Last weekend in Houston, I saw the 5th Harry Potter in IMAX. Though it was an enjoyable movie, I had a hard time understanding what the crazy appeal of Harry Potter is. I mean, I know friends who stayed up and read the latest book straight through in x hours, or reviewed the first 6 books in preparation for the 7th book- stuff like that.

One of my friends, who is not a Harry Potter fan, has told me that he only reads books that have survived the test of time and lasted 100 years or more. That doesn't necessarily mean that he doesn't read modern books, but it means his standards for decided what books to read is very high. He doesn't read pop-culture books, or the latest fad books because he doesn't believe that they will be around 100 years from now. By contrast, books like C.S. Lewis or Tolkien have continued to be popular amongst readers and it seems like they will continue to be for a long time.

So I asked one of my friends, "will Harry Potter be around 100 years from now?" The answer was a resounding "yes" with no hesitation whatsoever. For me, I am a bit skeptical. Just because something is popular now doesn't mean that it will be popular in the next generation or the next century for all that matter. Take the "Left Behind" series. A few years ago, people couldn't stop talking about those books. They would fly off the shelves and were on the NY Bestsellers list. These days, no one really cares or even remembers the books very well. Granted I haven't read any of the Harry Potter books myself, so I cannot comment on Rowling's literary skill.

So I dunno... is it really that good that our kids and our grandkids will be reading them 60 years from now? Or will people have moved on to the "next best thing"? I'm wondering that for myself.