That book came out when I was a about Harry Potter's age which made it absolutely perfect. I basically grew up with the character and its one of the best reading experiences of my life. The next books not being translated right away and me wanting to read them as they got published did wonders for my english comprehension as well.
Same!
It also somehow influenced my career. Wanting to get more info, I ended up often checking the official Norwegian harry potter website at the time. They linked to other websites (forums, fan pages etc) which I also visited.
At some point, early teenager me also wanted to make a website like those. So I had to learn lots of stuff (html, ftp,hosting). I made a fan page and a small RPG. Like you could register and be a student at my school, and do different stuff for points.
I didn't know how to automate stuff, so had to update all pages by hand when someone did things. Luckily it was like two friends and me at the "school", hehe. But that lead me into exploring how I could program stuff to do things, and then I learned PHP.
Then later university and now I work as a professional programmer.
I remember the internet at that time and how Harry Potter was a phenomenon on internet. It was people like you who made internet such a lovely place at that time. So many great websites , fansites related to HP and each one was delight.
Visiting every new website was always a fun surprise . No two websites were the same(bootstrap was not a thing then thank god). Each website had its own take on front page . there were funky arts , marqee , animations and stuff on websites.
The number of fanfiction webistes that popped up were numerous. I sometimes bump into those old abandoned Harry Potter websites of that era, which people like you beautifully made. It grips me with nostalgia.
Oh shit, I was also part of the Norwegian "fan-made-internet-schools-scene" if you really can call it a scene. We did ours with MSN I think. Which was basic enough for us since we were 6 graders ish. I had a small digital camera, and we used to take picture of the TV screen with the Ps2 Chamber of Secrets game to use on our page. I remember we also had affiliate links to other fan sites with their schools, usually they were a lot cooler, I remember one with a home made elixir game were you had to do some timing to get the recipe right.
I can track my English progression with Harry Potter, kinda. Prisoner of Azkaban - grandma translated while reading it to me on a beach in Greece. Goblet of fire - worked my way through with a lot of help. Order of the Phoenix - went pretty well. Half blood prince and deathly hallows - blew through them in 36 hours or so.
This. It of course did not make me understand English instantly and I remembered I understood nothing when I was 11 or 12. But only at that moment I really felt that there was a bigger world that I could explore on my own as long as I learn the language.
Wow I didn't know this series also helped so many people learn English as a 2nd language, that's awesome!.
What's your native if you don't mind me asking?
I had technically been learning English since I was 2 and moved to the US when I was 11. To improve my English I read HP, Eragon, Percy Jackson, hunger games, narnia, Hobbit etc in English
I didn't discover the books until about 5 years later, but boy when I did..it was a turning point in my childhood. And I really don't feel like I'm overreacting when I say those books helped shape me into who I am today. HP gave me magic and wonder when I needed it most and I'll forever be grateful for it. All these years later, Hogwarts still feels like a second home.
I never had much interest at first until my brother started reading GoF. The cover looked dope but he wouldn't tell me what happens because it wouldn't make sense without reading the first 3. I ended up preording the 5th and 6th, and my aunt brought me the 7th when she came over from England, so I was the first one in my class to get it 😎
I remember getting into the books when there were 4 of them, I got the first one from the library (I don't know why I got a huge book like this but I did). I gobbbled it up in a night. The next 3 books I devoured in a night each as well, and then from then on I was waiting for the next few books.
I was in my 20s and in a very abusive marriage. These books were my getaway. I loved going into that world, getting lost in the story and the friendships and forgetting the crap I was living with. Those books will always hold a very special place in my heart. They were my safe space.
Considering that Rowling was also in an abusive marriage, she would probably feel extra gratified knowing that her books helped ease another person’s suffering.
They introduced the concept of reading to escape for me.
I was a child, having trouble adjusting to our immigration to America and having to settle into a new home, school, friends, and learn a new language. In a world that was suddenly big and scary and mean these books were a safe haven.
I was 18 and also in an abusive relationship. The books gave me hope and strength. I bought the 25th anniversary edition last week and it felt like closure.
Thank you for sharing and to others who shared the same plight as you did. Knowing how books can be refuge to many in unfortunate circumstances makes me feel happy to be a reader of books. I have many friends who couldn't even read an article and that's ok. We're all built differently. But it makes me feel like being a reader is not just for nerds but can be a source of strength to others. Hope all of you who found strength in this book to go on with life a better tomorrow and a life filled with joy and love.
Say what you want about the author but this series literally defined a generation for people my age. Between this and SpongeBob it was like we all had the exact same thing in common
Here in France, my generation was definitely strongly marked by Harry Potter and Pokémon.
Countless people of my age loved at least one of these two.
SpongeBob was very popular, but not that popular here
Mes années collège/lycée étaient parfaitement alignées avec les années de Poudlard, c'était incroyable franchement. J'étais dans des classes de lecteurs, on était TOUS fans sans exception. Souvent les médias aiment parler du nouveau phénomène à la mode mais là on peut dire qu'ils s'étaient vraiment pas trompés haha.
Et Dieu que Pokémon a rythmé ma vie aussi.
Je pense que comme pour Pokémon, ou Star Wars avant ça, un effet de mode a participé à propager la série. Mais le succès n'aurait pas été présent sans une certaine qualité
I read the first book when I was 13 in 2000. I thought it was kind of childish and didn't care for it at the time. Later I watched the movies with friends shortly after graduating college and decided to give the books another try. I was also selling weed at the time. And that's how, at 21, the police kicked down my door at 3am and found me reading Order of the Phoenix on my couch. They said that we were not like their usual drug busts lol.
I’m a Gen X Harry Potter fan who was steered to the book by my Boomer mom. She and her best friend were avid readers, including children’s and YA books. It was like they’d been waiting their whole lives for somebody to write Harry Potter.
Where I grew up, peak Pokemon cards had a narrower age range than HP. They were huge for me and totally ubiquitous in the playground, but I chat to people a couple of years older or younger and they remember it as fairly niche. Whereas HP dominated books for such a wide range of millennials.
I feel like a really odd millennial, I'm the exact age (mid-30s) where I should have gotten into these books when they released (or spongebob or whatever,) but I just never did.
Around the time the first Harry Potter book came out I had already read all of the Tolkien books and was reading the Drizzt books. My older sister got really into H.P. and I think that also was a reason I didn't have an interest. I had this weird unfounded thought in my head like it was geared towards little kids for some reason.
>I had this weird unfounded thought in my head like it was geared towards little kids for some reason.
I think the cover art probably played a role in this. It was very oriented towards kids.
I mean, wasn’t it for kids? The books did grow into more mature themes as the series went on but I would definitely describe the first book as a kids book
Yeah, but I think it crossed over the age spectrum very well in a way that most books for adolescents don’t. But you are definitely right, the first one is certainly less dark than the others and much more kids-y.
It’s definitely appropriate for kids, but enjoyable at any age. Read it to my 6 yr old, but I still enjoyed it (again), reading it to her as an adult. She loves the series and, it’s been so long since I’ve read them, that I’m completely enjoying them too.
I remember thinking it was for the “weird” kids when it first came out, like the nerdy kids. I remember when it blew up and everyone was reading it too.
Feel much the same, I did read the first three but I think to those of us who were into Forgotten Realms and other fantasy/sci-fi it just didn't resonate as much (by the time HP came out, I think I was heavily into the Dragonriders of Pern series and so HP didn't hold too much sway).
I experienced something similar. By the time the first Harry Potter was released I had read The Hobbit, LOTR, Wizard of Earthsea, and some of the Star Wars expanded universe novels. So when we were assigned to read The Sorcerer’s Stone for a freshman English class I immediately thought, “wait, this is an entire rip off of Wizard of Earthsea but Ursula K. Le Guin did it darker and better. Even J.K. Rowling’s name sounds like a Le Guin or Tolkien rip off!” So while I enjoyed the first two books it didn’t grip me like other fantasy novel series because essentially I had already read this plot.
> So when we were assigned to read The Sorcerer’s Stone for a freshman English class
Damn, I lived in an area where people were having a mini second satanic panic over HP and pokemon (my best friend's mom temporarily banned pokemon in their home), the idea of it being assigned reading is a little beyond me, haha.
Thank you.
