Friday, November 27, 2015

Week 7: The Novel of Spiritual Education

     This week was most definitely my favorite. The fantasy genre has always been an interest of mine from a young age. I can recall many snowy winter days curled up in a blanket beside the window, watching the snowflakes and reading "Chronicles of Narnia" or breezy summer nights spent outside reading "Harry Potter" using the moon as my only source of light. Fantasy novels hold the most pleasant of childhood memories when compared to other books. They transport you to amazing places that inspire you to create fantastical places of your own. In fact, the fantasy genre has influenced a lot when it comes to my writing style and my artwork; the books I've read throughout my childhood make me think in whole new ways.
     I can still remember the days before I became a fan of the fantasy genre (what dark days those were). Every time a trailer for a new "Harry Potter" movie would pop up during a commercial break, I would openly mock the wizards in a high pitched voice. Coming from a small, Christian school, not many of my classmates and friends were allowed to read "Harry Potter" since it involved sorcery which apparently may "put dangerous thoughts in the children's heads" (ha). I was surprised when my mother came home from the library one day and put "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" down in front of me. I can clearly remember asking "are you serious? These books are so stupid" so she put it back beside her purse to take back to the library the following day. Curiosity eventually took over and I grabbed the book and began reading. One sentence in, I was hooked and as I turned the last page of the book, I realized I had been reading all day.
     I think that's what's so impressive about the fantasy genre; people yearn to get away from day-to-day life so that moment something unusual is presented to them, they let themselves become immersed into it. Why else would all these giant fantasy novel fan bases exist? These stories also leave a lot up to interpretation when it comes to meaning which makes them easily applicable to anyone reading. Fantasy stories are timeless and will continue to entertain masses of people for generations to come.

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