Finished "Harry Potter 1". Yep, exactly as I felt after a dozen pages: it's about being loved and popular ...You can understand the appeal.
I thought that the characters were realistic, clearly based on kids we have all met when we woz at skewl. All highly likeable save for the mandatory nasty one. I imagine that readers will tend to recognise themselves in the different types (nice guy dependable Weasley, show-off top student Hermione, the prankster twins, etc.).
As for Harry himself, what is clever is that he is mainly defined in relation to others. He is a cypher, a catalyst, a projection of other people's admiration / jealousy. The author spends more time presenting / introducing / describing other characters than him. Think about it: apart from his Bowiesque thunderbolt on the forehead and rebellious hair, what exactly do we get told about him? Huh?
He comes across as a nice kid; he is revealed to be resourceful and nimble; he is not bitter -and that's about it. Harry Potter naturally takes centre-stage without being properly defined. He is like our personal identity: it's there, it's what the rest of the world gravitates around ...and we can't see it.
Harry is the repose of the story, the heart of the action, and the object of other characters' attention ...and yet, he does not impose himself upon others; he is not described at lengths; and he pretty much always reacts to situations rather than take the initiative. Case in point: Harry Potter, as Dumblebore (spell?) explains at the end, is the one person in the world with whom the Philosopher Stone is safe: he has no particular use for it.
That's paradoxical, that's intriguing -and that makes you want to read more about him.
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"Harry Potter" and innocence.
Another thing that struck me was how sweet the book is. Although tragic deaths are mentioned (Harry's parents), monsters appear and evil lurks around (you-know-who whose name argllllll), violence or pain is never really conveyed; this is very much fairy tale territory. Should a kid break his arm, he gets it instantly fixed.
You never get the feeling that Harry and his friends are in danger: the trials he undertakes are games or challenges for whom solutions exist. He is also provided for, financially (his parents) and materially (who oh who sent him the invisibility cloak?).
Mainly, Harry is pure at heart. He is not fuelled by vengeance, he is just being nice to his friends. There is also a lot of benevolence going his way: well-wishers and supporters like Hagrid and Dumblebore.
The characters are at a safe age, with no intimation of sexuality ever rearing its head. As I understand, the characters will age as the series progresses and the question of boyfriend / girlfriend will occur but as for now... nothing.
(etc., will now move on to Morrison's "Beloved". Somehow I don't expect it to operate along the same principles.)
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