J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince hit the stands on July 16.
View 1: It’s all just hype. A mad, meaningless craze. A cleverly staged PR stunt.
View 2: Before Rowling came of the scene, when did we last see children queue up for a book early in the morning, world over? What a refreshing sight it was. We always keep saying no one reads books; now it is all visual, computers, DVD, cartoons, graphics etc. How wrong are we! The written word is not dead, not at all. Even elders are reading, to see what the craze is all about!
My view: the latter.
And Rowling, just imagine someone writing seven volumes, having the world's children under her spell, and no complaints yet. Some achievement this!
This is about everything that is evolving around us with time .... The changing trends .... Their highs and lows .... The changes that are making an impact on our lives .... From technology to social, economic and political issues ... Some books, some sports, some personal anecdotes.
Monday, July 18, 2005
5 comments:
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Hello^^!
ReplyDeleteI read an article saying that the writer is now struggling to publish the next "Harry Potter". Not enough ideas coming? Maybe, she had got that much famous too suddenly, and still shocked? Probably. My bestfrind got the new "Harry Potter"book you blog about. She has read the serise 1,2,3,4,5? That's a lot!
Yuri,
the way in which she describes things.. the height of imagination.. i mean its all these that take the readership to adults as well.. rowling is simply the best..
ReplyDeleteYes Pradeep, I think Rowling has inculcated the reading habit in people and thats the important thing. No comments on the content of a Potter book since I havent read them :)
ReplyDeleteThe second view definitely. Kids usually glued to the TV are now actually reading. This book must be good.
ReplyDeleteDear Pradeep,
ReplyDeleteYes, the positive thing is the revival of the reading habit among children. But there is another view.
I was surprised to read about people waiting overnight in bookshops for getting hold of the copy. Isn't this too much? And many of them had already booked the copies, and need not have been afraid of the stocks running out.
One family I know used to make fun about guys waiting outside cinema halls to see the first show of their favourite star. And three (yes three) of the family members took turns to wait outside a book shop from 11 pm!
Okay, I agree Rowling has 'fired the kids imagination', but I think waiting outside bookshops for the entire night is taking things too far.