Litguy wrote:
I greatly enjoy Harry Potter. As a "litguy," (a college literature professor, if you don't know), I see the parallels between Harry and the Arthurian legend and it makes it all the more interesting for me. In Morte D'Arthur (the death of Arthur), by the way, Arthur and his mortal enemy die together in combat, but Arthur is taken away to an island by a barge of beautiful women, a passing through death into a new life.
The same thing happens to Sherlock Holmes, locked in death with Moriarty as they fall off a cliff together.
We'll see about Harry.
I find Snape very interesting. He, of course, has always been an ambiguous character. In the end of the last book, Harry observes that he has cast Dumbledore out a window to his death...but...Harry has always been wrong about his observations of Snape from the first book when Snape is saving him with a spell and Harry thinks that he is using a spell to hurt him. Perhaps Harry has, once again, been confused by his own observations.
That's just my speculation. Only J. K. Rowling knows for sure...until July.
Sometimes, when I'm explaining the term NT to NT's, and I'm telling them that "typical" is not necessarily a compliment, if they're Harry Potter fans, I compare it to "muggle."
Very interesting, I have noticed the proliferance of mythological references in the books, and made many connections to other works of literature, and also noted the social comments within, but I had not considered Arthurian legend, which is, in fact, an interest of mine, albeit not as deep an interest as I would like. It is one of those things that intrigues me and summons up odd feelings of mystery, but which I have yet to fully pursue. I had to study some of Le Morte D'Arthur at uni... I did English BA, but have to return to finish my final year as I totally lost motivation and lost myself in my own interests.
What are your opinions on what has made the series such a success among both adults and children, apart from the obvious good timing ?