The Word Triumphant

 

Norman Lebrecht writes about the cult of reading that began to flourish with the release of each new Harry Potter book.  He offers some interesting comparisons with Dickens and reminds us that it took a while for the books to catch fire.  The first print run was 500 copies, sold mainly to libraries!  Pottermania is hitting a new high with the release of the final film, and the Wall Street Journal has multiple articles about the films in addition to this one about how reading made a comeback around the time the second installment of the series came out.

Not since the serial novels of Charles Dickens in the middle of the 19th century had the works of a single author excited such universal and immediate interest. The parallels with Dickens, born 200 years ago next February, are multiple and compelling. "What happens to Little Nell?" crowds shouted in New York harbor to incoming ships that carried the latest installment of "The Old Curiosity Shop." "Is Hermione all right?" booksellers were asked as midnight purchasers scanned the closing pages of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," knowing a main character was to die.

 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424…