The works of George Orwell, C.S. Lewis and Tolkien have arguably more influence today than when they were first published. 1984, The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings have also been turned into movies as has that other icon of British fiction: Harry Potter.
This is Leadenhall Market, an old-fashioned Victorian market that's still popular today, and I've been told that if I walk over here, something rather magical will happen... because this is also the location of Diagon Alley from the Harry Potter films where wizards come shopping.
Evanesco!
…..
The Harry Potter films were adapted from the children’s novels of J.K. Rowling. She is a world-class leader in modern literature and one of the most successful authors of her generation. Over 450 million copies of the Harry Potter books have sold throughout the world. They’ve been translated into 72 different languages.
Amanda Craig is a novelist and The Times critic for children’s literature.
Richard: Amanda, what impact has J.K. Rowling had on literature?
Amanda: I think above all she's reminded the world that the British are great storytellers. She's made people in every country laugh, cry and sit on the edge of their seats.
Richard: What about other British authors, then?
Amanda: Well, there are fantastic children's authors, like Philip Pullman, whose Dark Materials trilogy I'm sure will be familiar, and Anthony Horowitz, who reinvented the James Bond spy novel for teenagers, and for younger children, there's Cressida Cowell's How to Train your Dragon. All of these are fantastic stories.
Richard: Why is Britain such a breeding ground for writing talent?
Amanda: Well, we've had over 200 years of practice at the novel and 600 years at the play. We've got people like Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare to draw upon, we've got the wonderful English language and I think we are full of curiosity about other people. We want to entertain them, we want to make them laugh, we want to make them feel shivers up their spine. We just love literature.
.....
Well, I’m excited about the classics and the future of modern British literature. They say there’s a book in everyone and I feel so inspired, I'm going to start writing straight away. I just need a pen...
Comments
Hello khai,
Thank you very much for your lovely comment and for your suggestion, which we will bear in mind when we add new content to this part of the site.
You might be interested in this page, which is about Sherlock Holmes (especially the last video).
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
These videos are very interesting. Thank you so much!
I absolutely agree that Britain has the world's best writers in all of history! And J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter series is undeniably one of them. I can't remember how many times I've read and reread these books but it's definitely on the top of my favorites list. I think Harry Potter is popular because it appeals to all ages and of course the story itself was brilliant. I knew it is intended for children but it is too good of a series to pass out. J.K. Rowling truly changed my life. I can never imagine a world without Harry Potter and the world within this book.
Anyways, I've also read most of the writer's books mentioned except that of Cressida Crowell (How to Train your Dragon). His Dark Materials Trilogy was my recent favorite.
I think I can write a novel if only I have the time and resources, and when that happens that would be a big tick off from my long bucketlist.
Thank you very much for this video about Harry Potter. It was really interesting! That's my all time favourite book! I think it is so popular because it's wriiten so simple and cool! The language is modern and nice. I've read "Harry Potter" books and "Olver Twist" book and I loved them very much! I don't think I can write something like a novel but I'm writing a fanfic now. And I'm trying to do my best although I don't have enough free time for this.
It is magic that makes Harry Potter books popular. The amount of fantasy was used just about right. Harry used to be a London boy, just as normal as the readers themselves, but he set out to live in a magical world. He is like one of our friends who has taken us along to feel the thrill of seeing, learning, and practicing magic, to be anxious about using the power for the first time, to fight the dreadful and wicked villain, Voldemort, and to be with a band of good merry friends who might also be silly from time to time.
Alan Rickman said during an interview that when he was making the first or second movie he got an exclusive hint from J.K. Rowling which revealed Professor Snape's fate. Two days ago, on the 18th of this month, J.K. Rowling tweeted "I told Alan what lies behind the word 'always'." It is soooo amazing! I can never plan my writing like that. I mean it was years before the last book was even published. I don't think I can weave everything together so seamlessly and logically.
It's a pity there is no suport pack to print as in other videos.
Is it a chance that it appears in the near future?
Thanks in advance.
Hello Primegirl25,
We're a very small team with loads of work, so I'm afraid that creating support packs for the GREAT videos is not something we'll be doing anytime soon, if ever. I'm not sure if it would interest you, but there is a GREAT Videos app, which has the exercises in mobile format, I believe.
Best wishes,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Firstly, I'd like to thank you for the lovely video. But I have a question about Task 4. Is it possible to use:
- wrote instead of has written in the sentence: He (write) over twenty....
- won instead of has won in the sentence: The trilogy (win) ....
- was translated instead of has been translated in the sentence: His work (translate).
Thanks in advance!
Hello Reido,
Thank you for your nice comment! It's nice to hear that you like the video.
Grammatically speaking, those forms are possible. However, the meaning is different. The present perfect (has written, has won, has been translated) is used when the time reference is an unfinished period, whereas the past simple is only used when the time period is finished. For example:
The author has written five books. [The author may write more]
The author wrote five books. [No more will be written for some reason, such as the author no longer being alive!]
As you can see, there is quite a difference, and the same is true of your sentences.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
I don’t have any idea how Harry Potter became popular, I suppose it began when it was made into a film. With these kind of discussions-reading and writing, I can’t relate because I am not fond of these things but I thank you LearnEnglish Team with this I need to push myself into reading and writing especially that I am reviewing to take IELTS :)
Pages