Ubiquitous
"You book what us?"
I taught my son a new word. Ubiquitous, meaning being or seeming to be everywhere at the same time.
Everywhere we turn, there's Harry. At the store, on the news, in the comics, in restaurant conversations.
It's been really easy reading through my blog feed subscriptions lately, as most of the posts seem to be about nothing but Harry Potter. Skip, skip, skip, skip...
My kids have never been interested in the series. My son stays away from the fantasy genre, preferring more realistic mysteries and adventures, like The Hardy Boys or The Boxcar Children. If you tell him a book has wizards and demons in it, he won't touch it. I've never read Harry Potter either, pretty much for the same reasons.
All the hype has taken its toll, however. I think my son started to believe he was missing out on something. Yesterday he actually showed a glimmer of interest in J.K. Rowling's literary phenomenon by saying, "Maybe I'll look at the first book, if I have time."
I figure if he reads it, maybe I will read it too.
Sometimes you just can't fight popular culture.
I taught my son a new word. Ubiquitous, meaning being or seeming to be everywhere at the same time.
Everywhere we turn, there's Harry. At the store, on the news, in the comics, in restaurant conversations.
It's been really easy reading through my blog feed subscriptions lately, as most of the posts seem to be about nothing but Harry Potter. Skip, skip, skip, skip...
My kids have never been interested in the series. My son stays away from the fantasy genre, preferring more realistic mysteries and adventures, like The Hardy Boys or The Boxcar Children. If you tell him a book has wizards and demons in it, he won't touch it. I've never read Harry Potter either, pretty much for the same reasons.
All the hype has taken its toll, however. I think my son started to believe he was missing out on something. Yesterday he actually showed a glimmer of interest in J.K. Rowling's literary phenomenon by saying, "Maybe I'll look at the first book, if I have time."
I figure if he reads it, maybe I will read it too.
Sometimes you just can't fight popular culture.
Permalink posted by Phil at 8:48 AM
11 Comments:
The Mrs. and I have watched and more or less enjoyed the movies once they're out on video (I thought the 3rd was the best, by far), but I only recently began reading the first book and didn't even finish it. I can appreciate the colorful writing very much, but I just don't think I have the time to get into the series just now. Someday, though, I would like to read them all.
I have thoroughly enjoyed all of the books (yes, I've already finished book 7). Unlike many series-type books, each book seems unique to me in terms of the style and elements in it. These are not cookie-cutter fantasy books.
If you enjoy books on tape at all, I highly recommend listening to them. Jim Dale does a FABULOUS job of reading these; he voices the characters marvelously.
Ha! That's exactly where I am with the Potter series. I've seen movie No. 1, but that's it (and it was a long time ago). I have the first book sitting by my bed, and have since October.
He is missing something. The books are fantastic.
When I was your sons age, or around that age, I was the same way. No fantasy, demons, or talking animal for me. I couldn't get into the Narnia tales at all. It wasn't until I was much older that I enjoyed reading them.
One of the things that has bugged me about these books is how quickly Hollywood jumped to make them into movies. I wish that there would have been a longer time between the books and movies so even more kids would read them first.
I finished book 7 last night.
Don't let the fact that they're popular turn you off. They're really good stories, and they're more adventure books than fantasy books; magic is treated like an everyday thing, like learning how to play piano or math class. That is, the magic in the stories are the occasion for the stories, but the actual problems get solved by being brave and doing difficult things.
That said, the first book, and maybe the second, are definitely not of the same caliber as the rest. The first 2 books are decent; the other 5 are AWESOME.
What I mean is, the magic isn't mystical; the magic is just a skill/talent that gets developed with practice, like all talents.
I haven't read any of the Harry Potter books, but my wife has read them all to me. This can be good and bad, as we finished the last book this morning at 4am.
Here's looking at you, Biquitous. Here's looking at you, Lysses. Here's looking at you, Kraine.
You don't need to like fantasy to appreciate Potter. The books are more about friendship and love than magic or dragons.
OMG..you really must read them..they'll bring you to a whole new world!
I haven't read any of them myself, but everyone else in my family (mom, sisters, nephews) all read them with gusto. In fact my brother-in-law was out at my mom's visiting from Ohio and hid himself on her screened-in porch and finished the latest (and I think the last) book. He was all giddy over it. I've seen the movies and they're pretty good.
I have a feeling I'll be reading them all before too long. My son is very much into fantasy and will no doubt be asking about these books within the next few years.
Post a Comment
<< Home