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The Story of J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter The elder stateswoman of British fantasy literature is J.K. Rowling, the gifted creator of Harry Potter. Joanne Rowling’s roots are in the southwest of England, where she grew up. But the idea for Harry Potter came to her while she was on a delayed train between Manchester and London. She wrote down her ideas on the back of an envelope. She then went to teach English in Portugal, where she continued to add flesh to the bones of the first Harry Potter story. But her name is forever associated with Edinburgh in Scotland, where she lived and developed the format for the whole series of seven books. There are many anecdotes about how, in 1990, J.K. Rowling began the first draft of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. She had the extra burden of looking after her baby daughter while she worked, and because she was too poor to own a typewriter, she wrote by hand. She spent many hours over a single cup of coffee in a warm cafeteria in Edinburgh because she had no money to pay for the heating at home. Success was not swift and Rowling might have given up. But she was stubborn and overcame all the difficulties. It was only in 1997 that she completed the first Harry Potter story, which, because the publishers in the USA requested an adjustment to the title, was also known as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Rowling always intended that her output would be a book every year until she had finished the series. In fact, it took her about ten years to complete. But after the first book, the success of each of the following titles was automatic. The fifth book, The Order of the Phoenix sold about seven million copies the day it was published. Rowling’s style has been a target for some criticism, but what makes the books so important is that, because they appeal to readers of all ages, they create a special literary bond between parents and children. In an age of computer games and television programmes, it is also claimed they are responsible for a renewed interest in reading. Harry Potter has even become part of the school curriculum, much to the pleasure of the schoolchildren. And the Harry Potter effect is not just restricted to the English-speaking world. Rowling’s books have been translated into more than 55 languages, and it has been estimated thath more than 250 million copies have been distributed around the world. In 2005 it was estimated that Rowling had accumulated more than one billion dollars on deposit in her bank. She has thus attained the status of being the first writer to become a billionaire. The Story of J. K. Rowling and Harry Potter JoKo罗琳与哈利o波特的故事 哈利o波特的天才般的创造者——JoKo罗琳，是英国魔幻文学的元老。乔安妮o罗琳在老家——英格兰西南部长大。而关于哈利o波特的想法是在从曼彻斯特开往伦敦的一列晚点的火车上闯入她的脑海。他在一个信封的本面写下了她的想法。随后她前往葡萄牙教授英语，在那里她继续给她的第一部哈利o波特故事的框架添加了一些情节。但是她的名字却永远与苏格兰的爱丁堡联系在一起，她生活在那儿，并在那儿把整个系列七本书的框架构思出来。 关于JoKo罗琳1990年如何开始她的第一部《哈利o波特与哲学家的石头》的初稿——照看她幼小的女儿。由于她太穷，买不起打字机，她手写。因为付不起家里的暖气费，她在爱丁堡一家温暖的自助餐厅里，要花好长时间才喝完一杯咖啡（一边在此期间写她的小说）。 成功不是一蹴而就的，罗琳本可以放弃，但是她顽强的，她克服了所有的困难。就在1997年，她完成了哈利o波特故事的第一部，由于美国出版商要求对书名进行调整，所以该书也被称为《哈利o波特与魔法石》。 罗琳一直计划每年初一本书知道完成整个系列。事实上，她却花了大约十年的时间来完成。但是第一本书问世后，该系列的接下来的每一本书的成功就显得自然而然了。第五本书，《凤凰社》仅在当天就售出了约700万册。 罗琳的风格一度成为一些批评的对象，而这些书之所以重要，是因为它们吸引了不通过年龄段的读者，它们编织了一条父母与孩子之间特殊的文学纽带。同时，也证实了在电脑游戏和电视节目时代，它们对于掀起新的读书热潮功不可没。哈利o波特甚至成了学校课程的一部分，这使得学生们特别的开心。 哈利o波特的影响不仅仅局限于英语为母语的国家。罗琳的书一杯翻译成多于55种语言的版本，据估计，全世界已售出超过250 000 000册。2005年，估计罗琳的银行存款已超过十亿美元。因此她成了第一位亿万富翁的作家。 |