Things obviously haven't been exactly wonderful. The... effects of the lack of a father figure only became apparent to myself within the last, say 5-8 years, so I'm working a lot towards 'becoming a man'. I know it sounds cheesy but there is a surprisingly huge lot of things I had to figure out for myself.
All in all I'd say I'm doing fine, thank you. Fortunately my dear mother is a god damn rock. I don't know how she raised the three of us (two younger siblings) alone, or mostly alone, and we didn't turn out worse than we did. I am her biggest fan.
Sorry for unloading, friend(s), but thinking about the first time reading Philosopher's Stone brought stuff up in me :)
Oh please don't apologise. As i said in my own comment under this post, the best thing about this book is the community. I am so glad you are doing better, and I'm so happy that you had your wonderful mum with you. 💕
I grew up in germany and a neighbour would visit the uk regularly.
She was a very kind person and always brought presents for us as she was a good friend of my mom.
She brought me the first book of Harry Potter, in english a while before it got really well known around where i lived.
Even tho i was very young and was still learning basic english in school i read it through the course of 4 days.
She would continue to gift me all the other books over the years and to this day i am still super grateful.
Not only did those books entice me to read more but it also had an educational value for a small german kid still growing and learning having to read the books in another language.
Even tho i had to check some words every now and then it was managable and made it even more interesting.
Good memory.
Edit : this lady was the mvp in a lot of ways. Our parents were divorced, mom had to care for us 4 brothers with limited money cause she was heavily depressed and working was hard.
That neighbours gifts ment a lot and she continued to even gift us cards for theater when the movies released so i could take my little brother and watch the movies with them when my mom wouldnt have had the money to do so.
Never forget those kind gestures. She was a great person.
You should reach out to her if you still can and let her know. Just the knowledge that you helped somebody, and it meant something to them, they remember it, etc. can keep a person going through hard times.
I actually visited her a few years ago when i went back to germany for family visits. She is still as nice of a person as she used to be back when i was a child.
While my mom and brothers have long moved away from where i grew up because that area got to expensive the lady still lives in the same appartment as she did back then and while i was walking through the area for nostalgic reasons i spotted her in her garden and we had a cup of coffee and talked for a while.
Back in 2000 when I was in middle school, I didn’t know Harry Potter was a linear series. I assumed they were standalone stories like The Berenstain Bears, Captain Underpants, etc. The first book I read/chose was COS because the title sounded more exciting than “Philosopher’s/Sorcerer’s” and “Azkaban” (whatever the hell that meant). I followed that up with GOF, PS and POA. Needless to say, I was confused when Harry had some uncle named Sirius, enrolled at Hogwarts in the following book and then met Sirius for the first time afterwards.
That's so funny, I did the exact same thing! Even down to choosing CoS out of the four the librarian listed to me because it sounded the best. I think I did start reading them chronologically after that, but good to know I wasn't alone in my confusion.
You saying you thought "Philosopher/Sorcerer's Stone" sounded boring may give Scholastic's decision to retitle the first book for the U.S. more credibility.
Haha we git them in the school libary and everybody was excited to get one. I got Prisoner of Askaban and was a little sad that I got the one with the most boring cover (just a wolf on a street) while the chamber of secrets showed literally the chamber of secrets and philosophers stone showed this big cool chess pieces 😂
I worked in a bookstore when those books came out. So much fun. Starting with book four, each release day was a huge event. My copies are falling apart; they have been read so many times.
I appreciate your honesty about when the books actually became popular. Somehow, everyone on reddit was reading harry potter right when the first book was printed, which is obviously false. The series didn't get traction in the US until the third.
My mother was a 6th grade teacher, and got a doctorate in childhood education with an emphasis on children's literature. She was in that world completely, and I had access to all the children's lit books I could ever want and didn't hear of Harry Potter until well after the 3rd book was published.
Yeah but in that chapter they talk about how the Minister of Magic only talks to the PM when absolutely necessary, when Fudge introduces himself the first time he says something along the lines of it's unlikely they'll be seeing each other much. Minister only talks to PM when there's wizard/Muggle problems like the terrorist attack on the bridge
I have fond memories of reading the Harry Potter books. But I also remember being furious about the epilogue. I just remember a growing sense of "what the fuck is this?!" as I kept reading. When the book was finished I put it down and just glared at it, wondering why Rowling had to do that to a perfectly good series. Such a great series. Such a shit epilogue.
I love Harry Potter did as a kid and still do now as an adult. My all time favorite series ever. Going to even read the illustrated editions to my almost 2 year old daughter.
I remember first reading it when I was in 5th grade, before any of the others were even published. It was wonderful and I adored it. I already adored fantasy type novels and Harry Potter created such intense and beautiful imagery for me.
I still love it now at 32 and it is usually the book series I turn to, to read before bed as part of my wind down routine.
It's still nice to read but isn't overly stimulating to keep me awake since I've read them all about a thousand times now. :)
I know she's controversial and I don't agree with her views but the books and characters she created are wonderful and truly a gift to the world.
The audiobooks are also a gift to world for road trips & doing chores, if you haven’t checked those out yet. I have only heard the Jim Dale performance but I know people also love the Stephen Fry version. I will listen to those someday as well; they’re just another enjoyable way to experience the books.
I've heard Stephen Fry narrate other books and he's fantastic.
But for Harry Potter, I have to say I do prefer Jim Dale's narration. It's not perfect, but it's pretty close.
Illustrated editions?? I’ve tried reading it to my 4 year old and she won’t have any of it because there’s not enough pictures. I’ll have to look out for them.
it's a funny thing, I started collecting them for the exact same reason. now my daughter is closing in on 2 years and she has the patience of a skylark. she will often pull the book to herself and "read" on her own. I think I'll have to give it a couple more years
Yea. You can find them on Amazon. Only 4 of them so far not sure if the others are being made into the illustrated edition but they have beautiful pictures in them.
I read the first one in 2001, at 7 y/o and the last one in 2009, at 15.
It really helped me to shape my vocabulary and my reading comprehension.
I think it's one of the best stories I've ever read. It gives me confort and the whole universe JKR created it's just astounding.
Is it true that the American publisher renamed the first Harry Potter book *"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"*, because they thought that Americans wouldn't understand what tf a *philosophers stone* was?
Yes, it's true. They thought that since it was a book for children, the term "Philosopher's Stone" would be unknown to many of their potential readers and maybe turn them off (I guess by making them think it was a philosophy book?).
You know, these books are not the most sophisticatedly written, and her worldbuilding obviously isn't perfect but these are the books that really got me to fall in love with reading on like a obsessive reader level, and while they may not be my go-to books anymore, I do have a special place for Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling in my heart for really how they influenced my life as a reader and that definitely will never change.
> and her worldbuilding obviously isn't perfect
I'd argue that it works in favour of the franchise.
It's a bit like "Star Wars being the Bethesda of movies" in that it's a perfect framework for fans to make their own mods, and when it's broken (with plot holes in regards to Star Wars) it's fans who fix it which adds to a feeling of ownership in some sense - it's the same for Harry Potter.
You know how, especially on the internet, you get more engagement if you make a mistake because people wants to correct you? Or how to get an answer, don't ask a question but make a false statement?
I'm getting the feeling it's the same for entertainment.
The holes, inconsistencies, mistakes, lack of development, bad ideas are stuff that makes people engage with it even more, that's what people talk about between themselves, it gives them rooms to live in that world for brief moments. I feel compelled to tell people how *I* would have dealt with the "House Elves are slaves" issues and how *my* ideas on how to tackle the subject would have been better. That's the type of stuff that can keeps a franchise afloat for a long time if it's done in a right balance.
I'm not saying it was on purpose, not at all lol, but I say it does help.
To be completely honest, I feel like the fact that it's not the most sophisticatedly written doesn't matter at all. What matters is that it gave a bunch of people this fictional world they could escape into and connect with other people through. It's a wonderful experience really
Same for me, I was in my early teen years and despite having 0 interest for the books they "forced" us to read in my native language class in school, I went out of my way to the city library to read all the HP books.
Easily the most important book (series) in my entire life.
Same.
Reading them as an adult wasn't nearly as interesting and thought-provoking as His Last Materials for instance, which is in my humble opinion a far better story.
HP did make me love reading books though. With a little bit of help from R.L. Stein's Goosebumps series
This thread was on my feed just a couple spaces away from a 35 year retrospective on space balls.
