Well, Forum Registration has been closed and a few of us are steering clear of the internet for awhile (in hopes of not being spoiled) but some of us are still around.

So let's discuss some HP.

First Question: Will the Harry Potter series transcend time and still be read years from now, like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes or J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series still are today?

Meaning, do you think 40 years from now, 50, and even 100 years from now (assuming Nuclear Holocaust doesn't happen) children or even adults will be reading Harry Potter?

Or is this a fad? An airport thriller. Are Rowling's works not that transcendent?

Personally, I don't think it will stand the test of time. When I think Harry Potter, I think Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I think Stephen King. Comparative works that I don't think people will remember years from now nor care about.

Perhaps the records will stay but I don't think Harry Potter will continue to be that exciting a journey. I think the test of time would've been aided by successful movies that could compete with Lord of the Rings for best fantasy book adaptation but as they are now, they only further divide people who don't read further.

I think Harry Potter as a symbol and as a fandom will be a footnote in history, years from now.

Perhaps it will retain a cult status with the people who grew up with it, but I think with how poorly Half Blood Prince is and the potential for Deathly Hallows to be a let down to even more people (like a majority), I don't see future generations picking it up.

So really, I think Harry's Legacy is something that dies with the people who were around for it.

Your thoughts?

 

In 50 years, there will be another series, another author, another hundred billion dollars to be made. I remember when Animorphs were quite popular. As soon as KAA ended the series (especially with such a bad ending), Animorphs fans became few and far between.

JKR is nothing special, nothing new, nothing unique. Her series, while entertaining, are not enough to warrant preservation.

 

Personally, I can see it going out of fashion for a couple of decades, but then picking up again as those who grew up with it start to introduce their own families to their old copies.

It will always, probably, remain a must-read series for those hardened fantasy addicts. It'll stay on the main shelves of high street book shops for a few years, but will gradually be relegated to back street shops, specialist book clubs etc.

it will endure, but not in the same broad spectrum as it has now. No longer will it be read by most people between the ages of 5 and 90, but only those who are specifically into that genre.

 

About Buffy- the fandom is still going strong and there are new canon (and crappy) comics released. However, the fandom is centered at LJ and is as cultish as it was when Buffy aired, so there are very little new fans coming in.

About the HP legacy- I don't think that it can be compared at all to to Buffy and SK. I don't know the statistics for SK, but I do know that Buffy's averege viewers per season (in the US) is 7 mil per episode at it's highest- 2 mil at it's lowest. HP has a much broader audience then that. Also, Buffy and SK appeal to a highly specialized audience imo- horror. Harry Potter, however, is a children's book. I know thats how I got into it. While we might see darker themes and look for them in the books, the main audience of the book are children who read it as a bedtime story. That's its main appeal. That, I think, won't change.

Also, unlike Buffy and other TV series who have seasons that are (usually) each 22 episodes long, HP is only 7 books. That's part of the reason, imo, that the fandom is much larger then that of others. You don't need to invest as much time in canon.

I think that HP has a much larger chance of being read 50 years from now then the other fandoms you have named do.

 

I don't believe it will keep its status long after the last movie (assuming that's the last installation of the series, i.e. not withstanding another book).

It will fade out, maybe be rejuvenated at some time by the mentioned people who grew up with it, but it's no comparison to LotR or Sherlock Holmes. Not gonna be a classic.

 

Nah it'll vanish. Alot of us now were big fans, more of the fanon then canon, and quite a few of us are only still here, or care a cunt hair more then nothing for HP, due to the ppl on this site.

HP had massive potential, especially after the 4th book. What Rowling's done since the bad ass ending of Book 4 has been completely crap, boring, strung out, crap.

Book 1 set up the characters, book 2 made Harry pretty cool, backstory, 3 was great with Sirius and Harry throwing off authority. Book 4 was good all throughout, then you get to book 5 and it just drops in quality. 6 was pathetic and a waste of time to read, and I'm dreading folks already asking me for a ripapart of book 7, because I don't want to waste several hours doing it, lol.

 

I disagree with the opinion that HP will fade out within 50 years. First of all, in comparison to series like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or even LOTR, HP has a much larger fanbase (for instance, it is by far the majority on sites like ff.net, etc.) Also, HP isn't targeted towards one generation, with its readers ranging from grammar school to senior care facilities. I agree with Mordecai that it'll be passed on, so to speak, to new generations.

