Harry Potter burn out

I haven't been writing on my blog as much because I've been too busy reading everyone else's blog. But now, I am tired of reading about people's opinion of Harry Potter. As a fan, it's easy to jump into the obsession, and to get excited about things that she has done. As a scholar, I'm amazed at some of the "obvious" things I noticed that other scholars are asking about-- but maybe that's the people who speed read through the text. I can't believe how many people I've seen ask who the baby is in King's Cross Station and why it's beyond help. It's the exact same imagery she used in GF to describe Voldermort-- she could have copied and pasted for how similar it seemed.

The one thing I feel like people are really missing is that she is a brilliant business woman. She has not gone from living on welfare to being the richest woman in England by happenstance-- nor by the simple fact that she's written a few good books. She listens to critics, she markets ideas, and she incorporates enough popular culture to make sure her books are selling. Sure, she hopes that they become classics-- she would love to ride the royalty train until she dies, but she has made sure to invest in them while they are hot-- she is making sure they contain components that will sell millions of copies now. Fans are excited she's going to write an encyclopedia about the characters, non-fans think she is beating a dead horse, others think she's just looking to make a buck-- She's created immediacy-- people have to know what is happening to these characters. People have to know more than Harry married Ginny and they had 3 kids. Maybe it will be overkill, but it will add to her fortune, and enough people will love it. Is it the best literary move, who knows-- does it encroach on the idea of a writerly work instead of a readerly work-- yes. The point is, she's attached to Harry, and she's having difficulty, like many of her fans, letting go-- and so she's going to make a few more millions off of the letting go process. Like I said, she's a brilliant business woman.