Rufus Beck, narrator of the “Harry Potter” audio books, sees himself as an actor and at readings a bit as a magician. “I try to do magic on stage,” said the 66-year-old of the German Press Agency in Munich. “That one likes to watch, likes to listen, that one forgets everything else, that’s called enchantment.”
Beck has read all seven of the young wizard’s adventures for the audiobooks available on Audible. The first “Harry Potter” book was published in German in the summer of 1998 25 years ago. “It’s very appealing from a dramaturgical point of view, because it doesn’t just take place in a fantastic world,” says the man from Munich. “Magic exists among the people of the present time, but people don’t know about it. And if they discover it by accident, the Ministry of Magic will come and erase their memories.”
Beck also likes to read privately, if not necessarily fantastic literature. He prefers real books to digital editions. “The e-book has advantages when you’re on vacation. But reading a real book, the tactile experience that I have to open it, the smell of the paper – that’s a pleasure that the digital reader can’t create.”
A festival is planned for the 25th anniversary of the cult book series on August 26th at the Hamburg Rathausmarkt. A world record is to be set. For it to work, more than 997 people dressed as Harry Potter have to come.
The International Youth Library in Munich also provides exciting insights. The show “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” runs there until September 10th. You can see, among other things, book editions of the first volume, original illustrations, sketches and fan articles from the 1990s.
