This was such a fun and thoughtful conversation to listen to! Thank you to all three of you for sharing so generously!
I feel like I grew up with Harry Potter -- literally. The 7th book came out the same year I graduated from high school. I convinced my parents on multiple occasions to take me to midnight book releases and movie screenings. It was such a huge part of my teen years and has such a special place in my heart. I can't wait to share them with my kids when they are ready.
I haven't re-read them in a while, but the thing that continues to move me about the books is the deep friendship that Harry, Ron, and Hermione share. I will probably need to write a whole essay about this in my own newsletter, but for now I will just say this: they have the real deal! They don't just support each other or spend a lot of time with each other, they draw out the best in each other, calling one another into greatness. And their friendship (and mission) isn't insular -- I also love the way their circle widens as the books progress, especially to include social outcasts like Luna and Neville. I think it's such a great example of virtuous friendship, which is something that children (and let's be honest, adults!) need to see.
I really hope that 100 years from now, classical schools are teaching Harry Potter. Wouldn't that be awesome!? Thanks again for this great conversation!
HP is such an important “heart” series for me-it really is representative of my childhood and accompanied me through a lot of growing pains. I remember rereading the second book for comfort when visiting my grandfather in the hospital, attending the midnight premiere in 9th grade with my two best friends and reading it through the night (not long after these friends had a fight and stopped being friends with each other), and sobbing in my car senior year driving home from the final movie premiere, overwhelmed with the fact that I was growing up and getting ready to live away from home for the first time. Because of the sentimental value of these books, it really disturbed me when I encountered Catholic opposition to the books. I’ve been doing research ever since, and am glad to hear another group of intelligent and faithful women articulating what’s good about them.
Another fun story about Harry Potter-I had a second grade teacher forbid me from choosing tHP4 as a free reading book, leading me to cry on the school bus home. My mom was wonderful about it-making sure I respected the classroom rules while making sure my teacher knew I could read it at home if I so desired. I was burned and delayed reading it until the summer, and ended up reading it in England during a family vacation there. I like to think that’s where my love of Brit Lit began.
The whole discussion about what will be asked of our kids-boy oh boy did it hit me hard. It’s something I’ve been struggling with in prayer and just in general, so I loved seeing HP as an antidote to it :)
This was such a fun and thoughtful conversation to listen to! Thank you to all three of you for sharing so generously!
I feel like I grew up with Harry Potter -- literally. The 7th book came out the same year I graduated from high school. I convinced my parents on multiple occasions to take me to midnight book releases and movie screenings. It was such a huge part of my teen years and has such a special place in my heart. I can't wait to share them with my kids when they are ready.
I haven't re-read them in a while, but the thing that continues to move me about the books is the deep friendship that Harry, Ron, and Hermione share. I will probably need to write a whole essay about this in my own newsletter, but for now I will just say this: they have the real deal! They don't just support each other or spend a lot of time with each other, they draw out the best in each other, calling one another into greatness. And their friendship (and mission) isn't insular -- I also love the way their circle widens as the books progress, especially to include social outcasts like Luna and Neville. I think it's such a great example of virtuous friendship, which is something that children (and let's be honest, adults!) need to see.
I really hope that 100 years from now, classical schools are teaching Harry Potter. Wouldn't that be awesome!? Thanks again for this great conversation!
HP is such an important “heart” series for me-it really is representative of my childhood and accompanied me through a lot of growing pains. I remember rereading the second book for comfort when visiting my grandfather in the hospital, attending the midnight premiere in 9th grade with my two best friends and reading it through the night (not long after these friends had a fight and stopped being friends with each other), and sobbing in my car senior year driving home from the final movie premiere, overwhelmed with the fact that I was growing up and getting ready to live away from home for the first time. Because of the sentimental value of these books, it really disturbed me when I encountered Catholic opposition to the books. I’ve been doing research ever since, and am glad to hear another group of intelligent and faithful women articulating what’s good about them.
Another fun story about Harry Potter-I had a second grade teacher forbid me from choosing tHP4 as a free reading book, leading me to cry on the school bus home. My mom was wonderful about it-making sure I respected the classroom rules while making sure my teacher knew I could read it at home if I so desired. I was burned and delayed reading it until the summer, and ended up reading it in England during a family vacation there. I like to think that’s where my love of Brit Lit began.
The whole discussion about what will be asked of our kids-boy oh boy did it hit me hard. It’s something I’ve been struggling with in prayer and just in general, so I loved seeing HP as an antidote to it :)