I imagine that HP will be a more successful version of Star Wars, which also has a devoted following. I'm sure that the 7th book won't be the end of it, whether there be more parodies, or even a cartoon series about it.

While HP will never be considered elite literature, it's definately made an imprint on society, comparable even to the Beatles.

 

I think ya'll under estemate HP. They aren't great books, so they won't be read in English Class rooms, but they are fun books.

They're an enjoyable light read, and as a child's book they'll continue to be used.

 

Yeah, I'm gonna agree. I think they'll still be read years from now. I mean, I might be a bit optimistic as I'm actually just getting into BtVS because of all the acclaim it gets from various people on this site, but series' like those don't just die. There will be someone who reads it, always.

I mean, so many people have read Harry Potter. There's no way it'll die out. Maybe it'll die down, but not die out. The fandom itself will probably still go strong for at least another ten years. And you never know, JKR could always release a series about the children. Yeah, it'll suck. But people will read it.

I'm gonna go with the optimism here.

 

In my year, a few english classes actually read the first or second Harry Potter book for english as a real text. This was around year 8-9.

 

Really? You can't really analyze the text that much. I just don't think there is much you can do with it in a class format, aside from compare it to other books.

It does use the classic weakling hero, wise old man format...which is an interesting literary devise, if only because I don't know why it works so well.

On further pondering, I must conclued that those english teachers were unskilled loats.

 

At least someone might have gotten something out of it. After all, it is Harry Potter. When was the last time you got something out of English? Never?

 

Something out of English? Every book you read, you take something from it, regardless if it's disgust, inspiration or even a new perspective on how to view life.

I compare it to Buffy and Stephen King because they both have major fan followings that expand beyond a single age group. Teens, adults and old people read Stephen King - he's the second most popular author and has sold millions of books.

Buffy is primarily for teenagers and members of the 19-25 age group but seven million is five million shy of the number of people who stood in line for Order of the Phoenix.

I'm classifying Harry Potter as a plot that is fast, requires no thought and usually adheres to archetypes. It doesn't bring anything new to the table. There's very little original about Harry Potter. Comparing that to Lord of the Rings that defined the Fantasy genre and is the story every author who dares to get involved with Fantasy tries to measure his or her story against and you'll never come close to what Tolkien introduced.

Harry Potter doesn't come close to defining the genre like The Legandarium that Tolkien created did. It belonged to the war decade, continued into the drug and experimentation era and has stayed insanely popular due to excellent movie adaptations.

Harry Potter is a fad. Lord of the Rings is not. I guarantee a majority of HP fans are incapable of stomaching the dialogue, writing style and level of diction Tolkien puts in his stories. I exclude DLP from this. I mean the people who don't read books but have forgone their idiocy to pick up a book (which I'm happy about).

There's just no comparison. I think if the movie adaptations had each been 3 hours to 3 and a half hours long and had allowed actors of merit to play the parts, had a single director, and stopped changing the set every other movie, I might be singing a different tune.

Hell, they should've waited until the books were all out so they could connect things in Book 1 with Book 7. How stupid it is to be cutting things out or having to wonder since Rowling is undoubtedly guarding her grand plot.

A lot of you are viewing it from the point of the fanfiction or the fandom you come directly in contact to. Go outside and you'll see people talk about Harry Potter when it's imminent. It's a fad. Get involved with a literary discussion any other time with people who actually read books, and they're not going to discuss Harry Potter. Even now.

Imagine when there aren't things coming out every other year to keep interest? It's like Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code. Interest. Oh what's this? Yes. Star Wars will remain because it has people who are constantly feeding it.

Rowling, if she does not write another book and Extended Universe isn't allowed... I just don't see Harry Potter continuing to have a strong community.

If the worst happens and Deathly Hallows is extremely terrible (and you'll be able to tell because when a series reaches end, people start judging a lot more as will critics who've had to endure singing only good praises of Rowling so their careers aren't shit on by the rabid fanbase), there's no way in hell Harry Potter is cared about.

King can preach it's the journey, not the end that makes a story but that's bullshit. If the ending is terrible, no one will read it because the first thing someone's going to say when they ask someone who's read it is "Is it good?"

