It's been close to seven years that the last Harry Potter book was published but somehow their magic seems to be as potent as ever, never fading away. The septet of books continue to be an example of literary genius; perhaps as effervescent as some of the masterpieces that have graced the language and the domain of English literature, time and again. Perhaps then, this was the reason that the author's second venture with the pen didn't translate to the success of its predecessor. Those who eagerly bought 'The Casual Vacancy' were treated to a different brand of story; set in the contemporary times, with no unusual words or concoctions to entertain the reader. Not that the book lacked anything - it made for quite a satisfying read, to be honest - but the fact that the world went into it expecting a Potter-esque saga did the author and the book a grave disservice. It has to be then said that a work of literature along the lines of Harry Potter come but once in a lifetime and even then, one knows naught whether the crowd would even be moved by it.
When I was in school and reading Harry Potter was done carefully during the after-school hours, I always wondered as to why Charles Dickens and Shakespeare had to grace my English textbook. The words and sentences were so laced with heavy metaphors and euphemisms, not to forget double negatives and what-not's, that spells and curses made for an easy read. As educational paradigms progressed onward to colleges and universities, the same dichotomy prevailed. This time even more effusively than before considering that the Potter audiences had multiplied by leaps and bounds what with movies to add into the mix.
Though I am no authority to state about the incorporation of Harry Potter in the school and college syllabus, there's no denying that the four Potter books - Rowling had published only four novels by that time - enriched the overall quality of my reading. The transition in the tint and texture of the content was seamless. The mindset and the way of thinking of the 11-year old Potter was brought out in clarity as was the conundrum surrounding him in his teenage years and thus made for instant connect with not just me, but also scores of other teenagers like me. And not just for teenagers and youngsters alone but also for adults and aged readers who found the book an equally good escape route from their mundane existence.
Where audiences marvelled at the ingenuity of
J.R.R. Tolkien's Hobbits and Middle-earth - the plot subject set in an almost
similar magical domain - and the evergreen aspect of a paradigm-altering fight
between the good and the evil, the same same crusade fought against a totally different backdrop; smoothly altered
to present the central character's changing perspective of the
world and all that it comprised, accounted for Harry Potter to be truly
anointed as 'the Chosen One' by his fans.It isn't often that one finds penmanship that fits the idea of perfection; suited to every generation. As subjective as the appeal of books is, there are certain books that can be read by anyone at any time, irrespective of age or passage of time. Their qualitative allure never gets tarnished and one always finds something new to talk about it, even after one has extrapolated its contents, from start to finish, many times over.
And that's what's happening with Harry Potter now after J.K. Rowling's announcement about scripting a movie about 'Fantastic Beasts' set in her famous magical world. The palpable excitement is justified as are the continuous outpouring of Potter fans about their expectations and predictions about the movie.
But as enthusiastic as the crowds are, the movie will only provide a peripheral connection with the magical world that we know about. And this peripheral connect, in spite of all the excitement that the movie has generated, can in no way make up for the end of the Potter saga that somehow seemed to be abrupt in spite of its finite conclusion of 'All was Well.' To think contrarily, would again be a strike against the author's creative impetus that gave us the magnum opus in the first place.
