Forgive me for loving this web page at money.co.uk, on which the Twilight and Harry Potter book and film franchises are compared strictly in light of money made and spent — by movie makers, by products, by authors and actors/actresses. I have been trying to think of a more senseless basis of comparison. Page counts? Number of translations? How about counting the number of Onion parody stories each mania has inspired?
I can see three points of value in money quantity comparisons:
- I learned something: Hermione Granger is smarter, well, better at making money, than the whole lot of actors and actresses, i.e., life imitates art.
- On this scale, at least, Harry Potter has at last vanquished The Lord of the Rings.
- I think quantities of money is as valuable a measure as the usual literary taxonomy gauges and personal preference standards many readers and fans use to compare the two series.
Reading The Deathly Hallows Lectures and Spotlight: A Close-Up View of the Artistry and Meaning of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga is much better way to go about comparing the two series. Even just looking at these posts at Forks High School Professor makes more sense than the money measure — and it’s just as inexpensive! Ka Ching!
Two other links for serious readers to follow today: John Patrick Pazdziora on literary alchemy and fairy tales, Snow White and the Philosopher’s Stone, and an interview with the editor of a Tolkien essay collection focused on LOTR’s Christian content.
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