Mr. Merriman has it about right. I was thinking that it will end up with the wizard of oz books and Chronicles of Narnia in the Children's Classics section of the bookstores so to speak.

or maybe not?

 

I love the Harry Potter books- as they got me into reading and actually thinking- and I will never say anything different, but I don't think it will stand the test of time like the LotR series. Reading LotR is reading something epic; something that set its own standard. The characters, the plot, the battle; they all are up there in a class of their own that has stood the test of something like half a century.

I think Harry Potter is very good but it is only as great as it seems because of fanfiction. Harry Potter is so great because it has given me fanfiction which has entertained me for the last seven years of my life. I connect the books with all the admittedly even better and usually far, far worse fanfiction that I have read and it makes the books seem greater then they really are. When really they are only fun children's books that I still cling to because of fanfiction. I have read things far better but when I am done reading those it is the end and I want more. Harry Potter goes on forever in fanfiction (until the fangirls take over at least) and it always draws me back in.

But will the future generations have Harry Potter fanfiction to make it something more epic? No, they will just read the still fun plot and have fun while Harry grows and fights all sorts of things. They will like it and might read the entire series but there will be no fanfiction to enthrall them. Are the books alone enough to stand fifty years or more? We will tell our children but will out children tell their children and so on without fanfiction to lead the books to epic proportions? Unless the seventh book is a raging success, I say no.

 

I do think that a lot of people are underestimating the Harry Potter books. They're not great literature, but they are great children's books.

As anyone who reads my signature knows, I'm dyslexic. I a great deal of trouble learning to read, this was most hindered by that fact that I had not interest in reading about Dick kicking a red ball.

I’m sure my parents thought that getting me the standard books for a High School English class on tape was a lovely idea, but it left me expecting some gore. Dick and Jane didn’t have that.

Thankfully, toward the end of third grade (this is after I’d repeated 2nd grade) my friend came across the Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. I read that in about two days.

I think that first Harry Potter book is possibly one of the greatest children’s books ever written. Yes, Half-Baked Plot sucks, and in OotP Harry has PMS 24-7, but the first book is a great children’s book. I think kids will continue to read it through the ages.

It gives them what they want, the hope of an escape from this mundane world in which they feel insignificant. It shows them that even the lowest of the low (little stunted dirty Harry) can be infinitely more special then others. It gives them hope that they are not a pathetic as they really are.

That is something that is immensely attractive. As long as that the first book continues to have that affect, children will read it.

 

No, HP will not withstand the test of time.

As Bio said, HP is a fad, in fifty years there will be another fad people will want to read about.

 

I think a big part of the success and hysteria around the Harry Potter franchise is the hype of it being released in installments, spread out over a long period of time. This has ensured practically 10 years of Potter-mania. It's hard to imagine Harry Potter without all the waiting for the next book, and the theorising over what is to come. It has been an experience that I feel privileged to be alive for, as from July 21st onwards not a single person will be able to live through "The Harry Potter experience".

That said, there's no way that Harry Potter is simply going to disapear into obscurity. It has been the biggest thing in the literary world for a decade, and new Potter books are headline news. The series has been attributed for reviving an entire generation's interest in reading, and the books will remain on every bookshelf in Britain for years and years to come: children born tomorrow will enjoy the books just as much as children born 10 years ago. I wouldn't be surprised if JKR was given a nobel prize, though under what catagory I don't know.

Also, it's important to remember that, while she has said she will never write a Harry Potter book again, she refuses to rule out writing in the HP world ever again. Personally, I think that, given 10 years or so of relative quiet, she'll get the itch to write in the HP world once more, especially considering the boxes upon boxes of notebooks she has at home, filled with little details about the world.

 

That would be fun, just so long as she doesn't go the way of Weis and Hickman with DragonLance. They had ended the series so perfectly with Dragons of a Summer Flame and then butchered it when they came back later and did the the War of Souls trilogy.

If Rowling decides to write another story in the Potter-verse I hope she'll choose to create an all new story with new main characters that have nothing to do with Harry Potter.

 

Indeed, although the occasional homage would be cool. Perhaps a story set when Harry (assuming he survives) is an old man (Dumbledore-old).

Speaking of Dumbledore, JKR did say in the Mugglenet/TLC intervew after the realease of HBP that she liked the idea of a story detailing Dumbledore's youth. Although there would be almost zero tension because we know that he is going to live, it would be good to have a competent lead character for once.

 

Now that would be an excellent new series for the Potter-verse. Yes we know he would live, but that's not a big deal. I would really enjoy a series with Dumbledore starting say...post-Hogwarts and through WW2 and his defeat of Grindelwald.

 

I am a little weary admitedly...

If you think of an example of the fanbase like say that mugglnet site. Not an ideal example... but still relatively impressive. After the books are finished.. all they'll really have are the movies... and after that they'll follow JKR's coat-tails around for a while; hoping that Hp will be renewed. It will dwindle immensely and I find that quite sad actually; it would be a massive blow to the fandom to not have any new major news to look forward to.

The thing that made the series so poppular... is and will be the hype. The wait for the next book the sudden media coverage over childrens book... the fanbase... everything just blossomed from that.

Unless in say 20-30 years, maybe they remake the movies... or turn hp into a mini series; staying relatively close to the books but expanding on the characters themselves in a tastefull manner. The fandom I'm afraid may dwindle down to a fraction of what it was. Then again.. I do still think it will last on, there is no way in my mind that the series will be a fad, comparable to pogs; thats laughable.

If anything, HP will still be a popular childrens series... atleast as popular as LotR was before they made the movies...

When future parents are reading stories to their children... they'll probably remember the series (assuming they read the books ) and pass it on to their children.

I agree though, that if JKR made another addition though... like the suggested dumbledore one.... or even Voldemort... his rise to power, with him as the protagonist in his quest to gain immortality, ending with Halloween 1981.

I personally think that would be awesome...following tom around, experiencing his victories as he finds the fabled chamber... learns of the horcuxes...

It would be a nice literary twist. Relegating dumbledore to the bad guy and Tom marvolo ridlle to the role of the plucky youngster overcoming all the odds to fulfil his dreams.

Edit: I just went back and found out that taure and I think alike... I feel so sorry for him.

 

It has already started

So I was out to eat with some friends tonight and overheard a bit of conversation at another table. It seems the rumors are already flying about "The next Harry Potter series". According to this group of "informed" folks (age range maybe 17-22) Rowling has already hinted that she will be writing another series, but not with Harry as the main character.

This group of informed fans was discussing the pros and cons of another series that lacked Harry. My friends and I rather enjoyed evesdropping on their blather...it was amusing.

 

One thing's for sure though, come September I'll be picking up one of these... A very nice box set, all hardcovers in a good looking case, and if you figure that it's usually about twenty five bucks for a new hardcover the price is very reasonable at $115 instead of $175. Sure I've got my first editions already (or will soon) but those are books I've read to pieces, literally. SS and CoS have both needed to be repaired at least once (had to reglue CoS and rebound SS completely) and I have no clue where any of the slipcovers are. Not to mention I've highlighted and page marked the hell out of the last three for FF purposes. I'm definitely going to need a set of new books for my library and this looks like one of the best ways to get it for any future reading to children moments.