"It's ok but the ending is terrible."

Turned off. Instantly.

So I just don't see it. I love Harry Potter and fanfiction. I imagine fanfiction will continue but that's looking at only a single portion of the grand picture.

 

The Harry Potter book series will go on for generations.
Longer than Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes or J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and it'll not be because of the movies, by then these graphics will be cheap and of course Danny sucks.

 

You know, it's surprising how long this has actually been going on. I just looked at the title page of my battered copy of SS and I realized that it's been ten years. I was only 12 when I read the first book, barely older than Harry himself... Now the story is coming to a close and I'm cautiously optimistic.

I don't know about whether it will stand the test of time but I know that one day I'll read them to my kids. Or my grandkids. As a children's book it is really fun but I'll admit it is not exactly a work of great literary import. It connects with kids and teens, but there's not exactly a whole ton of subtext and linguistic intricacies to dissect. It might enjoy a place similar to Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer though, but who can tell at this point?

 

I have to admit that I'm stuck on this issue.

While I feel certain the series will not survive in anywhere near the popular position it has held for years now, a part of me would like to think that the series will always have some place among popular fantasy. I can see it changing to more of a primer for those interested in the massive genre; a way for a new reader to get their feet wet so to speak.

The series simply lacks the epic quality that many others have. It doesn't have the total depth of Tolkien's work, the generation inspiring quality of Star Wars, or even the enduring "base" of the works of Eddings, Weis and Hickman, or Modesitt. Yet, the Potter series does get the reader to open their minds enough that they can then appriciate the better works out there more fully. This is especially true as it does have the ability to draw interest from such a diverse range of ages.

All in all I believe we'll still see copies of the seven books on the shelves for a great many years to come, but only one or two copies of each for the entire store after the fad has died down.

Edit:

What?

 

I think that will fade away ten years from ow, but come back because I would not be surprised if someone decided to make a remake of the movies which would cause the books sales to go shot up again.

 

To beat Star Wars. JKR would have to invest alot more time. I am a huge star wars fan especially the books. Do you have any clue how many Star Wars novels there are? The Expanded Universe covers 1000s of years.
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On Harry, he may survive. Harry Potter can not compare with Holmes or LotR because they are the genre of books. If you can think of Fantasy books and not think of LotRs you should be shot. If you think of mystery and do not think of Holmes you need to be shot.

JKR brought nothing new to the table very few people do. They understand it and figure out how to do without it being a complete ripoff of something else. Harry Potter may survive but will he be able to last as long as Holmes, Star Wars, LotRs, Count of Monte Cristo, Three Musketeers, or even White Fang. No. Harry Potter is not even that league.

 

Maybe in the future, years from now, when technology has gotten to the point where the unimaginable is commonplace, maybe Harry Potter will be remade until a new movie, one made with care and consideration. But until then, I think it will boom in popular culture only when the next movies come out, and only if either Rowling writes more, or has other authors write in her "world".

Yes, the books have been read by many, many people, but most of those people aren't crazy hardcore like most of us on the internets are. Do you know who Crouch is? Then you're in the minority. When you have a phenomenon like the HP series, regardless of quality, there will be influences on our culture for many years, although I don't think it will be clear exactly how for some time.

But I think people will still read it, because they are easy to read. Those deep, significant, relevant classic texts may remain more important, but yeah, the HP books will still be out there. But I don't know if any new books will ever reach the zenith of HP popularity.

-J

 

I think that HP will stick around, but mainly as a children's book. Much like Peter Pan, Goosebumps, and the Chronicles of Narnia, you will probably always be able to easily pick up a Harry Potter book at the local store, but it won't be as visible as it is now. It may even retain a following akin to that of Interview With A Vampire, but I cannot seriously entertain the idea that it is or will be anywhere near the level of timelessness of Tolkien. It will most likely be more along the lines of the Hardy Boys.

If Deathly Hallows has a kick-ass, awesome, never-saw-it-coming-but-damn-was-it-good-when-it-got-here ending, it may wind up as an essential children's classic, but if the last book sucks like HBP, I foresee a dramatic drop in interest and a gradual fade into black for the HP fan following. After the last of the movies is done, of course.