The First Five Harry Potter Books

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix


Having just read the final two books in the series, I feel that it's important to rehash some of my feelings about the first five books.  I read all of these books in the summer of 2004, over what probably amounted to one month total of reading nothing but Harry Potter.  Let's say July.  These books became popular around the time I started high school, and of course got progressively more popular as the series continued.  I read all five of them in a rush, got burned out (probably), and did not finish the series until yesterday afternoon.  So, the following section is not necessarily a review of the books, per se, but a self-examination about the gap that occurred between finishing Order of the Phoenix in 2004 and finishing The Deathly Hallows at the end of 2011.

My career as a reader, especially as someone who enjoys reading and enjoys tackling challenging books (with the exception of Ulysses, which I have read but still do not understand) has, unfortunately until recently, been marked by a fair amount of snobbery.  This is not something in which I take pride, but for which I must take responsibility.  My views of Harry Potter, even in 2001 when I read the first book the first time, were really no different.  I generally enjoy the fantasy genre, but any book I read will be compared to Tolkien's work.  I can't help it.  Knowing that this book was written for children, and having that reaffirmed after having actually read it, caused me to look down my nose at the series and any future contributions to the series by Rowling.  Sure, it's entertaining, but is it Lord of the Rings?

In 2004, I decided to go for it.  One of my good friends couldn't stop talking about it, so I read them.  Truthfully, I couldn't put them down.  The Goblet of Fire is easily my favorite of the five mentioned above, and I think I read it in three days.  Then came the unfortunate Order of the Phoenix.  I read it quickly, but at the end I realized I hated it.  The final battle scene is pretty spectacular, but the character of Harry Potter is reduced to a sniveling mess who abuses his friends and constantly plays the victim.  I finished it, and decided I wouldn't pick up the new books, which were coming out pretty soon after I finished Order.

In retrospect, it was because I hated Harry so much in the fifth book that I didn't want to read on at the time.  As this is the universal story of good vs. evil, I knew that good, meaning Harry, would prevail, no matter what disadvantages he had against Voldemort.  And, being a senior in college with my self-righteousness in full effect, I thought that it was a ridiculous notion that a lowly student would stand a chance against the most powerful wizard in the world.  Did I mention I hated Harry in the book?  At the time, I would have rather Harry suffer an accident and have Ron and Hermione finish the quest than Harry take the credit for defeating Voldemort.  To me, he just didn't deserve it, and I wanted Volemort to finish him just so I wouldn't have to listen to him whine any more.

I let the Harry Potter summer phase out like a summer crush moved to a far away city, never of course forgetting my intense feelings at first, but purposely allowing them to fade because there was no longer any contact between the two of us.  I chalked it up to cliches like "putting away childish things" and focused on finishing my senior year.

I'm going to review the final two books over the next week or so, but I feel it necessary to express my regret that I ever felt this way.  Was this brought on by how great the last two books, and especially the last book, were?  Yes.  But because of my ignorance and my insistence that if something is written for kids and does not approach the glory of LOTR, it is not worth reading, I delayed an extraordinary adventure for seven years of my life.

That was stupid.  Order of the Phoenix isn't the best, and Harry Potter is a fairly pathetic character throughout the whole novel.  I should have recognized, though, that I was entertained enough to read the book in about five days and overlooked its flaws to continue reading the series.  It was ridiculous to try and compare LOTR to Harry Potter.  They are not the same books, and they are not written for the same audiences.  It took a while, but I have learned to appreciate novels as they are, as sole creations.  All stories may borrow from each other, but no one would confuse the LOTR trilogy with Harry Potter.  They are both fantastic on the basis of themselves.  One is not inferior because the other exists.  It took seven years, but I'm glad I realized it.  Plus, these HP fans are crazy.  If I continued arrogantly deriding the series because it wasn't LOTR, I'd probably fall victim to at least one Unforgivable Curse.

These books are absolutely great, and I can't wait to tell you about the last two.