The Harry Potter Series

Harry Potter Series – J.K. Rowling

Evan’s ESS = 10 out of 10

Erin’s ESS = 9.5 out of 10

Content = PG – PG-13 (Violence, Dark Elements, Extended Family Nastiness, Troublesome Prophecies)

Why: At first we weren’t sure if it was worth our time to review this series as there are only two people who still haven’t completed book seven.  But then we decided that those two people were just as important as the other 2.5 million. 

If you haven’t read any of the Harry Potter novels the only explanation we can think of is that you’re trying to take a stand for some reason or another.  Not to digress into our own personal life, but we (Evan) took a stand once against Arby’s for raising their 5 for $5 roast beef sandwich deal to 5 for $5.55.  In the end, our stand only resulted in a pair of tired legs.  We missed out on golden brown roast beef deliciousness and curly fries for over two years – two years.  And what did we gain?  Nothing.  Don’t make the same mistake.  Read Harry Potter and enjoy what places like Arby’s have known for years – inflation is a part of life (sorry, we thought we’d be able to tie the metaphor to our point a little more seamlessly). 

Fine… we’ll admit it - Harry Potter might n… n… n… not be for everyone… gulp.  If you don’t like sports on broomsticks, jelly beans that taste like boogers, flying cars, real-life mythology (is this a complete contradiction?), and wall portraits that speak, then there’s probably not much hope for you. 

To those two people we’re speaking to – give the series a try.  Harry Potter is rich with life and has many important moral lessons.  The series does darken with the completion of each school year, and around year 5, Harry looks much less like a children’s book (hence the reason for the brunt of the criticism the series has taken).  However, if you are able to process through some of the dark elements, you will find a series of novels that teach the importance choices.  Specifically, and most importantly, that a person is defined by the choices they have made throughout their life.  What adolescent/preteen/adult doesn’t need to learn THAT?  We only wish J.K. Rowling would consider taking on Harry Potter and the Receding Hair Line or Harry Potter and the Frequent Night Time Urination.  Alas, there will be no more midnight release parties and no more endless debate on how the next book will end.  Sigh…

We will now try to entice you through the overuse of statistics… The Harry Potter series has sold over 400 million copies, is roughly 4,195 pages long and has been translated into 67 languages.  The series has spawned a pack of wildly successful movies, video games, and over 400 other products.  The first movie is ranked seventh on the list of all time highest grossing films and three others are in the top 15.  Oh, and there’s an entire amusement park dedicated to the franchise.  The first printing of Philosopher’s Stone, which included 1000 copies, are each worth 16,000 – 25,000 Euros (We have no idea how much that is in dollars… sorry).  One last interesting note is that 10 publishers rejected the first manuscript… oops.

Editor’s Note: Contrary to popular belief, we (Erin) did not attend one of the midnight release parties as Fluffy the three-headed dog.  It was Winky the house elf (Actually, we may or may not have dressed up our little niece and nephew in stained pillow sacks and paraded them around shamelessly).

Editor’s Note: In a continuous effort to unmask as many authors initials as possible, J.K. stands for Joanne Kathleen.  The story behind the unmasking, however, is even more interesting.  Her publishers first encouraged the use of initials in a desire to appear more gender neutral.  Owing to the fact that Joanne had no middle name at the time, she chose to borrow her grandmother’s name for added effect.