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Michael Jackson's "Thriller" is one of the best-selling albums of all time, yet nobody will ever convince me that he's a better vocal artist than Bing Crosby.

But I assume you'd agree that, at the very least, MJ is a 'great' entertainer?

As I said, I truly like the LotR much, much more than Hairy Potter. But I think both are fantastic. HP is more of a 'Michael Jackson'-type thing, absolutely. But it's great none-the-less.

And the concept I think you're missing is that of the 'fun' novel. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding, but you seem to be saying that only hard-core serious literature is worth reading -- and I *very much* disagree. Sometimes, a good, fast-paced action story can be every bit as rewarding as a classic.

Yes, my 10 year old daughter does enjoy reading serious fiction. She's loved the Hobbit, and is enjoying the LotR so far. In fact, her passion is poetry, and she's just 'found' e.e. cummings, which is some very experimental use of language.

But the Potter books are an entirely different type of novel. More akin to Robert E. Howard than J.R.R.Tolkein. More of a 'Stephen King'. As literature, Potter pales. As pure storytelling, it's far better than LOTR. The pacing is far faster, the characters are more sympathetic, more easy to relate to. Far less dialog and 'explaining' the story, far more action and 'acting out' the story.

And it's the pacing and the characters that make Potter 'better', in it's own way, than LotR. There's no characters in Tolkien for kids to 'relate' to, no characters in Tolkein who face issues like those kids do. The Potter books main reason for success, I think, is because so many kids relate to being a little kid who's picked on, like Harry, and then *love* the idea of finding out they're a powerful 'wizard' who can get back at the people who have tortured them, like Potter does to Dudley.

There's no characters in Tolkien for kids to 'relate' to, no characters in Tolkein who face issues like those kids do. The Potter books main reason for success, I think, is because so many kids relate to being a little kid who's picked on, like Harry, and then *love* the idea of finding out they're a powerful 'wizard' who can get back at the people who have tortured them, like Potter does to Dudley

We've crossed swords on Microsoft, but I'm with you on this one.

I feel sorry for kids who grow up in households where parents, teachers and older siblings act as guardians of what is worthy. I did, and it has taken decades to get around to the classics. As a child I was too busy rebelling against the forced judgement of parents and teachers.

I suppose that is why I prefer Dahl's characters and Harry Potter. I just enjoy them. No literature intended.

"More of a 'Stephen King'."

Don't even compare Rowling with Stephen King. IMHO, Stephen King is one of the most under-rated literary geniuses of our time. Primarily because of the genre he has chosen to write.

Yes, he has written a few books that I do not care for. However, he has written many books that I did not care for the plot but couldn't put the darn book down.

His character development and use of setting, etc. is simply unbelieveable and probably unparalleled in the last quarter of the 20th century.

Excellent points. What I was trying to say was that the "commercial" aspect of any work of art, music, or literature has nothing to do with the quality of the work itself. This point was driven home to me in a college-level philosophy course. The professor, in making the point that science is a unique area of study because it requires public scrutiny of a person's ideas, pointed out that Emily Dickinson never published any of her poetry.

This parallel opens a real can of worms, of course, because it means that one work of art or music can be objectively "better" or "worse" than another regardless of popular consent (similar to the idea that 2+2=4 in a true, abstract, sense). A Yugo may do a far better job of meeting the needs of specific people than a Mercedes-Benz, but in any objective, qualitative comparison between the two (i.e., "all things being equal") the Mercedes will always come out on top.