A text that leaves you wanting more
is a rare thing indeed. I’ve read many good books that I was completely
satisfied by and truly enjoyed the story; yet, their rereading value is low to
me. I felt their story was finalized and completed and that I wanted nothing
else from neither the characters nor their adventures. Many of these novels
were not books of a series, and many of them involved internal conflict rather
than the clearly external conflict of Harry. Expectations for books are
everything. I have a set of standards and tastes that are or are not satisfied
while reading. My brain engages in the novel and predicts the next move the of
the character. Novels with internal conflict or have finality to their plot
have little left to offer; the character has achieved their goal.
Harry Potter is masterfully crafted
to keep the reader engaged and stuck by Harry’s side as he experiences the
world of magic and unravels the riddles of the world around him. One of my
favorite books A Visit from The Goon Squad deals with multiple
character’s points of view, and different time frames in which parts of the
plot are reviled before they occur at times by altering the linier progression
of the novel. While this may be a very engaging style of writing, it certainly
removed the storyteller’s mysticism of telling a tail with an unclear ending.
J.K Rowling does a wonderful job of holding her cards close until the last 40
pages of the book and unleashing the ending on the reader. Knowing this,
readers try to put together the answer as they read and look for clues and
hints along the way.
Suspense keeps Harry Potter
incredibly interesting for the reader simply by the virtue of promising an
adventure with a succinct ending, clear goals, and plenty of rabbit trails and
discoveries along the way. The journey too, is as enjoyable as the ending,
making the discovery of clues along the way enjoyable. Finding parts and
pieces, some of which are not parts to solving the puzzle, or are perceived
incorrectly. One may say that Harry Potter is archetypal in that there is a
clear evil and a clear good character who prevails over evil every year of his
7 years of schooling, but I advocate that the character development in each and
the method of these adventures are unique in their own ways and hold incredible
rereading value.
-Tom Seiple
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