Harry Potter
'' (American edition)]] Harry Potter is the informal name given to a collection of fantasy novels by J. K. Rowling, and the movies based on them. The series is named after the protagonist, Harry James Potter who was born July 31 1980 given the timeline below. The first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (released as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United States) was released in 1997.
The Harry Potter books are primarily aimed at older children, but have fans of all ages. There is also a series of 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.
The sales from the books as well as royalties from films and merchandise have, according to unsubstantiated rumours, made her richer than Queen Elizabeth.
Each book chronicles one year in Harry's life at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where he learns magic. Seven books are planned, each gradually a little darker than its predecessor as Harry ages and his nemesis, Lord Voldemort, gains power. As of 2004 five books have been published and the sixth is underway.
The books are written in the third person, with limited omniscience, from the point of view of Harry. There are two exceptions:
Overview
Apart from these two clear exceptions, the second half of Chapter One of Philosopher's Stone and a scene during the Quidditch match in that book are written from an independent point of view.
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 Potter's relatives the Dursleys remind some readers of Roald Dahl's works. Based on their common fantastic elements, the British origin of the authors, the appeal to both children and adults, the mainstream popularity, and the movie adaptation, the series has also drawn comparisons to J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
Certain aspects of the Harry Potter series have even entered the real world as products to be purchased by fans of the series. One example is Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans.
Several unpermitted derivative books have been written, either directly featuring Harry Potter, or using similarly named characters. J. K. Rowling and her publishers are currently making attempts to stop the distribution of these books.
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.
Daniel Radcliffe played Harry Potter in the first three films.
Warning: Plot details follow.
According to the timeline given in Book 1, Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone would be set between 1991 and 1992; Chamber of Secrets would be 1992 and 1993; Prisoner of Azkaban would be 1993 and 1994; Goblet of Fire would be 1994 and 1995; Order of the Phoenix would be 1995 and 1996. The next book is 1996 and 1997. The seventh and last book would cover 1997 to 1998, and Harry should've left the school in 1998, aged 17 - supposing he lived to do so (Rowling often teases her readers like this when asked on Harry's career after school).
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."[1]. 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 Christ. 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.
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.
When asked about Fan Fiction, J. K. Rowling said "I've read some of it. I find it very flattering that people love the characters that much." She generally supports fan fiction (although she has asked that sites that contain fanfic with adult content password-protect the stories so children under 18 cannot access it).
Many fan fiction stories "pair" different characters together in a romantic relationship, in order to show the author's support for that "ship" (ie: relationship). The relationships fans support and write about run from completely canon-based (such as Lily/James or Arthur/Molly), through the realms of the possible (such as Ron/Hermione) - and there is even a significant fan base for pairings that, if the currently available evidence is weighed, do not appear to have much chance of occurring in canon (such as stories containing homosexuality (slash), and Harry/Hermione, since the author has confirmed that they are "platonic friends" in an interview). An ongoing poll on Fiction Alley as to who Harry Potter will eventually be with currently stands at 45.96% believing it will be Ginny, 23.83% who believe that Harry will wind up with Hermione, 13.19% believing it will be Luna, despite an interview statement from JKR saying that Harry would wind up with someone who had been there from the beginning, and 8.94% maintaining that it will be nobody at all. When Rowling was asked if there would be any unusual pairings in the forthcoming books, she said, "I don't really want to say as it will ruin all the fan sites." Furthermore, she has also expressed some enjoyment over the "shipper debates" on her website.
Fan-fiction and fan-cognition in general tend to have an interesting derivative view of themes and characters in the books. For example, some believe that the online fan crowd has much more sympathy for Draco Malfoy than the average fan. This has led to the rise of the characterization known as "Fanon Draco" or "Draco In Leather Trousers" (coined for a scene in Cassandra Claire's Draco Trilogy), which some fans find annoying and similar to a Mary Sue-ized canon character (also known as a Qanonreip, which comes from The Potter Sue Of The Day Report and is derived from "canon rape").
Novels and films
The books have become popular enough that bookstores now hold "midnight release parties" on the day Harry Potter books are released.Foreign Language Releases
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.The story so far
To read a complete synopsis of the story, broken down into books, see Harry Potter (plot). 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. Accusations of plagiarism
Rowling was sued by Nancy Stouffer, writer of The Legend of Rah and the Muggles. Published in 1984, the book featured a protagonist named Larry Potter, and also included such characters as Lilly Potter, Larry's cousin. Stouffer alleged copyright infringement, but
U.S. District Judge Allen G. Schwartz rejected Nancy Stouffer's claims that she was plagiarized and fined Stouffer $5050,000 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.Parodies of Harry Potter
Unauthorised books featuring Harry Potter
Fan Fiction
Fan fiction refers to stories written by fans. There are innumerable fan fiction stories on the internet devoted to Harry Potter, and several sites dedicated to Harry Potter fan fiction (such as The Sugar Quill and FictionAlley).Fan Art
Sites such as ArtisticAlley host thousands of pieces of fan art, created by artists of all degrees of skill, sorted by book chapter, and by character. Also, individual sites, such as Art Dungeon showcase the works of talented individual artists.Trivia
See also
Actors and Characters
For details of which actor plays which character in the various movies, see the Harry Potter cast article.External links
Official sites
Unofficial web sites
Articles about Harry Potter
Online role-playing sites
| J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series:
Harry Potter and the ... | ||
| Philosopher's Stone | book | movie |
| Chamber of Secrets | book | movie |
| Prisoner of Azkaban | book | movie |
| Goblet of Fire | book | movie |
| Order of the Phoenix | book | movie |
| Half Blood Prince | book | movie |
| Book Seven (as yet untitled) | ||
| Characters - Places - Translations - Related articles | ||