Pottermania

I have been a follower of Harry Potter since the time Rowling introduced him and his kind to us muggles. My first reading was definitely flavored with a dash of scepticism. Having grown up on a staple diet of Enid Blyton and sort of graduating to the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew (though on later reflection "graduating" is not the right word as the latter barely manages to cover the cost of the paper it is printed on), I did not expect to be pleasantly surprised by Rowling.

Well, today I have the complete collection of Harry Potter and I enjoy re-reading them once in a while. I know there are distinct anti- and pro- Harry Potter schools of thought and I refuse to be drawn in to a debate. I enjoy reading them and its the whole concept of a parellel civilization of witchcraft and wizardry that draws me to it rather than Rowling's style which, while being mostly sufficient, occasionally flashes brighter.

An interesting post-mortem of how my interest in Potter has grown over the years. I am not sure whether its the novelty of the stories (including the opportunity to fantasize on what eventually will happen between Lord Voldemort and Potter) that have drawn my interest or the interest was by default i.e., the books were always released just before my birthday and my wife probably found it the best gift at that point which led to a habit.

Well, all said and done, I have seen some of the movies and the less said of them the better. No offence to the makers, but it just does not match with my visualization of the books.