Harry Potter and Unpopular Antiquated Notions

With all the buzz-- no, make that hysteria-- surrounding the recent recent release of the final Harry Potter novel (Hermione kills Snape), I have been thinking about my particular tastes in fiction and why I am singularly uninterested in the Potter series (Ron kills Harry).

I remember seeing the first novel in B. Dalton's, and thinking it was a cute idea. It certainly taps into a common fantasy among grade-schoolers-- that their parents aren't their real parents, and that soon they will have a life changing moment in which their true lineage will be revealed and they will live a life far removed from the banality of the normal (in Morpheus' words, the "desert of the real"). This is not to say that they all think they're really a wizard, a rainbow unicorn trapped in human form, or a werewolf whose abilities will become evident at the onset of puberty (thank you, White Wolf). They may hope to be the long lost heir of an oil magnate who was put up for adoption at birth, and will now inherit lots of money to blow on comic books and action figures.

I digress.

What I can't quite wrap my mind around is the enthusiasm that many adult readers of the books exhibit. I'm not talking about the ones that simply read the book and enjoy it; I'm specifically referring to the ones who dress up in costume for the books release. The ones who are so involved in these characters' lives that a drive-by spoiling at the release of the last book caused cries of anguish from those waiting. Apparently there's video of this. I shall have to find it. (Fluffy kills Hagrid)

I can hardly imagine people dressing up as Frodo or Gandalf in 1955 to celebrate the release of The Return of the King, much less being devastated by finding out the ending prematurely. Of course, the title is in and of itself a spoiler of sorts, leaving little doubt that the nominal King is Elessar of Gondor. Anyone who'd been paying attention up to that point could pretty much figure that one out.

And I don't begrudge anyone their fandom; I just don't see the appeal. Zach has said that perhaps I am not disillusioned with the books, indeed, how can I be, never having read them, but that I am fed up with the hype surrounding them.

I find this point to be valid.

I must also point out that I am being a bit of a literary snob. I read Steinbeck. I prefer my fantasy epic. I am eagerly awaiting the next installment of the Song of Ice and Fire (Tyrion kills Voldemort... wait, what?). But what I enjoy most is pulp. Edgar Rice Burroughs. HP Lovecraft. And the father of Sword and Sorcery (and, in my opinion, the Grandfather of modern adventure fantasy), Robert E. Howard.

The pulps tell more than a story. They tell us about the time in which they were written. Howard and Lovecraft were unforgivable racists. Their casual callousness to issues of race astound modern readers and drive many away. When originally written, they reflected many current popular issues regarding race. When read now, they force us to hold a mirror to our own psyches and determine if we have indeed advanced as much as we like to think we have. Hopefully the answer for the modern reader is yes.