Harry Potter Part I

I just finished reading the Harry Potter-series. I have known of the series since about 2001. However, I had not seen fit to read any of the books, mostly because I found the descriptions of the series dissapointing and the fans of the series annoying.

I once browsed thru book one, but didn't much think of it. Two weeks ago I loaned the first book from library again (I was really bored and I have mostly read everything else worthy there), so I thought to give it a try. The first one went down pretty badly. I didn't find it that interesting. Second was slightly better, and starting from book three I read the rest inside a day or two per book (the last book went in a day).

Anyway, now that I have finally educated myself in this phenomeon, you would be wise to expect that I will be writting several posts about the subject. That is why there is "Part I" in the topic.

Things I thought to bring up are:
1. The relationship between parents and children in the books
2. The concept of magic and "muggles" in the series.
3. How the concept of these stories relates to other stories in this and other genres.
4. Some problems I have with these series, particulary the target audience.

I do not yet know which of these concepts I will actually be talking about, it may be that I drop some of the topics in the list, and talk of other things entirely. There might even not be "Harry Potter Part II".

Anyway. I have noticed in myself that, when reading long stories on one go, I really start to live the stories. And when I close the last book, I start to feel very small and unimportant. It may be that I live thru much trough the stories, and my mundane life, that goes between school and computer (and friends during weekends) is not that interesting.

Stories that have previously caused myself such immersion could start with the David Eddings' Belgariad and its sequel Mallorean. I reread them last summer and noticed that they haven't really stood the test of time, but at the time (when I was 13) they were really great.
It was the first story I read that wasn't based just on adventure (Tarzan, Zorro, Blyton-books) or on story on epic levels (Star Wars, Lord of the Rings), but had some romance- and soap opera there too, if I may say it so bluntly. I may have talked of this previously in this blog. Since then I have felt so very strongly when I first read Rumiko Takahashi's Maison Ikkoku, Uncanny X-Men's "classic" stories (from #80's up to #250 or so), saw the 90s Superman-series (I watched the first three seasons nonstop) and a read Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth-series (before the very dissapointing last books).

Anyway, should I have any readers, I would ask you to recommend some similar stories for me to sample. Longish, with development between and with the characters.