The HP books weren't ever meant to be deathless literature - This seems to be a part of the appeal. They were written with children in mind to begin with, and written, imo, unpretentiously.

But why they hype? Honestly, I don't know. I can make a few guesses - the sheer readability of the books, the acessibility of the story - it touches on a great many archetypes, in a way that fairy tales do - the simplicity of the writing.
It does confuse me, however, on why people are so bloody INSANE about them. It's utterly ridiculous... perhaps it's a case of the Marketing Machine striking again?

(Oh, a word of advice: if you pick up book 5, I strongly suggest you read the other 3 books before you read that one. Rowling is good about providing enough backstory in the books you won't feel totally lost, but you will miss out on quite a lot if you jump ahead. Just ask Syl ;)

Ah shoot. I didn't think of that.. taking photos and doing mini interviews. We could have compiled a whole article from various parts of the world.

...but it's not too late for some places, right?

"...well, it's not worthy of the hype in my ever-so-humble opinion."

Hear hear! I've read the first book, and that's as far as Potter will get with me. Mind you I'm also not too impressed with WB currently suing one of the major Australian clothing companies here, because one of their labels is "harry potter". But the thing is, the clothing company had theirs 9 years before anything Potter was ever released. Bully for WB!

Whether or not they're worth the hype, I dunno- they certainly are to some people. But really- anyone remember Cabbage Patch Kids, ca. 1980-81? Mobs storming toy stores, spin-offs (Garbage Pail Kids), a cartoon.... geez. I think that people, just in general, tend to go nutso over things, whether or not they make any sense to go nutso over.

Well, let me be the one to promote these books then. Ellen, if you've only read book one, do yourself a favour and read the rest. They get better. The first three chapters definitely of book one are so out of tone with the rest of the series that when I first picked up the book I was seriously tempted to stop at chapter three.

Not worth the hype? Pah. JK Rowling isn't Jean Auel, who is getting consistently worse with every book she publishes, and whom I only still read because I'm too damned curious about what happens to Ayla. Rowling is masterful, and it pisses me off to still hear people say her books are children's books. Her style is clear, not overly elaborate, yet with enough description that you're satisfied. On top of that, and this is what I admire in her the most, you don't have a clue what's going to happen until you read it. There's something going on in every book, and you're wondering who's behind it, and not until she tells you do you have even the remotest idea who it is. Then when you reread the book later, you find out that yes, there are actually clues throughout the book that indicate that person.

Honestly, I love these books and think that, for once, they're worth the hype. And JK Rowling fully deserves every single penny she's made and will make.