Guest Post: Why I Still Love Harry Potter by Lorna Holland

Today's post is a guest post from the lovely Lorna who blogs over at The Writing Greyhound. If you haven't had a chance to check it out yet, here is a little bit of background about Lorna.

I’m a 21 year old author, blogger, freelance writer/editor and Creative & Professional Writing graduate. I currently live in my hometown of Kettering, Northamptonshire, though you’re just as likely to find me in London or Kent. When I’m not busy writing, you’ll find me at a concert or with my nose in a book. And in case you hadn’t figured it out already, I’m a massive Harry Potter nerd!

Onto Lorna's post about Harry Potter which I love!

Why I still love Harry Potter by Lorna Holland

Like it or not, over the years Harry Potter has become a staple of today’s culture. The books have become modern classics, and the author, J.K. Rowling, is one of the world’s most recognised, most successful, and best loved authors. She’s also become a role model for aspiring writers around the globe, and the story of her path to success is an inspiration to thousands of people.

According to this list of all-time bestselling books compiled by The Guardian in 2012, all seven Harry Potter books are in the top 10. For a children’s series, that’s a phenomenal achievement. Without any doubt, the Harry Potter series has become one of the most popular and best loved in the history of children’s literature.

But it’s not just children that love Harry Potter. The bug of the so-called ‘Harry Potter phenomenon’ bites whole families, resulting in multiple generations of Harry Potter fans, and different aspects of the story seem to appeal to different people. All genders, races and ages are included in some way, giving the books universal appeal. They just have that rare truly magical spark that everyone loves.

So what is it that I love about Harry Potter?

Firstly, it’s an example of good, strong writing. The books are well-written, but I particularly like that Rowling doesn’t over-simplify or talk down to children. When I was reading the books for the first time as a child, I specifically remember liking that they used more complicated language and constructions than the majority of the other books I read at that time. Because of that, these were some of the first books I remember that inspired me to become a writer.

The Harry Potter books were a big part of my literary childhood. I, along with millions of other children, grew up with these books. So now each time I read them they help me recapture a little bit of my childhood. I also love that you could start up a conversation about Harry Potter virtually anywhere and you’re almost guaranteed to find a fellow Potterhead to talk to. We’ve got to be one of the biggest and most loyal fanbases around, which is amazing when you remember that the last book came out in July 2007. Eight years on and the Pottermania that grips the world shows no sign of slowing down!

Rowling is also a master of world-building – hardly anyone creates entire worlds better than her. Everything is planned out down to the tiniest detail so you become totally immersed in her creation. Wherever the characters are, you’re there too because her writing is so vivid you can easily picture the places you’re reading about, even before the films were released!

Speaking of the films, this is one of the rare cases where the films are as good as the books. Of course, in my opinion no film can ever be quite as good as the original book, but the Harry Potter films definitely come close (as long as you ignore the few annoying discrepancies like the colour of Harry’s eyes being wrong).

This is probably a controversial decision, but my favourite Harry Potter book is number five - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I know a lot of people don’t like it as much because it’s right in the middle of Harry’s angsty faze, but it’s always been my favourite. Why? I’m not quite sure. It’s just the one I remember loving the most the first time I read it, and it’s the one I’ve re-read the most (at least five times). Strangely, it’s also the one I feel the closest connection to as well.

So I’m not ashamed to say that I still love Harry Potter.

I love the characters, the places, everything about the books. There’s nothing I love more than completely immersing myself in Harry’s world (visiting the Harry Potter studio tour was like a dream come true for me!) and every time I pick up one of the books it feels like I’m in the company of an old friend. After writing this post, the only problem is that now I want to read them all again!



Lorna on the famous Hogwarts Bridge on the Harry Potter studio tour
 

 

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Why I Prefer Books To Movies

I love watching movies as much as the next person. On a cold day, it's so good to curl up in front of the fire with a hot drink and have a movie marathon.

But the book is still always better!
Ok, it's better 99% of the time! The one exception I've found to this (please don't hate me!) is Harry Potter. I hate myself a little for thinking it. To find out why I prefer the movie, have a read here: http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/h-is-for-harry-potter.html.

Sorry J K Rowling!

Generally though it's true for me and they say the exception makes the rule!
There's two main reasons I prefer the books:

1. I hate when the film makers mess with the story, either giving it a "Hollywood ending" or in some cases changing it to the point where it's unrecognisable! For example, Brad Pitt's character, Gerry Lane in World War Z. The star of the movie and the character isn't even in the book the movie claims to be based on!

 

 

2. Most importantly, when you are reading, you see the characters and settings in your way. You actually have to use your imagination (the horror!). In a movie, you are seeing how the casting manager saw the character, not how you saw them. Sometimes, they get it right - think Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games. In fact pretty much every character in the movie was well cast. But sometimes, they get is horribly wrong.

