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Originally Posted by SpM
Gorthaur_cruel asked what distinguished LotR from the HP books in terms of quality, given that they are both so popular, which assumed that there was a qualitative difference. You may well be right that they will still be as popular in 30 to 40 years as LotR is now. If so, then they will certainly deserve to be ranked up there with LotR. My own feeling (although it is admittedly a relatively uninformed one) is that they may achieve the same enduring (but slightly dated) popularity as, say, Enid Blyton's Famous Five or Faraway Tree books (I have cherished memories of reading both series).
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I think that what makes the HP books so popular can partly be attributed to the structure of the series. Setting the books in a school, an environment familiar to most children, with nice and nasty teachers, bullies and friends, enables instant identification with the stories and characters. And this also reminds me of those series of Enid Blyton school stories. Using this setting also gives the added bonus of the series naturally tracking the progress of the characters as they grow up. I for one am looking forwards to learning 'what happens next'. But where they differ from LotR is in their essential lack of depth in comparison. Tolkien gives us a wholly immersive secondary world while with HP we get something which exists alongside our own world. Although, JK Rowling is still young and we would hope she has a lot more stories in her. My own personal hope is that she creates her own version of the Sil, where she explores some of those intriguing histories, and maybe gives us a longer look at the Ministry of Magic as there is much satire to be found there.
And another footnote: I'm sure Tolkien received some honorary doctorates too, which is another great mark of respect.