I couldn't let the day go by...

...without wishing Harry Potter and his creator, Joanne Kathleen Rowling, a very Happy Birthday.

When I think of the books, the movies, websites, games and other books that they have spawned, I am reminded of a couplet in Urdu:

Main akela hi chala tha janib-e-manzil magar 
Humsafar milte gaye aur kafila banta gaya
I had started alone on this journey
But people joined and it became a multitude

The best way to celebrate here at my blog would be to share with you a book that throws light on the literary influences on Rowling's iconic work.

Pic courtesy flipkart

Harry Potter's Bookshelf
The great books behind the Hogwarts adventures
Written by John Granger
Published by Berkley Publishing Group, Penguin.

As John Granger (no relation to Hermione Granger) says in his disclaimer, "This book is not authorized, prepared, approved, licensed, or endorsed by JK Rowling, Warner Bros., or any other individual or entity associated with the Harry Potter books or movies."

It is, however, an interesting treatise about the possible literary influences that clearly had their effect on Rowling's work. From classic mythology and folklore to Shakespeare, from Gothic romances to classics by Jane Austen, Dickens and their contemporaries, from detective fiction by the likes of Dorothy L Sayers, Agatha Christie, etc., to children's writers like Enid Blyton with her school stories and fairy tales, from the Christian scriptures to feminist writing, from war stories to the paranormal, there is all here. The author, John Granger, has gone genre by genre, explaining how the 7 books read in that particular genre, and how there are little things Rowling has taken from there, as well as the big picture.

This is a book to read if you are merely a lover of Harry Potter books, or only a literature buff. Or, preferable and happily, both. One understands the Potter stories from a completely different angle with each chapter, and is amazed at the range and depth of Rowling's knowledge and research.

Do read.