Thursday Treasure: Harry Potter

On Thursday July 7, in London, England, the conclusion to an epic theatrical and literary journey comes to an end.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 premiers at Trafalgar Square.  It is in theaters worldwide July 15.  I couldn't let this go by without giving it a shout out as one of the greatest entertainment treasures the world has been given in the last 20 years.  I'll be at the midnight premiere here with my 17 year old daughter Haley and am giddy with anticipation. 

The author, J.K. Rowling, published the first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, in 1997 in England.  The name changed to Sorcerer's Stone in 1998 for the American release.  Fourteen years, 7 books, and 8 movies later, there have been billions of dollars profit from all things Potter.  It doesn't seem that anyone can come close to tracking it.  But the real treasures are the stories in the books.

 J.K. Rowling is another great example of someone conquering the seemingly impossible.   This quote is one she used in a Harvard address to describe her journey.  Her marriage had failed, she was jobless with a dependant child, but she felt her perceived failure was liberating:

"Failure meant stripping away the inessential.  I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything than what I was, and began to direct all my energy to finishing the only work that mattered to me.  Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one area where I truly belonged.  I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realized, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter, and a big idea.  And so rock bottom became a solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.

BRILLIANTLY said...

I have seen the movies and read the books.  I love them all.  How she crafted this very intricate story is baffling to me.  I had a hard enough time naming my kids.  So take my advice if you haven't, and discover Harry Potter.  It is more than worth the time you invest in it.  And if I ever get a notion to write a blog on "Life Lessons Learned from Harry Potter",  I'll get my head examined, because that could take decades.  Hope you enjoy Deathly Hallows Part 2...Later mates!