Book review: Harry Potter book 1-7 - Scholastic 15th anniversary box set

"Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open"

   - J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 

  Almost everyone has heard of the name "Harry Potter". Indeed, Harry Potter had taken the world by storm. It was adapted into movies by Hollywood, every Harry Potter movie was a commercial success. Children love Harry Potter, adults also enjoy them. Harry Potter got people reading, which is a truly marvellous feat in today's world, where people are more interested in staring at electronic displays as opposed to having an open book in hands.

Just exactly what is behind the Harry Potter phenomenon? Is it the style of writing? The story? The imaginative world? The characterisation? The success of Harry Potter is not only phenomenal, but it also made the author, J. K. Rowling, a billionaire. Admittedly, I have never read a single Harry Potter book until 3 week ago. I have seen all movies and thought they were average, but with people ravings about how the books are better than movies, I thought I should find out what the fuzz is all about and read them.

This year, Scholastic re-published all Harry Potter books with new cover arts in a box set. As a new comer to this series, I decided to purchase this box set for its reasonable price. The binding of all 7 books are in paperback format, the bindings are robust, with exquisite cover arts, encased in a beautifully illustrated box. Each chapter has illustrations from the original Harry Potter books. When all 7 books are in the box, the spines line up to form a picture of Hogwart. The overall appearance and quality of this box set is superb, it will stand out on your bookshelf. So this Christmas, if you are looking for a Christmas present, this box set will likely delight anyone who is a book lover or a fan of children's literature.

Now onto the story. Now that I have read all 7 books, I can see why this series appealed to so many people. I enjoyed the books more than movies, mostly because the books has more characterisation, and where some sub-plots were missing in the movies, the books explained them properly. The strength of the Harry Potter story is the characterisation, and its underlying message of love, hope and perseverance. These are the universal themes that we can all appreciate and relate to. For the children, Harry Potter books provide a world full of wonder and impossible adventures, teaching them the value of friendship and love. For the adults, this magical, imaginative story reminds us of the values of love, friendship, and perseverance that we sometimes forget as we wrestle with the worries in our daily lives.

I also discovered the major theme of acceptance and inclucivism in Harry Potter books. The people in Harry Potter are divided into magic users, and non-magic users who are called “muggles”. In the books, the bad guys look down at muggles, and treat them as inferiors. While Professor Dumbledore, Harry Potter and his gang oppose the idea of exclusivism. Now, I do call myself a Christian, and as I was reading these books, I couldn't help but reflect at how the Christian community I know, also has the tendency to divide the world into Christians and “non-Christians”. Now to be fair, Christians don't discriminate against non-Christians (I hope not), but I do find that Christians tend to draw a certain line between them and “non-Christian”. Sadly, I even know of a church that taught Christians should put their Christian brothers and sisters in front of their non-Christian family and friends. But you know, what? When Jesus said, “love your neighbours as you would love yourself”, somehow I don't think he was instructing us to love “only your Christian” brothers and sisters”, but everyone you encounter in your live, including the so called “non-Christians”.

Perhaps I am reading and thinking too much into Harry Potter books, but nevertheless, no matter what your background or religious belief is, our world can always be a better place with less exclusivism, while we treat each other with more inclusivism like Albus Dumbledore.

Personally, I really enjoyed all Harry Potter books, and I am glad that I read them. In the meantime, if you have only seen the movies but have not read the books, I would highly recommend you read them, you will not be disappointed.