Harry Potter: Classic Or Dud?

Okay maybe more than a few years. I do rate Harry Potter that highly though.

2. I left Bloomsbury Publishing, burning all bridges, just before massive historically unprecedented windfall of HP profits distributed around employees.

3. I am an ass

I suspect that for many people in the world, reading Harry Potter was the first book that they've read and found entertaining/easy since they were in school. Then everyone sees all these people reading it and everybody wonders why and picks up a copy for themselves.

So I wonder if 200 adults were paid to sit on the Tube/train and other public places reading (or pretending to read for that matter) a new childrens book, if that book would start getting raves?

I don't really know what I'm talking about, but I really can't find a good reason to explain why they are so popular. I don't think they do anything "new" be it w/ characters morals monsters magic.

Having said all that, I'm really looking forward to the Movie, and also the Lord of The Rings movie.

In light of this, I absolutely hate Harry Potter. I have nothing against anyone who enjoys it, it just is not my thing. But I don't even like adult books with fantasy/magic angles anyhow, so I'm really a horrible judge of the merits of a children-oriented fantasy series ;)

Despite having not read a word of Harry Potter, I decided to be the biggest fan and see the movie opening night (Nov 16 for the States). On the other hand, I love the Pokemon game yet refuse to see the movies. Must settle this dichotomy...

Ash nazg [something]tuluk

Ash nazg gimbatul

Ash nazg thrakatuluk

[something] burzum krimpatul!

Not perfect, but I think close. I'll stick with Aiya Earendil Elenion Ancalima, thanks.

I'm re-reading the series now, and it's a bit of a disappoinment, which makes me think the discovery of what happens to the characters as they progress is the key to it all. Without the feeling of discovery, it's fairly charmless.

Coincidentally, I am also rereading the books at the moment, in fact I'm about 40 pages from the end of Goblet of Fire. I'd say I enjoyed them just as much second time around, though this may be cos a) the film's just come out, b) it's a while since I read them first or c) cos I'm just a big kid.

It's feel-good nostalgia for people who almost certainly never shared the experiences to begin with

what - people who never went to wizard school?

I saw the damn movie. It was dire. Harry lets everyone else do the magic.

Immortal scene 1: Harry and friends sitting at long dinner table...broom stick shaped parcel arrives..."what could it be Harry? Open it up"..."Wow it's a broom stick!!!"

Immortal scene 2: Harry gets a cloak of invisibility for X-mas, puts it on and his body disappears. Harry's friend: "You know what, I think that's a cloak of invisibility"

We dragged one of my friends to the movie because he bears a resemblance to Harry (round face, round glasses) and we wanted to pick on him for that afterwards, but we decided his little brother looks more like Harry. The little brother, unfortunately, doesn't wear glasses. I had to borrow someone else's glasses and get him to put them on, and it was just wonderful!

http://www.barrytrotter.com/BarryTrotterChapter1.pdf

is the actor from harry potter...

i. i thought it wz tightly written and effectively conjured up its own world
ii. i do not much share jkr's sense of humour as evidenced in book one
iii. this may not be a fair judgment — the world is fat with HP spoilers — but i wzn't much convinced by the attempts to set up suspense: HP himself has WAY too much deus-ex-machina on tap for you ever to be nervous on his behalf, beginning middle or end
iv. hogwarts is a failure so far, i think: upthread edna welthorpe mrs's says "faux nostalgia for blytonesque midnight dormie feasts" — i think this is on the nose... the realm of magic (so far) shares a distinct cosiness with the suburban blandness HP is portrayed as being in flight from (room obviously in later books for this to expand into a more interesting, subtle dialectic between the TALENTED and the ORDINARY => by the end of book one all we have established is the ultra-niceness of meritocracy which is pro forma as geeky compensation but weak when you push it at all) (exception: snape, but we don't go there, yet...)
v. what is magic FOR? evil it's RULING THE WORLD AND LIVING FOREVER BWAHAHA, good it's like kid's birthday-party stuff, so weak-tea lame that surely the more easily bored wizards/witches wd end up on the dark side (just to keep themselves interested) (or give up magic altogether, like the Dogme 95 of Necromancy)
vi. once inside her sphere of approval, characters are rounding a bit slowly but nicely enough
vii. WHAT IS AT STAKE? i don't get it yet (bcz actually i think rowling changed her mind during the book: it WAS going to be a knock-about cartoon slapstick revenge on potter's unconvincingly horrible relatives but jkr made this too easy to be fun and switched in a new quest and a new evil late in the book)
viii: potentially REALLY interesting nub of a topic for the future, contained in an aside of hermione's: "many of the greatest wizards have been complete strangers to logic"

