“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live…”
Up until a month ago I lived a Harry Potter free life. It’s a mystery to me why I didn’t get in on Harry Potter at the ground floor. All my friends loved it, everyone told me how good it was. Maybe that was part of the reason why. I had a terrible, teenage tendency to dismiss anything that was too ‘popular’. An unbearable personality trait that I have thankfully grown out of. When the first of J.K. Rowling’s books appeared on my list of set books for Uni, I took the opportunity to dive head long into the world of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry.
I loved the films, so I was keen to see what the source material had to offer. Firstly, I was surprised at just how much of a children’s book Philosopher’s Stone is. That is by no means a criticism but it was surprising after the films had become so dark by the end. Secondly, the first film is incredibly faithful to the book, so much so that reading the book afterwards makes for a great companion piece, with the world of Hogwarts fleshed out rather than changed. It was genuinely interesting to read more about the history of the school and the characters, to the point where I plan to read the other books as soon as my schedule allows.
It is exciting to know there are still whole worlds in popular culture that I have yet to discover but it is unlikely there is anything left as compelling as Harry Potter that I don’t already know about. I am officially a convert.