school aged daughter will still come sit with us if I’m reading a Harry Potter book. Thank you, Ms. Rowland, for all the memories we’ve made because of your imagination.