The Irresistible Rise of Harry Potter

by Andrew Blake

As the British state begins to unravel, and as journalists compete to pronounce on the death of Britain, a schoolboy from suburban Surrey who lives for most of the year in a semi-parallel universe becomes the most popular figure in contemporary world literature. Now read on – everyone else does...

Harry Potter is English, a home-counties suburban child. An orphan, oppressed and abused by the adults around him, he retreats into a fantasy world where his problems are more elemental; everyday rituals, magic spells and supercharged broomsticks with only the occasional homicidal wizard to worry about. Ironically, as Andrew  Blake makes clear, J. K. Rowling rescues her character through the reinvention of that apex of class privilege, the English public school, a literary conceit that problematises Harry Potter’s status as a role model and raises important social questions about the state of education in Tony Blair’s Britain.

Andrew Blake’s examination of the Harry Potter phenomenon also raises serious questions about the condition of the publishing industry, the state of bookselling and filmmaking, and the ways in which the Potter consumer campaign has changed our ideas about literature and reading. Blake reflects on how these connections, while drawn up in Britain, act as a template for Harry Potter’s international success.

Genres: Harry Potter, Nonfiction

120 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2002

About the author

Andrew Blake is the author of 2 books, Sick World Part I: Awakening and Sick World Part II: Redemption.
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Both books are available in English and Greek language

Andrew Blake dwells where the light flickers and shadows take on a life of their own. To him, the human mind is nothing but a labyrinth without exit, riddled with dark corners and uncharted instincts. His prose is born at the threshold of reason—where motives blur like mist and actions slip through the net of explanation; where morality bends, and violence becomes a distorted language of communication.

With an almost surgical curiosity for the pathology of crime, Blake does not merely describe evil; he forces the reader to look it in the eye, until their gaze is irrevocably transfixed. His characters—predators and prey alike—navigate a world where logic is a luxury and horror is an inescapable presence.

Choosing the safety of anonymity, he willfully retreats from the spotlight, ceding the stage exclusively to his tormentors and their victims. He firmly believes that the most harrowing truths are always whispered in the dark—and that nothing is more terrifying than that which you cannot see, yet feel persistently watching you.

andrewblakebooks@gmail.com

Reviews

[Berenice Muñoz · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a potterhead myself, reading this felt like therapy, understanding why I also fell into the magical world is kinda interesting. And I appreciate the non-judgemental tone of it!

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm honestly surprised that this book has so many negative reviews. I first read it about 10 years ago and re-read it recently, and I still think it's pretty great. It reads the HP series (not yet finished when he wrote it) in relation to New Labor and the politics of Britain circa 2000. It's a scholarly book published (and written) as a more or less popular one - the style is accessible, and there's virtually no scholarly apparatus (footnotes etc.), but the arguments are most likely to appeal to academics, I think. Maybe it's for a niche audience, but I'm that niche.

[Kate Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this hoping to come away with a few new reflections on HP, as I’m very stuck inside the fanon bubble- I didn’t come across many, as the point of the book was more oriented towards considering the series’ relation with the real world, and as it came out before the books were complete, but…

- His point about the complete lack of artistic instruction as Hogwarts was very interesting. Wizarding culture itself is very derivative of older Muggle culture… does this mean that muggles got it from them or vice versa? Even their contemporary music in canon is a knockoff of muggle rock music…

- He talks about the Weasley parents’ disdain of the twins’ decision to drop out of Hogwarts and become entrepreneurs instead of following a stable path… but they disdain Percy for doing the opposite! Interesting.

Anyway, besides this, I enjoyed the author’s journey into the context surrounding the publication of the first few books, and his discussion of the consumerist side of the series remains incredibly relevant now. I would recommend this to anyone with a more pronounced than average interest in the HP books :)

[Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admit that I am probably not the target audience for this book - I am not in Great Britain nor in Academia.. Some of the arguments felt outdated, and some far-fetched. But the author made some good points as well, and made me think in a different way about the book series I’ve read so many times.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Blake's reading of Harry Potter concerning new labour politics is interesting but the book overall is outdated (my fault I know). The series was not even finished when he wrote this so I was probably expecting too much.

[Viv Eliot · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not like this book, not because I "disagree" with the book as Blake had some good perspective at the onset, but because his analysis became more and more absurd as the book went on. For instance, Blake says that Harry "torture"s Aunt Marge by blowing her up into a balloon. Does he blow her up into a balloon, yes, but let's not forget that Marge was in the middle of verbally abusing Harry, trashing his parents, and essentially torturing him psychologically. She got what she deserved, it's not like Harry was bullying her! Blake's book is filled with moments like these, where he simply fails to take actions in the context to which they occur in the book for the sake of making his argument plausible.

[Noora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kuinakahn mones edes välillisesti Harry Potteriin liittyvä kirja jonka luen? Kirjojen taustoista on mielenkiintoista lukea, samoin kirjojen menestyksen erilaisista todellisista ja keksityistä syistä. Kirja on mielenkiintoinen ja asiantuntevasti kirjoitettu, eikä se varsinaisesti asetu kummankaan kannan puolell, puolesta tai vastaan. Kirja ei myöskään suhtaudu Rowlingiin "jumalana", kuten Rowlingin epävirallisen elämäkerran kirjoittaja. Ihan hyvä ja mielenkiintoinen kirja.

[Janine Fenton · Rating 1 out of 5]

There were a few good points to start with, but realised, when I was half way through, that it was not going to contain the facts I was looking for and that I was not interested in the opinions that were being given.

[Andreea · Rating 3 out of 5]

More informative and clever than most books about Harry Potter.

[Idgfgreta · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book helped me understand Harry and his world so much better.