“You cannot compare these with the great philosophical novels,” Curry continued. “Rowling doesn’t attempt to do that.”

She’s not alone, he added. Kurt Vonnegut, for example, approached life from a very different perspective than other writers of his time period. “Just as Vonnegut has achieved the kind of recognition he has as a classicist, Rowling will achieve it the same way,” Curry continued. “I think she’s done one hell of a job.”

He is, he added, feeling very sorry for all of the seven publishing companies that rejected Rowling’s work before she finally found a publisher.

“What terrible, terrible thoughts must be going through their minds,” Curry said with a chuckle. “They had to be people of little imagination — as soon as the first book came out, people went wild for them.” Having just returned from a visit to Thailand, “college kids I talked to there were all excited about the Harry Potter book that was coming out soon,” he added.

Mary Spicer can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at mspicer@meadvilletribune.com. Scripps-Howard contributed to this piece.

For this week’s Sunday Issue, we invite you to “Sound Off” on the literary strength of the Harry Potter book series. Do you think these works will stand the test of time and qualify as literary masterpieces? Or have they been driven by over-hyped media attention and will eventually fade away? Your comments and letters on this issue will appear on next Sunday’s Opinion & Comment page. For instructions on submitting correspondence, please see page A4.

Will the Harry Potter series stand the test of time?