Why Do People Like Harry Potter?

"I went off and read the books after the audition and I read the first four books in one sitting – you know – didn’t wash, didn’t eat, drove around with them on the steering wheel like a lunatic. I suddenly understood why my friends, who I’d thought were slightly backward, had been so addicted to these children’s books." - Jason Isaacs on the Harry Potter series

So why do people like Harry Potter? I have a few theories.

I know some of you are thinking this. Don't lie.

First, the world that Rowling creates is rich and expanisive – yet not overwhelming like Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones. Let’s be honest here, your first time reading The Fellowship of the Ring is pretty difficult and don’t get me started on the first Game of Thrones novel (I still haven’t finished it). The worlds created by Tolkien and Martin are so detailed and masterfully created that it’s often hard to follow the plot and dialogue when the characters are making archaic references to things that happened hundreds of years ago or referring to elaborate family trees or histories. The Harry Potter world is fantastically immersive while still being simple enough to follow.

I should point out that this isn’t because Rowling doesn’t have her own person Silmarillion-esque catalogue of obscure HP related facts and family trees – she gives the reader enough detail without making them cringe.

"I checked this out weeks ago for a bit of light reading" aka hardcore Tolkien fans with the Silmarillion.

Second, the attention to detail and the little tidbits you didn’t realize at first meaning a whole lot more than you thought they did. For example, Argus Filch, the grouchy caretaker/janitor at Hogwarts always knows when students are wreaking havoc; he’s notorious for giving out detentions… he’s always watching. Just like Argus from Greek mythology – the 100 eyed giant that was tasked to guard precious items by Hera. When you notice one detail like that – so many more come forward. Remus Lupin – in Roman mythology Remus and his brother Romulus were raised by a wolf and found Rome and Lupin obviously comes from the Latin word for wolf “lupa.” To add to the symbolism, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. Who sold out the Potters to Voldemort? Obviously Peter, whose animagus (or animal form they can turn into at will) – definitely not Sirius who transforms into a dog, a paragon of friendship and loyalty.

I could continue with that train of thought but I’ll refrain for your sake and mine. But if you’re interested in more allusions or symbolism in Harry Potter I wrote my senior English paper on it in high school and I still have it…

This tortoise understands me.

That conveniently enough brings me to my third point: nerdiness and community. The Harry Potter books and movies created a new community of avid readers from all walks of life. The books were great for children to grow up alongside Harry, but they were also interesting and compelling enough for adults too. Sure at the time there were huge cult followings for Buffy and Star Trek and Lord of the Rings, but Harry Potter reached a larger audience by including children and by widening the niche market for coming of age fantasy tales.

Author John Green’s vlog to his brother Hank explains as much, if you start at the 41 second mark and watch until 1:43 or so that's the segment that is really relevant to my post.

So that’s why I think Harry Potter is so popular – it’s easy to get into but it’s not boring, there is so much detail that to this day I’m still realizing things I didn’t notice the first dozen times I’ve read the book, and the community of Harry Potter lovers is a great place to not only discuss all of the aforementioned topics, but it’s also so wonderful to be in a theater/room, full of people all super excited for the same event.