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Harry Potter

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Cover of the original novel in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Cover of the original novel in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

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 (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United States) was released in 1997.

Contents
1 Overview
2 Novels and films
3 Controversy

3.1 Accusations of promoting witchcraft
3.2 Accusations of plagiarism

4 Parodies of Harry Potter

4.1 Books
4.2 Sketches on Saturday Night Live
4.3 Other

5 Unauthorised books featuring Harry Potter
6 Trivia
7 See also
8 External links

8.1 Websites
8.2 Articles about Harry Potter

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).

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

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 the sixth is underway, entitled Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Hints about the plot of this book have been revealed by Rowling on her personal website [1].

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 two 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
  • 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.

Also, a scene during the Quidditch match in Philosopher's Stone is 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 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.

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

  1. 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.
  2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
  3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
  4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
  5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
  6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
    • Story time: 1996–1997
    • Book release: (still being written)

According to the timeline given in Book 2 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 three 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]. 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.

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 $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.

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

  • Barry Trotter, by Michael Gerber - a series of Harry Potter parodies published in the United States and the United Kingdom.
  • Porri Gatter (Порри Гаттер in Cyrillic lettering), by Andreyi Zhvalevskiyi (Андрей Жвалевский in Cyrillic) and Igor' Miyt'ko (Игорь Мытько in Cyrillic) - Belarusian series of Harry Potter parodies.
  • Tanya Grotter (Таня Гроттер in Cyrillic), by Dmitri Yemetz (Дмитрий Емец in Cyrillic) - Russian series about a magical schoolgirl, described by the author, as "a sort of Russian answer to Harry Potter."
  • Parry Hotter and the Seamy Side of Magic by K. C. Ellis, published 2002 by Phantom Genius.

Sketches on Saturday Night Live

Other

  • Harry Potter and the Kidney Stone, by Desmond Devlin, illustrated by James Warhola. Cover story of Mad Magazine March 2000 issue.

Unauthorised books featuring Harry Potter

Written in Bengali
  • Harry Potter Kolkataye (Harry Potter in Calcutta), by Uttam Ghosh
Written in Chinese

Trivia

  • P. G. Wodehouse's 1948 novel Uncle Dynamite includes a character named Police Constable Harold Potter, and another called Hermione (not Granger, but Bostock)
  • Dutch Prime Minister (2002-) Jan Peter Balkenende is known for his resemblance to Harry Potter.
  • Supporters of Vladimir Putin have often accused the makers of the Harry Potter films of having deliberately modelled Dobby after the Russian president.
  • A skit on an episode of the British television series Monty Python's Flying Circus featured a character named Harold Potter.
  • A news presenter on Channel 10 News, Gold Coast, Australia, is called Harry Potter
  • Canadian Cabinet Minister Pierre Pettigrew entered federal politics the same year (1994) that traitor Peter Pettigrew escapes Harry and his friends.
  • In 2003, Comic Relief performed a spoof story called 'Harry Potter and the Secret Chamberpot of Azerbaijan'. It featured Dawn French as a female Harry; Jennifer Saunders as Ron Weasley and JK Rowling; Miranda Richardson as Hermione; Nigel Planer as Dumbledore (wearing the beard and costume of Richard Harris; Jeremy Irons as Professor Severus Snape; Ronnie Corbett as Hagrid and Basil Brush as Dobbie the House Elf.
  • In a further twist, Richardson will play journalist Rita Skeeter in 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire', becoming the only actress to have portrayed two JK Rowling characters on film to date.
  • Albus Dumbledore's partner in the Philosopher's Stone is Nicolas Flamel, an Alchemist. An Alchemist of the same name lived in Paris and is a well known historical figure.

See also

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations by or about Harry Potter.

For further fandom links, see Harry Potter fandom.

Websites

Articles about Harry Potter

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) book movie
Characters - Places - Translations - Related articles

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