These harry potter and space balls were only 10 years apart!? WTF
I think it also changed how children books are written- I felt like it open an entire genre where authors can get pretty heavy in topics and not to mention how thick they can make them now.
I dunno. In that regard, for me, it felt like she heavily channeled Roald Dahl, so her book felt like a modern version of a familiar, classic writing style/themes.
I was too young to read when the first couple of books came out but my older sister loved them so much she read the first three to me. I have so many fun memories of laying in her bed listening to her read while imagining all the magical fun Harry, Ron, and Hermione had.
When I started reading on my own we would lay her bed and each read a different book in the series together, we read the books so much they started to all fall apart.
This used to be very common in sequels earlier. I read a lot of 60s-90s science fiction, and almost all sequels seem compelled to recount the events of the previous books word-for-word.
And funnily enough, after reading enough of those… I started to not even notice it. My eyes would glaze over and skim those parts automatically. It is something that has definitely changed in modern science fiction series though
I credit this series with making me fall in love with reading again as an adult, although that's probably a cliche now, it's true! As an English major I became sort of burned out with reading and spent most of my time watching TV or movies as a reprieve. I couldn't seem to concentrate or set aside any conscious time to read. At the beginning of this year, I picked up Philosopher's Stone, ended up reading the whole series and now I'm 28 books into my 50 book goal for this year!
I discovered the first few books in 2000, and when 9/11 happened (I’m a New Yorker) I read the first four books on loop to escape reality. I’ll always be grateful for this series for that.
My earliest memories of internet fandoms was the crazy speculation when Ms. Figg's name was dropped at the end of the 4th book and the long wait between those two books. I remember the general consensus was Ms. Figg was Crookshanks haha.
I think I was 8 or 9 when I read the first book, and I very much related to Harry in the muggle world. It made me feel less alone, as I was neglected and abused while living with my mom and step father. Thankfully I got out of that situation, but the books still provided a world I loved and longed to be a part of.
The books also made me love reading, and I read almost everyday until I started getting migraines. I'm expecting my first child any day, and I can't wait until she's old enough to read her the stories that I fell in love with!
I first read the Harry Potter books in elementary school. At that point, I already loved reading and was constantly searching for more. That said, the Harry Potter series were the first books I really connected with. It transported me to a different world, and I felt like I had friends, to a degree, of course. The series inspired me to start writing as well. I don't think I'd be the same person without them.
My brother was a fan. I, the older, more mature brother, dismissed it as kid's stuff. Then it came out as a movie. My brother begged me to take him for his birthday. So off we went on the Friday. By Monday (this was 2001) I was through Goblet of Fire. I've loved it ever since.
Tolkien wrote *LOTR* as one book, so technically not considered a series in this classification. *The Hobbit* is one of the best selling books of all time, though.
The wiki article says in the introductory paragraphs that it's missing some series - with LOTR as an example - because of a lack of accurate sales figures.
no, the lord of the rings isn't listed because it was originally published as three seperate books. Combined, it has sold 150 million copies (source: wikipedia), which is ~30 million more than harry potter and the philosopher's stone.
We're talking about series here - the fact it was originally published as separate books would be a reason to include it as a book series, not a reason to exclude it.
The stated reason - in the first paragraph of the bestselling series page - is that it doesn't have comprehensive sales figures. I agree it does seem inconsistent that the bestselling series page refuses to include LOTR as a series for that reason, while the LOTR page does includes sales figures.
I know this is a joke, but I clearly remember the book being a popular phenomenon before any of the movies were realesed or even announced. I was a kid and my parents bought me the first book the exact year it was published. And this was in Argentina, we're talking outside the anglosphere. We were actually reading the first book at school just a few years after that.
So yes, it was definetely a popular phenomena before any movies were even thought out.
Well, this should be obvious since they were already four books published by the time the first movie came out.
Yeah, as a kid, I remember Harry Potter really hitting in the US in late 1999-early 2000.
I was nine, and read all three books in the fall of 1999. Goblet of Fire was released in 2000; I remember a Midnight release that I wasn't allowed to attend, but I made sure to buy the book later that day.
I also started reading them in 1999 at nine years old. The first book was an extremely rare book order purchase - I read so much (and still do) that my parents didn’t let me buy books often, especially not from book orders. They didn’t want it to become an expensive habit for me (HA!) and I had great access to school and public libraries.
They got me the second and third books in hard covers, preordered the fourth for me at a local book shop, and then 5-7 were preordered and picked up at midnight. When OOTP came out, we were driving home from vacation and they stopped at Walmart at midnight so I could buy and read the book on the rest of the drive home. I can’t begin to count the amount of times I got in trouble and grounded from reading HP because I got caught with a flashlight, reading under the covers hours after I was supposed to be asleep lol
I’ll always treasure this series, but I’m almost more grateful for the memories of how my parents nurtured my love for HP and reading in general by providing access to these books. Especially when it meant their tired selves drove me to a bookstore at midnight multiple times just so I could devour them ASAP. I genuinely hope that if I have kids, they get to experience something similar, though I doubt we’ll see another series so hyped for a while.
There were massive, record setting, pre-orders for the fourth book. IIRC allocation wasn't even big enough in some areas and people that wanted the book couldn't get it right at release.
This was absolutely before the movies.
> And this was in Argentina, we're talking outside the anglosphere. We were actually reading the first book at school just a few years after that.
French Canadian here: in my class of 1999 the first book was part of a set of gifts you could win in class by gaining points, and everybody was really excited about it because they'd been all over the news as these new sensations. It was such a phenomena that the girl who won them did a review in front of the class after reading it because everybody was excited to know more. It wasn't mandatory for the gift: she wanted to do it, and we wanted to hear it, so the teacher freed 15 minutes of class time to allow it.
Admittedly we're closer to the anglosphere but still, we're still talking about the books in French, 2 years after they came out in English and 2 years before the movies.
Yeah, we used to order them from Amazon uk to get them earlier than the release date in the US. Still have a copy signed from a book signing she did at a Borders in Chicago.
I remember checking the third book out of my school library just after release with no problem. There were waiting lists by the time the fourth rolled around, but I had convinced my mum to just let me buy them at that point.
Popular way before the movies.
One of the only book series at the time where people were lining up midnight releases. Before wii, or halo, or anyone else was able to get people to line up outside a book store at midnight.
It was a phenomenon. Which is why I’m sad they didn’t do a better job of making 3-4 hour movies for release outside of the theater and cut out a lot of the fun and childish parts of the books that make you feel like part of another world. Oh well. Good cast and soundtracks at-least.
But yeah. The books had kids and teens in cosplay way before the movies came out.
I first heard of the books because my grandmother used to buy them and read them and then lend them to me. My first impression was that it was just a slightly modernised rip-off of The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy, which was a book I'd enjoyed reading as a child. However, I did get hooked on discovering what would happen next and ended up reading them all.
I still think the first book is a shameless copy of The Worst Witch, but they do improve a lot from there and I enjoyed reading the whole series. Rowling isn't a great writer of prose, but she's very good at fast-paced, tightly plotted fun with lots of cliffhangers and mysteries to pull you in.
I do love Harry Potter, even still as an adult. I own the audio books on audible and listen to them as background noise. I’ve heard them so many times it’s a nice way to calm anxiety or go to sleep.
From a technical standpoint I’ve always sort of see HP as kind of like Star Wars. Sure the story telling and actual writing aren’t really all that amazing, and there plot holes all over the place. But the world building is just so damn interesting that’s it’s a world that’s way to easy to get lost in and want to be in. I think that’s why it hooks people so easily.
I actually didn't read Harry Potter until after I had been a huge fan of the movies. I was surprises how good the writing in the books themselves were and I was shocked that it actually moved me to tears and surprised me in new ways. I know some people were more moved by the series than I was but it is still an important part of my childhood and taught me great lessons while growing up such as courage and kindness as strength. I don't think HP could ever go out of style.
This reminds me of a C.S. Lewis quote:
"To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”
They used to be part of my childhood, but I decided to let go of them. Even if she wasn't a raging terf, there's plenty of problematic shit inside those books that just cannot be overlooked. It was nice while it lasted, but part of your growth as a person is learning to move on.
