I miss Harry

Today, I entered a post-Harry Potter slump. I read the latest from Rowling in a day and a half, the fastest read of the seven books for me. (It could have been faster if I hadn't participated in the real world and interacted with my husband this weekend.)

I can't explain my draw to these books, except to say that I have always - or at least since middle school - been a fan of fantasy. Wizards and witches, magical spells and charms, vampires, ogres, demons, all of it.

Do I particularly enjoy the Harry Potter series over others? (Well, not more than say the Lord of the Rings trilogy.) Across all the books that have particularly captured my attention, one thing stands out beyond the charm of fantasy itself: the multi-dimensional characters. The overarching theme in Harry Potter - and Lord of the Rings as well as many other similarly themed books - is the battle of good versus evil. Yet, what sets these characters, and indeed Rowling's story, apart from the masses of fantasy novels out there are the numerous shades of grey interwoven in what otherwise may have been a white against black contest. For example, many of the most endearing characters struggle, at some point during their lives, with their own mixture of good and evil. Even Harry, whom no one would contend is evil, shares a profound link with the only character in the entire series who is completely bad, and this causes a considerable amount of confusion for the young boy. Lupin struggles against his werewolf side, Sirius struggles against his family background, even Hermionie struggles somewhat with her intellectual arrogance early in the series. Snape battles with his inner demons, his bitterness and feelings of inferiority, that at times in his life overwhelm him, but which he is ultimately able to transcend. The main battle between Harry and Voldemort maybe the pivotal and ultimate struggle of good against evil, but what draws me to these books - and what will attract me to them again and again over the years - are the inner battles of these two forces within each character.