The Magic Pen of J. K. Rowling 《哈利波特》─ J. K. 羅琳的神來之筆

"I really wrote it for me, It was what I found funny and what I liked". Those are the words of J K Rowling, author of the enormously popular "Harry Potter" books. The quote refers to the first in a series of novels featuring a young character who has carved out a permanent place for his creator in the world of children's literature.

Joanne Kathleen Rowling was born in England in 1965, and wrote her first story at the age of six. She was in her mid-20s when the idea for the Harry Potter novels came to her, during a long train ride. By the end of that journey, she says, the character of Harry and the school for wizards which he attends were more or less fully formed in her mind.

It would be several years, however, before the novel was completed. By that time, Rowling had been through a failed marriage. Living on welfare as a single parent, she wrote about Harry Potter while sitting in an Edinburgh café with her daughter asleep beside her. She could not have dreamed of the fame and success which Harry would bring her in the years to come.

Harry Potter is not your average superhero. He is 12 years old, skinny, wears glasses, and tends to worry a lot. Yet, he has captured the imagination of children and adults the world over, and has introduced millions to the joys of reading.

Harry's appeal stems from his role as a very ordinary boy who finds himself in extraordinary situations. Orphaned as a baby, Harry spends the next 10 years being mistreated by the awful relatives with whom he lives. On his 11th birthday, he learns that he possesses magical powers and is admitted for training at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The adventures of Harry and his friends at the school are superbly narrated by J. K. Rowling. She manages to lead her millions of readers deep into the world of the supernatural, while at the same time dealing with the fears and emotions of the ordinary human world. Many feel that this is the real magic of Harry Potter.

"我其實是為自己而寫。那是我覺得有趣而且是我喜歡的。"這是超級暢銷書《哈利波特》的作者J. K. 羅琳所說的話。這段引言指的是一系列以一位年輕主人翁為主角的小說的第一部，而這位小說主角已為其創(chuàng)作者在兒童文學(xué)界中取得不朽地位。

喬安妮·凱瑟琳·羅琳1965年在英國出生，六歲時寫了她的第一篇故事。二十四、五歲時，在一次長途火車旅行中，她想到了撰寫哈利波特這部小說的點子。她說，旅途結(jié)束時，哈利這個角色和他就讀的魔法學(xué)院或多或少已在她腦海中成形了。

然而，這部小說的完成卻是幾年以后的事。當(dāng)時羅琳已經(jīng)歷了一次失敗的婚姻。作為一個靠福利金生活的單親母親，她坐在愛丁堡的咖啡館中寫著哈利波特，女兒睡在她的身旁。她絕對想不到，哈利竟會在以后的歲月里給她帶來名譽和成功。

哈利波特可不是一個普通的超級英雄。他12歲，瘦削，戴副眼鏡而且常常發(fā)愁。然而，他卻抓住了全世界兒童和成人的想象力，帶給千萬人閱讀的樂趣。

哈利的魅力來自于他的角色，一個發(fā)現(xiàn)自己身處不尋常境遇中的平凡男孩。從小就是孤兒的哈利，在寄居的親戚家中遭受了十年的虐待。在11歲生日那天，他得知他擁有魔法的力量，并被獲準(zhǔn)進入霍格沃茨魔法學(xué)校學(xué)習(xí)。

J. K. 羅琳精采地講述了哈利和他的朋友在學(xué)校的冒險。她設(shè)法讓數(shù)百萬的讀者深入到一個超自然的世界，同時也觸及了人間的恐懼和情感。許多人覺得這才是哈利波特真正的魔力所在。