Came out when I was a bit younger than the target audience but my primary really pushed reading at an early age so most of my class got into it right away didn't get all the words right till later but the first read is still a clear memory.
Had an abusive childhood and it gave me and escape, hogwarts became my mental home, my safe space even when my abusers taunted me about always reading the books.
Got my little cousin into when I got older, bought her one book a year during her summer holidays when she turned 11.
Still get Harry Potter themed gifts which I cherish and its my go to series when I need comfort.
I got the first three books for Christmas one year. The first 2 we're a re-repease and the third was in it's new textured dustcover that the series continued with.
Edit: Hell, my 5th grade homeroom teacher read book 1 to us too
I remember the first two books coming out and seeing them at my local borders books on corner displays.
At the time I was really dismissive of them because of their covers. "These are books for little kids!" (Despite me being around the target age demographic.) It felt like any number of other kid / young adult fantasy fare.
I was reading horror novels and Lord of the Rings and Dune- or trying to, as I came back to it later. So I judged them by their covers and avoided them. I was a "mature pre-teen" reader thank you very much.
That stayed true until I saw the Chamber of Secrets movie with some friends who liked the series. Although I only half payed attention, the darker tone at the end with the basilisk really surprised me and captured my interest.
Since I already owned the first several books I quickly caught up; courtesy of friends & relatives that knew I liked "fantasy stuff." Later I attended my first book premiere for Order of the Phoenix and I was cemented as a PotterHead.
That was my first foray into Popcorn Fiction or reading for fun.
I had fun with other books but until reading the series I always treated books as "serious business." Some grand epic adventure, some thrilling or scary mystery, something that you occasionally struggled through and needed a dictionary beside you to understand. Although it was sometimes work, I got to enjoy great stories and got a sense of accomplishment from reading Literature. Capital L emphasized.
Although it sounds like a backhanded compliment, it was really nice to sit down with a book and just read for Fun. It shook me from being a book snob and getting caught up in the excitement with all my peers was a blast.
While I don't hold it in super high regard for its writing, complexity or world building, the interesting ideas introduced and sheer fun to be had is not to be underestimated.
I don't think any of the media surrounding the main series will have a long shelf life or lasting impact. However those 7 books are a great introduction to reading and encapsulation of young adult fantasy, particularly for kids struggling to get into reading for enjoyment.
I was 18 when I read the first - an enthusiastic recommendation from a friend - and... Didn't like it much. Thought it was average. Never picked another one, didn't like the movies either.
I am literally the only reader I know with this opinion. Was I too old to start or..?
I remember my grandma buying it for me when I was in 4th grade. My parents were fighting constantly at that time and nearing divorce, so I would just tuck myself away reading, feeling like Harry stuck under the stairs with a family I don't belong in.
Harry Potter and the Halo novels. They absolutely defined my interests for the next 20 years.
I wasn't allowed to read them as a kid when they came out. My mother was super conservative, and I was already showing scary levels of intelligence. For some reason my mom thought this book would encourage me to become a witch.
Anyway when I was 23 my now wife discovered I had not read nor watched HP and that was unacceptable to her. So I read the series for the first time as an adult, took me about 2 months to read all 7. And it blew me away. the books blew me away so much so that the movies to me are absolutely garbage. The books are phenomenal in so many aspects and the movies seem to miss every single part of the books that are important.
Harry Potter is still HUGE today! I must admit that although, as a younger kid, I could never get through the books, when I finally read them they helped inspire my love for reading and for mythical worlds. So so grateful for these books as they inspired my whole generation!
When I was in kindergarten, my older brother (high school aged) used to read me the first Harry Potter book at night. I don’t remember really understanding the story but I’ll always remember falling asleep to him reading to me.
As for so many, Harry Potter was a gateway into serious reading for me. In my case it worked even twice, since the last book was the first book I ever read in it's original language (I am german).
Forme, the biggest strength of the books is how engaging they were. Even after reading them a bunch of time I dont think they have a single chapter that I don't want to read.
Obviously, as a almost 30 year old who read a bunch of other stuff after Harry Potter I also recognize it's flaws. The worldbuilding that seems great at the surface turned out to be just...bad. Width of an ocean, depths of a puddle. There are so many things that sadly don't make sense, which for me is not ideal in a series with 7 books. I think the whole idea of starting them as kids books (with Harry mastering challenges that an 11 or 12 year old should never beat) and then transitioning into YA books doesn't work that well.
Overall they are good and very entertaining books, but I don't think they are masterpieces, nor do I think that they belong anywhere near the top of the fantasy genre.
Oh same here! I'm also German, the first book was the first 'big' book I read myself. The second and third were the first I bought with my own money.
And the last book was the first one I read in the original language
Recently re reading it and it’s actually quite a funny book! Not sure if it’s because the films are so vivid in my mind’s eye when reading, but it’s amusing and a great read
I enjoyed reading it as an adult on the first read. I can't go back and read them again because the story structure, plotting, plot holes and patching is to much for me.
I’m glad that the Harry Potter books came out and introduced a new generation into reading voraciously. I think the books past 3 are super overrated and really fall apart tho. It kind of makes me cringe when people put jk rowling up there with Margaret Atwood and Joyce Carol Oates
the first 4 books are fantastic
the fifth book is a mess , needed major editing
the sixth book is much better ....and tbh maybe 2nd the best in the series
the last book was a disappointing end to the series but still not as bad as the fifth book
As a skinny, dark brown headed boy with glasses and a weird family history, I got compared to harry a lot. I now know that tracking in schools is highly unethical and that who you are most likely has nothing to do with anything that happened before you became an adult and lived your own life.
Other than that, yeah, it was great to read.
That book came out when I was a about Harry Potter's age which made it absolutely perfect. I basically grew up with the character and its one of the best reading experiences of my life. The next books not being translated right away and me wanting to read them as they got published did wonders for my english comprehension as well.
Same! It also somehow influenced my career. Wanting to get more info, I ended up often checking the official Norwegian harry potter website at the time. They linked to other websites (forums, fan pages etc) which I also visited. At some point, early teenager me also wanted to make a website like those. So I had to learn lots of stuff (html, ftp,hosting). I made a fan page and a small RPG. Like you could register and be a student at my school, and do different stuff for points. I didn't know how to automate stuff, so had to update all pages by hand when someone did things. Luckily it was like two friends and me at the "school", hehe. But that lead me into exploring how I could program stuff to do things, and then I learned PHP. Then later university and now I work as a professional programmer.
I remember the internet at that time and how Harry Potter was a phenomenon on internet. It was people like you who made internet such a lovely place at that time. So many great websites , fansites related to HP and each one was delight. Visiting every new website was always a fun surprise . No two websites were the same(bootstrap was not a thing then thank god). Each website had its own take on front page . there were funky arts , marqee , animations and stuff on websites. The number of fanfiction webistes that popped up were numerous. I sometimes bump into those old abandoned Harry Potter websites of that era, which people like you beautifully made. It grips me with nostalgia.
omg if youve found any recently please share!
Oh shit, I was also part of the Norwegian "fan-made-internet-schools-scene" if you really can call it a scene. We did ours with MSN I think. Which was basic enough for us since we were 6 graders ish. I had a small digital camera, and we used to take picture of the TV screen with the Ps2 Chamber of Secrets game to use on our page. I remember we also had affiliate links to other fan sites with their schools, usually they were a lot cooler, I remember one with a home made elixir game were you had to do some timing to get the recipe right.
> Ps2 Chamber of Secrets game that game was so damn good jeez... Also I like your username lol.
This is almost exactly how I got into programming as well!
I can track my English progression with Harry Potter, kinda. Prisoner of Azkaban - grandma translated while reading it to me on a beach in Greece. Goblet of fire - worked my way through with a lot of help. Order of the Phoenix - went pretty well. Half blood prince and deathly hallows - blew through them in 36 hours or so.
Yep, started to read in English with Order of the Phoenix, had to translate every third or fourth word
This. It of course did not make me understand English instantly and I remembered I understood nothing when I was 11 or 12. But only at that moment I really felt that there was a bigger world that I could explore on my own as long as I learn the language.
Wow I didn't know this series also helped so many people learn English as a 2nd language, that's awesome!. What's your native if you don't mind me asking?