I think the best example of them getting it horribly wrong has to be The Queen Of The Tearling (due for release in June). Kelsea, the princess is described in the book as plain and a little dumpy. Who is the last actress this description brings to mind? Yep, Emma Watson!



 

Having said that, I'm still looking forward to the movie, but I'm looking forward to the second book more!

Do you agree or do you prefer movies?

Follow me on Twitter @randommusings29 and feel free to comment :)

Desert Island Favourites - Movies

Kicking off my mini theme, Desert Island Favourites, my top 5 movies to take to a desert island! I am working here on the assumption the island is magic and has a TV, DVD player and electricity :)

1. American Pie box set

 



 

I know a box set might be cheating a little, but how can you choose just one! I can happily re-watch American Pie 1 and 2, American Wedding and American Wedding over and over again! This one time, at Band Camp...

 

 

2. Harry Potter box set

 

 

 

I know, another box set - they're my rules, so surely I'm allowed to break them! You can't take one Harry Potter without the others, it would be like taking Ant Without Dec!

 

 

 

3. The Exorcist

 







One of my all time favourite classics! Every island needs a classic, and this is mine! Incidentally, this was also the first film I bought on DVD!

 

 

4. The Last Exorcism

 

 

There's starting to be a bit of a theme here! I do love a good exorcism! I love this one because it's told differently to all the others - the exorcisor doesn't actually believe in demonic possession or exorcism!

 

 

5. The Lost Boys

 

 

 

Another classic. Ok maybe not a standard classic, but I think of it as a classic due to growing up watching it! The vampires might not exactly be horrifying, but hey, at least they aren't glittery!

 

 

So that's my 5 - which ones would you choose?

 

 

Follow me on Twitter @randommusings29 and feel free to comment :)







H Is For Harry Potter

Day 8 of my A to Z Challenge. H is for Harry Potter.

If you don't know how this works, I've posted the link back to the rules of the challenge at the end of this, along with a link to yesterday's post. If you want to read my full alphabet, just keep following the links. Each day has a link back to yesterday's post.

I couldn’t do the letter H without it being Harry Potter - simply because I love it! I was a little late to the party. I was never part of the crowd that queued up at midnight for the next book, or had to see the movie on the first day of its release.

In fact, I had never watched any of the movies, and one day I decided that that many people couldn’t be wrong so I went out and bought the DVD box set. That’s how late I was - not just fashionably late, but horrifically late.

Anyway, over the course of a couple of days, I watched them all.

I must admit to not being a massive fan of The Philosopher's Stone and The Chamber Of Secrets. I think maybe because Harry and Co are so young, they truly do feel like children’s films. I tend to skip those two when I re-watch them all, which is still a regular thing for me! 

By the end of The Prisoner Of Azkaban though, I was hooked. I got so into them. I cried more times than I can remember (not just the first time I watched them either). And I'm not someone who cries at movies generally.

I would say *spoiler alert* but I'm pretty sure everyone knows how they go by now. I cried when Dumbledore died, even more so when Dobby died (why would J K Rowling be that mean?), when Hermione wiped herself from her parents memory, when Ron left, when Harry watched Snape's memories of his mother and found out the whole truth, when Harry sacrificed himself (I cried so hard the first time at this, I totally missed the point that he wasn't dead, so when he miraculously "came back to life" I had to skip back and see what I'd missed).

And of course, when Sirius Black died. He isn't just part of the list, he gets his own section, because I still don't think I'm over this. Who is? I was an emotional wreck here. It's not just the fact he was arguably the best supporting character, it's the fact everyone Harry loves seems to die.

The flash to the future at the end was nice, they all lived happily ever after, but let's face it, in truth, they all would have been so messed up that none of them would have been happy.Harry would have turned to drink and died alone, scared to love anyone in case they became touched by the curse. Ron would have had serious self esteem issues, because in his mind he could never live up to the chosen one, and would always wonder why Hermione chose him. Hermione would secretly resent Ron, because deep down, she would know she made the wrong choice - it should have been Harry.

I then decided to give the books a whirl, and that’s where I seem to disagree with the rest of the world. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed them. They were well written and engaging. But (there’s always a but isn’t there?) I preferred the movies. There, I said it. Shoot me now!

The books didn't seem to hit that emotional chord with me in the way the movies had. Not even a lump in my throat, let alone tears.

It’s very rare for me to feel that way. Normally I prefer the book. I think it might be because I watched the movies first, so where the books and movies differed, I felt the movies were the “original” when usually it’s the other way around for me.

What do you think? Am I terrible human being for preferring the movies to the books? Anyone want to confess to feeling the same way?

Follow me on Twitter @myrandommusings29 and feel free to comment J

Link to rules: http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/a-z-challenge-whos-with-me.html

Link to G is for Getting Motivated:

http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/g-is-for-getting-motivated.html