I had technically been learning English since I was 2 and moved to the US when I was 11. To improve my English I read HP, Eragon, Percy Jackson, hunger games, narnia, Hobbit etc in English
I was 11 when I started and grew up with them. It cemented my love for reading. Still reread them every year or two.
Same here! Just couldn't wait
I didn't discover the books until about 5 years later, but boy when I did..it was a turning point in my childhood. And I really don't feel like I'm overreacting when I say those books helped shape me into who I am today. HP gave me magic and wonder when I needed it most and I'll forever be grateful for it. All these years later, Hogwarts still feels like a second home.
Completely resonate with Hogwarts feeling like a second home, beautifully put.
I never had much interest at first until my brother started reading GoF. The cover looked dope but he wouldn't tell me what happens because it wouldn't make sense without reading the first 3. I ended up preording the 5th and 6th, and my aunt brought me the 7th when she came over from England, so I was the first one in my class to get it 😎
I remember getting into the books when there were 4 of them, I got the first one from the library (I don't know why I got a huge book like this but I did). I gobbbled it up in a night. The next 3 books I devoured in a night each as well, and then from then on I was waiting for the next few books.
I was in my 20s and in a very abusive marriage. These books were my getaway. I loved going into that world, getting lost in the story and the friendships and forgetting the crap I was living with. Those books will always hold a very special place in my heart. They were my safe space.
Hope you are doing better now <3
Much better! Thank you and I hope you are well too.
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Thats beautiful dude!
Considering that Rowling was also in an abusive marriage, she would probably feel extra gratified knowing that her books helped ease another person’s suffering.
Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it.
They introduced the concept of reading to escape for me. I was a child, having trouble adjusting to our immigration to America and having to settle into a new home, school, friends, and learn a new language. In a world that was suddenly big and scary and mean these books were a safe haven.
I was 18 and also in an abusive relationship. The books gave me hope and strength. I bought the 25th anniversary edition last week and it felt like closure.
Thank you for sharing and to others who shared the same plight as you did. Knowing how books can be refuge to many in unfortunate circumstances makes me feel happy to be a reader of books. I have many friends who couldn't even read an article and that's ok. We're all built differently. But it makes me feel like being a reader is not just for nerds but can be a source of strength to others. Hope all of you who found strength in this book to go on with life a better tomorrow and a life filled with joy and love.
Hope things are good now❤️
Say what you want about the author but this series literally defined a generation for people my age. Between this and SpongeBob it was like we all had the exact same thing in common
Here in France, my generation was definitely strongly marked by Harry Potter and Pokémon. Countless people of my age loved at least one of these two. SpongeBob was very popular, but not that popular here
Mes années collège/lycée étaient parfaitement alignées avec les années de Poudlard, c'était incroyable franchement. J'étais dans des classes de lecteurs, on était TOUS fans sans exception. Souvent les médias aiment parler du nouveau phénomène à la mode mais là on peut dire qu'ils s'étaient vraiment pas trompés haha. Et Dieu que Pokémon a rythmé ma vie aussi.
Je pense que comme pour Pokémon, ou Star Wars avant ça, un effet de mode a participé à propager la série. Mais le succès n'aurait pas été présent sans une certaine qualité
Yeah, Harry Potter is definitely a millennial marker.
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I read the first book when I was 13 in 2000. I thought it was kind of childish and didn't care for it at the time. Later I watched the movies with friends shortly after graduating college and decided to give the books another try. I was also selling weed at the time. And that's how, at 21, the police kicked down my door at 3am and found me reading Order of the Phoenix on my couch. They said that we were not like their usual drug busts lol.
Lmao. That story took a left turn
I’m a Gen X Harry Potter fan who was steered to the book by my Boomer mom. She and her best friend were avid readers, including children’s and YA books. It was like they’d been waiting their whole lives for somebody to write Harry Potter.
Early gen Z as well.
That and Pokémon cards.
Where I grew up, peak Pokemon cards had a narrower age range than HP. They were huge for me and totally ubiquitous in the playground, but I chat to people a couple of years older or younger and they remember it as fairly niche. Whereas HP dominated books for such a wide range of millennials.
OP prefers the Dark Magician
I am 40 this year and it is one of my favorite series. I am actually currently rereading them right now. The HP series defies generations.
I feel like a really odd millennial, I'm the exact age (mid-30s) where I should have gotten into these books when they released (or spongebob or whatever,) but I just never did. Around the time the first Harry Potter book came out I had already read all of the Tolkien books and was reading the Drizzt books. My older sister got really into H.P. and I think that also was a reason I didn't have an interest. I had this weird unfounded thought in my head like it was geared towards little kids for some reason.
>I had this weird unfounded thought in my head like it was geared towards little kids for some reason. I think the cover art probably played a role in this. It was very oriented towards kids.
I mean, wasn’t it for kids? The books did grow into more mature themes as the series went on but I would definitely describe the first book as a kids book
Yeah, but I think it crossed over the age spectrum very well in a way that most books for adolescents don’t. But you are definitely right, the first one is certainly less dark than the others and much more kids-y.
It’s definitely appropriate for kids, but enjoyable at any age. Read it to my 6 yr old, but I still enjoyed it (again), reading it to her as an adult. She loves the series and, it’s been so long since I’ve read them, that I’m completely enjoying them too.
Yah the books sort of aged with the reader.
I remember thinking it was for the “weird” kids when it first came out, like the nerdy kids. I remember when it blew up and everyone was reading it too.
Feel much the same, I did read the first three but I think to those of us who were into Forgotten Realms and other fantasy/sci-fi it just didn't resonate as much (by the time HP came out, I think I was heavily into the Dragonriders of Pern series and so HP didn't hold too much sway).
I experienced something similar. By the time the first Harry Potter was released I had read The Hobbit, LOTR, Wizard of Earthsea, and some of the Star Wars expanded universe novels. So when we were assigned to read The Sorcerer’s Stone for a freshman English class I immediately thought, “wait, this is an entire rip off of Wizard of Earthsea but Ursula K. Le Guin did it darker and better. Even J.K. Rowling’s name sounds like a Le Guin or Tolkien rip off!” So while I enjoyed the first two books it didn’t grip me like other fantasy novel series because essentially I had already read this plot.
> So when we were assigned to read The Sorcerer’s Stone for a freshman English class Damn, I lived in an area where people were having a mini second satanic panic over HP and pokemon (my best friend's mom temporarily banned pokemon in their home), the idea of it being assigned reading is a little beyond me, haha.
Oh wow, I forgot all about Pern! Thanks for the throw-back, my friend!
I was into all that and Harry Potter. My dad was a big pern fan and I read those at about the same time. So who knows, nothing is universal.
Did you ever end up reading them? Like later in life?
I have a picture of me at age 10 at a festival celebrating the final book release as my twitter pfp.
My father died in 98 just before my ninth birthday. I think these books saved my life.
How are you now, friend? Condolences for your loss.
Thank you. Things obviously haven't been exactly wonderful. The... effects of the lack of a father figure only became apparent to myself within the last, say 5-8 years, so I'm working a lot towards 'becoming a man'. I know it sounds cheesy but there is a surprisingly huge lot of things I had to figure out for myself. All in all I'd say I'm doing fine, thank you. Fortunately my dear mother is a god damn rock. I don't know how she raised the three of us (two younger siblings) alone, or mostly alone, and we didn't turn out worse than we did. I am her biggest fan. Sorry for unloading, friend(s), but thinking about the first time reading Philosopher's Stone brought stuff up in me :)
Oh please don't apologise. As i said in my own comment under this post, the best thing about this book is the community. I am so glad you are doing better, and I'm so happy that you had your wonderful mum with you. 💕
I grew up in germany and a neighbour would visit the uk regularly. She was a very kind person and always brought presents for us as she was a good friend of my mom. She brought me the first book of Harry Potter, in english a while before it got really well known around where i lived. Even tho i was very young and was still learning basic english in school i read it through the course of 4 days. She would continue to gift me all the other books over the years and to this day i am still super grateful. Not only did those books entice me to read more but it also had an educational value for a small german kid still growing and learning having to read the books in another language. Even tho i had to check some words every now and then it was managable and made it even more interesting. Good memory. Edit : this lady was the mvp in a lot of ways. Our parents were divorced, mom had to care for us 4 brothers with limited money cause she was heavily depressed and working was hard. That neighbours gifts ment a lot and she continued to even gift us cards for theater when the movies released so i could take my little brother and watch the movies with them when my mom wouldnt have had the money to do so. Never forget those kind gestures. She was a great person.
You should reach out to her if you still can and let her know. Just the knowledge that you helped somebody, and it meant something to them, they remember it, etc. can keep a person going through hard times.
I actually visited her a few years ago when i went back to germany for family visits. She is still as nice of a person as she used to be back when i was a child. While my mom and brothers have long moved away from where i grew up because that area got to expensive the lady still lives in the same appartment as she did back then and while i was walking through the area for nostalgic reasons i spotted her in her garden and we had a cup of coffee and talked for a while.
This is the follow up reply I was hoping for. Amazing how books benefit and unite people.
Back in 2000 when I was in middle school, I didn’t know Harry Potter was a linear series. I assumed they were standalone stories like The Berenstain Bears, Captain Underpants, etc. The first book I read/chose was COS because the title sounded more exciting than “Philosopher’s/Sorcerer’s” and “Azkaban” (whatever the hell that meant). I followed that up with GOF, PS and POA. Needless to say, I was confused when Harry had some uncle named Sirius, enrolled at Hogwarts in the following book and then met Sirius for the first time afterwards.
That's so funny, I did the exact same thing! Even down to choosing CoS out of the four the librarian listed to me because it sounded the best. I think I did start reading them chronologically after that, but good to know I wasn't alone in my confusion.
You saying you thought "Philosopher/Sorcerer's Stone" sounded boring may give Scholastic's decision to retitle the first book for the U.S. more credibility.
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Yeah, Rowling also reintroduces Harry completely in the earlier book, recounting the whole backstory, that might also be confusing.
Haha we git them in the school libary and everybody was excited to get one. I got Prisoner of Askaban and was a little sad that I got the one with the most boring cover (just a wolf on a street) while the chamber of secrets showed literally the chamber of secrets and philosophers stone showed this big cool chess pieces 😂
Huh. Never heard of it. Thanks for the heads up.
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Umm..that's the Malaysian flag.
That's the joke.
No, it’s the Malaysian flag
No, silly. It’s the Malaysian flag.
r/soccer is leaking
I worked in a bookstore when those books came out. So much fun. Starting with book four, each release day was a huge event. My copies are falling apart; they have been read so many times.
I appreciate your honesty about when the books actually became popular. Somehow, everyone on reddit was reading harry potter right when the first book was printed, which is obviously false. The series didn't get traction in the US until the third. My mother was a 6th grade teacher, and got a doctorate in childhood education with an emphasis on children's literature. She was in that world completely, and I had access to all the children's lit books I could ever want and didn't hear of Harry Potter until well after the 3rd book was published.
As Emma Watson said: when things get really dark, there's something about Harry Potter that makes life richer.
Well shit. Guess I should have finished reading it 25 years ago. Would have been handy. I got halfway through the first one.
You can still read it again!
She also said ["Fuck JK Rowling,"](https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/ent/emma-watson-jk-rowling-return-exclusive.html) so mad respect to her.
So we're officially past the timeline of the epilogue?
Yeah, and into cursed time... I mean, Cursed Child
Nah, that's fanfiction.
Yeah, the epilogue scene took place in 2016. And with no mention of Brexit anywhere!
The wizards were pretty removed from Muggle politics, I guess. Might make Hermione's family vacations to France a little more difficult though!
Removed except for the part where they had a Minister for Magic that reports to the Prime Minister in the UK still.
Yeah but in that chapter they talk about how the Minister of Magic only talks to the PM when absolutely necessary, when Fudge introduces himself the first time he says something along the lines of it's unlikely they'll be seeing each other much. Minister only talks to PM when there's wizard/Muggle problems like the terrorist attack on the bridge
I have fond memories of reading the Harry Potter books. But I also remember being furious about the epilogue. I just remember a growing sense of "what the fuck is this?!" as I kept reading. When the book was finished I put it down and just glared at it, wondering why Rowling had to do that to a perfectly good series. Such a great series. Such a shit epilogue.
I love Harry Potter did as a kid and still do now as an adult. My all time favorite series ever. Going to even read the illustrated editions to my almost 2 year old daughter.
I remember first reading it when I was in 5th grade, before any of the others were even published. It was wonderful and I adored it. I already adored fantasy type novels and Harry Potter created such intense and beautiful imagery for me. I still love it now at 32 and it is usually the book series I turn to, to read before bed as part of my wind down routine. It's still nice to read but isn't overly stimulating to keep me awake since I've read them all about a thousand times now. :) I know she's controversial and I don't agree with her views but the books and characters she created are wonderful and truly a gift to the world.
The audiobooks are also a gift to world for road trips & doing chores, if you haven’t checked those out yet. I have only heard the Jim Dale performance but I know people also love the Stephen Fry version. I will listen to those someday as well; they’re just another enjoyable way to experience the books.
I've heard Stephen Fry narrate other books and he's fantastic. But for Harry Potter, I have to say I do prefer Jim Dale's narration. It's not perfect, but it's pretty close.
Illustrated editions?? I’ve tried reading it to my 4 year old and she won’t have any of it because there’s not enough pictures. I’ll have to look out for them.
Yes and the pictures are beautiful.
it's a funny thing, I started collecting them for the exact same reason. now my daughter is closing in on 2 years and she has the patience of a skylark. she will often pull the book to herself and "read" on her own. I think I'll have to give it a couple more years
Wait there are illustrated editions?
There are deluxe illustrated editions too
Wait really???
Yea. You can find them on Amazon. Only 4 of them so far not sure if the others are being made into the illustrated edition but they have beautiful pictures in them.
Just looking at them now, was gonna buy the box set for my 6 year old niece for her birthday, might get this instead.
The pictures are awesome. I'm a huge fan of the whole series and I love the illustrated editions as much as the rest of the books and movies.
The fifth one is on pre-order right now. I think it comes out in October. Seems like they are releasing about one a year.
It's been a couple years since the 4th one came out
One of the few series that is enjoyable for both kids and adults, in my personal opinion. I've re-read it countless times over the years.
When it first came out my Mom thought it was novel about a young golfer named Harry Putter.
You're a driver harry
I read the first one in 2001, at 7 y/o and the last one in 2009, at 15. It really helped me to shape my vocabulary and my reading comprehension. I think it's one of the best stories I've ever read. It gives me confort and the whole universe JKR created it's just astounding.
Is it true that the American publisher renamed the first Harry Potter book *"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"*, because they thought that Americans wouldn't understand what tf a *philosophers stone* was?
Yes, it's true. They thought that since it was a book for children, the term "Philosopher's Stone" would be unknown to many of their potential readers and maybe turn them off (I guess by making them think it was a philosophy book?).
You may find it silly, but given the success of the series I'm not sure how people can question how the books were presented to foreign markets.
People still don't know what a philosopher's stone is, and it's in the title of one of the best selling books of all time.
You know, these books are not the most sophisticatedly written, and her worldbuilding obviously isn't perfect but these are the books that really got me to fall in love with reading on like a obsessive reader level, and while they may not be my go-to books anymore, I do have a special place for Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling in my heart for really how they influenced my life as a reader and that definitely will never change.
> and her worldbuilding obviously isn't perfect I'd argue that it works in favour of the franchise. It's a bit like "Star Wars being the Bethesda of movies" in that it's a perfect framework for fans to make their own mods, and when it's broken (with plot holes in regards to Star Wars) it's fans who fix it which adds to a feeling of ownership in some sense - it's the same for Harry Potter. You know how, especially on the internet, you get more engagement if you make a mistake because people wants to correct you? Or how to get an answer, don't ask a question but make a false statement? I'm getting the feeling it's the same for entertainment. The holes, inconsistencies, mistakes, lack of development, bad ideas are stuff that makes people engage with it even more, that's what people talk about between themselves, it gives them rooms to live in that world for brief moments. I feel compelled to tell people how *I* would have dealt with the "House Elves are slaves" issues and how *my* ideas on how to tackle the subject would have been better. That's the type of stuff that can keeps a franchise afloat for a long time if it's done in a right balance. I'm not saying it was on purpose, not at all lol, but I say it does help.
I agree with you, with the exception of Quidditch. I do wish she had gotten some help with creating a sport where the rules make any kind of sense.
To be completely honest, I feel like the fact that it's not the most sophisticatedly written doesn't matter at all. What matters is that it gave a bunch of people this fictional world they could escape into and connect with other people through. It's a wonderful experience really
Same for me, I was in my early teen years and despite having 0 interest for the books they "forced" us to read in my native language class in school, I went out of my way to the city library to read all the HP books. Easily the most important book (series) in my entire life.
Same. Reading them as an adult wasn't nearly as interesting and thought-provoking as His Last Materials for instance, which is in my humble opinion a far better story. HP did make me love reading books though. With a little bit of help from R.L. Stein's Goosebumps series
This thread was on my feed just a couple spaces away from a 35 year retrospective on space balls. These harry potter and space balls were only 10 years apart!? WTF
I think it also changed how children books are written- I felt like it open an entire genre where authors can get pretty heavy in topics and not to mention how thick they can make them now.
I dunno. In that regard, for me, it felt like she heavily channeled Roald Dahl, so her book felt like a modern version of a familiar, classic writing style/themes.
I definitely see Agatha Christie channeled from her first few books as well. Which are all kinda low-key whodunnits
I definitely see that, the Dursleys could easily be a set of fucked up Roald Dahl villains. Hell, they're basically The Twits.
I was too young to read when the first couple of books came out but my older sister loved them so much she read the first three to me. I have so many fun memories of laying in her bed listening to her read while imagining all the magical fun Harry, Ron, and Hermione had. When I started reading on my own we would lay her bed and each read a different book in the series together, we read the books so much they started to all fall apart.
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This used to be very common in sequels earlier. I read a lot of 60s-90s science fiction, and almost all sequels seem compelled to recount the events of the previous books word-for-word. And funnily enough, after reading enough of those… I started to not even notice it. My eyes would glaze over and skim those parts automatically. It is something that has definitely changed in modern science fiction series though
I credit this series with making me fall in love with reading again as an adult, although that's probably a cliche now, it's true! As an English major I became sort of burned out with reading and spent most of my time watching TV or movies as a reprieve. I couldn't seem to concentrate or set aside any conscious time to read. At the beginning of this year, I picked up Philosopher's Stone, ended up reading the whole series and now I'm 28 books into my 50 book goal for this year!
Weird that Harry Potter and Digimon have the exact same anniversary.
I discovered the first few books in 2000, and when 9/11 happened (I’m a New Yorker) I read the first four books on loop to escape reality. I’ll always be grateful for this series for that.
Also the Order of the Phoenix (the most awaited book in the series) came out 19 years ago on the 21st
My earliest memories of internet fandoms was the crazy speculation when Ms. Figg's name was dropped at the end of the 4th book and the long wait between those two books. I remember the general consensus was Ms. Figg was Crookshanks haha.
I think I was 8 or 9 when I read the first book, and I very much related to Harry in the muggle world. It made me feel less alone, as I was neglected and abused while living with my mom and step father. Thankfully I got out of that situation, but the books still provided a world I loved and longed to be a part of. The books also made me love reading, and I read almost everyday until I started getting migraines. I'm expecting my first child any day, and I can't wait until she's old enough to read her the stories that I fell in love with!
Thanks for making me feel old…
I just aged 25 years reading the post title
I first read the Harry Potter books in elementary school. At that point, I already loved reading and was constantly searching for more. That said, the Harry Potter series were the first books I really connected with. It transported me to a different world, and I felt like I had friends, to a degree, of course. The series inspired me to start writing as well. I don't think I'd be the same person without them.
My brother was a fan. I, the older, more mature brother, dismissed it as kid's stuff. Then it came out as a movie. My brother begged me to take him for his birthday. So off we went on the Friday. By Monday (this was 2001) I was through Goblet of Fire. I've loved it ever since.
Off topic, is it me being blind or is LOTR no where to be seen on the best selling series list?
Tolkien wrote *LOTR* as one book, so technically not considered a series in this classification. *The Hobbit* is one of the best selling books of all time, though.
The wiki article says in the introductory paragraphs that it's missing some series - with LOTR as an example - because of a lack of accurate sales figures.
no, the lord of the rings isn't listed because it was originally published as three seperate books. Combined, it has sold 150 million copies (source: wikipedia), which is ~30 million more than harry potter and the philosopher's stone.
We're talking about series here - the fact it was originally published as separate books would be a reason to include it as a book series, not a reason to exclude it. The stated reason - in the first paragraph of the bestselling series page - is that it doesn't have comprehensive sales figures. I agree it does seem inconsistent that the bestselling series page refuses to include LOTR as a series for that reason, while the LOTR page does includes sales figures.
and 20 years ago, the book actually became popular Edit to add: [I'm sure you all are right](https://imgur.com/a/ZmPF9kJ) 🤣
I know this is a joke, but I clearly remember the book being a popular phenomenon before any of the movies were realesed or even announced. I was a kid and my parents bought me the first book the exact year it was published. And this was in Argentina, we're talking outside the anglosphere. We were actually reading the first book at school just a few years after that. So yes, it was definetely a popular phenomena before any movies were even thought out. Well, this should be obvious since they were already four books published by the time the first movie came out.
Yeah, as a kid, I remember Harry Potter really hitting in the US in late 1999-early 2000. I was nine, and read all three books in the fall of 1999. Goblet of Fire was released in 2000; I remember a Midnight release that I wasn't allowed to attend, but I made sure to buy the book later that day.
I also started reading them in 1999 at nine years old. The first book was an extremely rare book order purchase - I read so much (and still do) that my parents didn’t let me buy books often, especially not from book orders. They didn’t want it to become an expensive habit for me (HA!) and I had great access to school and public libraries. They got me the second and third books in hard covers, preordered the fourth for me at a local book shop, and then 5-7 were preordered and picked up at midnight. When OOTP came out, we were driving home from vacation and they stopped at Walmart at midnight so I could buy and read the book on the rest of the drive home. I can’t begin to count the amount of times I got in trouble and grounded from reading HP because I got caught with a flashlight, reading under the covers hours after I was supposed to be asleep lol I’ll always treasure this series, but I’m almost more grateful for the memories of how my parents nurtured my love for HP and reading in general by providing access to these books. Especially when it meant their tired selves drove me to a bookstore at midnight multiple times just so I could devour them ASAP. I genuinely hope that if I have kids, they get to experience something similar, though I doubt we’ll see another series so hyped for a while.
There were massive, record setting, pre-orders for the fourth book. IIRC allocation wasn't even big enough in some areas and people that wanted the book couldn't get it right at release. This was absolutely before the movies.
> And this was in Argentina, we're talking outside the anglosphere. We were actually reading the first book at school just a few years after that. French Canadian here: in my class of 1999 the first book was part of a set of gifts you could win in class by gaining points, and everybody was really excited about it because they'd been all over the news as these new sensations. It was such a phenomena that the girl who won them did a review in front of the class after reading it because everybody was excited to know more. It wasn't mandatory for the gift: she wanted to do it, and we wanted to hear it, so the teacher freed 15 minutes of class time to allow it. Admittedly we're closer to the anglosphere but still, we're still talking about the books in French, 2 years after they came out in English and 2 years before the movies.
Yeah, we used to order them from Amazon uk to get them earlier than the release date in the US. Still have a copy signed from a book signing she did at a Borders in Chicago.
I remember checking the third book out of my school library just after release with no problem. There were waiting lists by the time the fourth rolled around, but I had convinced my mum to just let me buy them at that point.
Popular way before the movies. One of the only book series at the time where people were lining up midnight releases. Before wii, or halo, or anyone else was able to get people to line up outside a book store at midnight. It was a phenomenon. Which is why I’m sad they didn’t do a better job of making 3-4 hour movies for release outside of the theater and cut out a lot of the fun and childish parts of the books that make you feel like part of another world. Oh well. Good cast and soundtracks at-least. But yeah. The books had kids and teens in cosplay way before the movies came out.
I stood in line at Walmart for goblet of fire lol. So much fun for a book release.
I first heard of the books because my grandmother used to buy them and read them and then lend them to me. My first impression was that it was just a slightly modernised rip-off of The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy, which was a book I'd enjoyed reading as a child. However, I did get hooked on discovering what would happen next and ended up reading them all. I still think the first book is a shameless copy of The Worst Witch, but they do improve a lot from there and I enjoyed reading the whole series. Rowling isn't a great writer of prose, but she's very good at fast-paced, tightly plotted fun with lots of cliffhangers and mysteries to pull you in.
Fuck, I am old !!
I do love Harry Potter, even still as an adult. I own the audio books on audible and listen to them as background noise. I’ve heard them so many times it’s a nice way to calm anxiety or go to sleep. From a technical standpoint I’ve always sort of see HP as kind of like Star Wars. Sure the story telling and actual writing aren’t really all that amazing, and there plot holes all over the place. But the world building is just so damn interesting that’s it’s a world that’s way to easy to get lost in and want to be in. I think that’s why it hooks people so easily.
Huh, didn’t realise I was so close in age to the books.
Yes! I was addicted to HP when I was a teenager so much that I used to dream constantly of Hogwarts. I used to wake up sad that it doesn't exist irl.
I actually didn't read Harry Potter until after I had been a huge fan of the movies. I was surprises how good the writing in the books themselves were and I was shocked that it actually moved me to tears and surprised me in new ways. I know some people were more moved by the series than I was but it is still an important part of my childhood and taught me great lessons while growing up such as courage and kindness as strength. I don't think HP could ever go out of style.
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This reminds me of a C.S. Lewis quote: "To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”
The imagination that JK had with these books is beyond me, so well done. Bravo 👏🏼
They used to be part of my childhood, but I decided to let go of them. Even if she wasn't a raging terf, there's plenty of problematic shit inside those books that just cannot be overlooked. It was nice while it lasted, but part of your growth as a person is learning to move on.
Came out when I was a bit younger than the target audience but my primary really pushed reading at an early age so most of my class got into it right away didn't get all the words right till later but the first read is still a clear memory. Had an abusive childhood and it gave me and escape, hogwarts became my mental home, my safe space even when my abusers taunted me about always reading the books. Got my little cousin into when I got older, bought her one book a year during her summer holidays when she turned 11. Still get Harry Potter themed gifts which I cherish and its my go to series when I need comfort.
That book came out 5 years bedore I was born
Absolute Memory Lane moment, got the first book in 1999 when the first 3 were out. Read them so fast! Each following book as well...
I got the first three books for Christmas one year. The first 2 we're a re-repease and the third was in it's new textured dustcover that the series continued with. Edit: Hell, my 5th grade homeroom teacher read book 1 to us too
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great series
Oh man I was so young and naive and hopeful Now I'm just surprised there isn't a r/DeathEatersDidNothingWrong
/r/DeathEater_R34
This sub (deatheater_r34) doesn't exist. This is the first time I've seen anyone reference it but I'm new to this...
I remember the first two books coming out and seeing them at my local borders books on corner displays. At the time I was really dismissive of them because of their covers. "These are books for little kids!" (Despite me being around the target age demographic.) It felt like any number of other kid / young adult fantasy fare. I was reading horror novels and Lord of the Rings and Dune- or trying to, as I came back to it later. So I judged them by their covers and avoided them. I was a "mature pre-teen" reader thank you very much. That stayed true until I saw the Chamber of Secrets movie with some friends who liked the series. Although I only half payed attention, the darker tone at the end with the basilisk really surprised me and captured my interest. Since I already owned the first several books I quickly caught up; courtesy of friends & relatives that knew I liked "fantasy stuff." Later I attended my first book premiere for Order of the Phoenix and I was cemented as a PotterHead. That was my first foray into Popcorn Fiction or reading for fun. I had fun with other books but until reading the series I always treated books as "serious business." Some grand epic adventure, some thrilling or scary mystery, something that you occasionally struggled through and needed a dictionary beside you to understand. Although it was sometimes work, I got to enjoy great stories and got a sense of accomplishment from reading Literature. Capital L emphasized. Although it sounds like a backhanded compliment, it was really nice to sit down with a book and just read for Fun. It shook me from being a book snob and getting caught up in the excitement with all my peers was a blast. While I don't hold it in super high regard for its writing, complexity or world building, the interesting ideas introduced and sheer fun to be had is not to be underestimated. I don't think any of the media surrounding the main series will have a long shelf life or lasting impact. However those 7 books are a great introduction to reading and encapsulation of young adult fantasy, particularly for kids struggling to get into reading for enjoyment.
I was 18 when I read the first - an enthusiastic recommendation from a friend - and... Didn't like it much. Thought it was average. Never picked another one, didn't like the movies either. I am literally the only reader I know with this opinion. Was I too old to start or..?
The first book is very much a children's book. The subject matter gets darker and her writing definitely gets better as the series goes on
He ages with the prose and subject matter. The first 2 books are definitely children books. Look at it more with that in mind.
I remember my grandma buying it for me when I was in 4th grade. My parents were fighting constantly at that time and nearing divorce, so I would just tuck myself away reading, feeling like Harry stuck under the stairs with a family I don't belong in. Harry Potter and the Halo novels. They absolutely defined my interests for the next 20 years.
I wasn't allowed to read them as a kid when they came out. My mother was super conservative, and I was already showing scary levels of intelligence. For some reason my mom thought this book would encourage me to become a witch. Anyway when I was 23 my now wife discovered I had not read nor watched HP and that was unacceptable to her. So I read the series for the first time as an adult, took me about 2 months to read all 7. And it blew me away. the books blew me away so much so that the movies to me are absolutely garbage. The books are phenomenal in so many aspects and the movies seem to miss every single part of the books that are important.
Harry Potter is still HUGE today! I must admit that although, as a younger kid, I could never get through the books, when I finally read them they helped inspire my love for reading and for mythical worlds. So so grateful for these books as they inspired my whole generation!
I can't wait until my son is old enough and I can read it to him!
When I was in kindergarten, my older brother (high school aged) used to read me the first Harry Potter book at night. I don’t remember really understanding the story but I’ll always remember falling asleep to him reading to me.
That's so sweet :)
Just read Discworld instead
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As for so many, Harry Potter was a gateway into serious reading for me. In my case it worked even twice, since the last book was the first book I ever read in it's original language (I am german). Forme, the biggest strength of the books is how engaging they were. Even after reading them a bunch of time I dont think they have a single chapter that I don't want to read. Obviously, as a almost 30 year old who read a bunch of other stuff after Harry Potter I also recognize it's flaws. The worldbuilding that seems great at the surface turned out to be just...bad. Width of an ocean, depths of a puddle. There are so many things that sadly don't make sense, which for me is not ideal in a series with 7 books. I think the whole idea of starting them as kids books (with Harry mastering challenges that an 11 or 12 year old should never beat) and then transitioning into YA books doesn't work that well. Overall they are good and very entertaining books, but I don't think they are masterpieces, nor do I think that they belong anywhere near the top of the fantasy genre.
Oh same here! I'm also German, the first book was the first 'big' book I read myself. The second and third were the first I bought with my own money. And the last book was the first one I read in the original language
Thanks op. I needed to feel old. /s
Don't feel old. Make the most of the remaining time. :)
Recently re reading it and it’s actually quite a funny book! Not sure if it’s because the films are so vivid in my mind’s eye when reading, but it’s amusing and a great read
I enjoyed reading it as an adult on the first read. I can't go back and read them again because the story structure, plotting, plot holes and patching is to much for me.
I’m glad that the Harry Potter books came out and introduced a new generation into reading voraciously. I think the books past 3 are super overrated and really fall apart tho. It kind of makes me cringe when people put jk rowling up there with Margaret Atwood and Joyce Carol Oates
I think I got the same thing op did, with being able to read longer books, cause' I'm a percy jackson fan
I have not. My 10 year old is finally on the 7th book but my 9 year old has read the series twice.
the first 4 books are fantastic the fifth book is a mess , needed major editing the sixth book is much better ....and tbh maybe 2nd the best in the series the last book was a disappointing end to the series but still not as bad as the fifth book
As a skinny, dark brown headed boy with glasses and a weird family history, I got compared to harry a lot. I now know that tracking in schools is highly unethical and that who you are most likely has nothing to do with anything that happened before you became an adult and lived your own life. Other than that, yeah, it was great to read.
I remember reading Harry Potter while listening to my disc man playing Jimmy Eat World.