the great children's books abt the teaching of magic as a school subject are A WIZARD OF EARTHSEA and THE SWORD AND THE STONE: hogwarts isn't even slightly a match here in its treatment of what it is potter is supposed to be good at (there's also a puffin book, illustrated by quentin blake, called "the ________ mr ________" [haha sorry = i forget what it's called] which i recall as being good on the gap between actual magic and party conjuring w/o being serious especially....)

I was going to change my mind on the phenomenon and actually give it a chance when... we were visiting Laycock House (she said Lay Cock, hunh hunh hunh < /Beavis & Butthead > and were followed through by these extremely loud Americans who made me cringe as they loudly decried "You'd think they have MORE HARRY POTTER STUFF here, wouldn't ya?"

Excuse me, this is LAYCOCK ABBEY - this is the BIRTHPLACE OF MODERN PHOTOGRAPHY, not to mention an extremely interesting study in Tudor History, what with the dissolution of the monastaries, and the ways in which Tudor aristocracy utilised former Abbeys for their own ill-gotten ends, and 13th Century archicture and oh so interesting and whatnot, and all they can do is rabbit on about HARRY BLOODY POTTER?!?!?!?

Christ.

I hate hearing Americans in public these days, it makes me so self conscious, wondering "Do I sound that loud and annoying to other people?"

But I suppose if Harry Potter makes fat American tourists visit country houses they otherwise would ignore, at least their entrace fees keep the National Trust going so that I can enjoy the houses. Or something. Grrrrrr. I am turning into a curmudgeon, lord help me.

why oh why cd the movies not have been filmed in POUNDBURY?

yeah, The Sword and the Stone is a fantastic book, I've been meaning to read that one again. also very funny (which JKR def isn't).

What was never satisfyingly explained to me was why parents would be sending their wizkids to a boarding school where it seemed fairly likely that they would be murdered. And then the wizkids grow up and send their own kids there. Just kind of seems like the parents got to chill at home for most of the stories while the students fought a massive proxy cold war on their behalf leading up to the final battle. I did really annoy my son with questions while watching the movies, he read the series five times in the span of about 2 years.

I didn't dislike the movies though, pretty solid entertainment, I'm sure due to sanding off a lot of the Rowlingisms just by nature of not having to read her words.

Order of the Phoenix is miles better than the book

after a few hundred pages of the book you are actively rooting for Harry to get murdered

compared to the movies the book do feel like a bunch of bonus materials, or like when the creators of Lost would put up a website with Kate's dream journal or something.

the Time Turners plot device was the worst part of the whole series. we'll use it to save Hagrid's pet, help Hermione take multiple classes, anything beyond that is IRRESPONSIBLE

Incredibly, I didn't hate The Half Blood Prince. As usual it's a misleading title and as usual surprisingly little happens but it wasn't filled with painful idiocy like The Order of the Phoenix. Obviously the boyfriend/girlfriend stuff was kind of tiresome but the descriptions of Harry's inner turmoil whenever he saw Ginny were pretty hilarious. The ending with the gollum lake and Harry force feeding potion to an increasingly distressed Dumbledore bordered on weird fiction, though it didn't do anything to dispel the thought that in the world of the books all magic is stupid and all wizards are complete idiots (honestly reading with this point of view is one of the few secret pleasures I take from the books).

We've started on the last one, still holding out hope that the book will actually feature a deathly hallows and there might be more than one chapter of actual action.

I remember very little about HBP apart from the ending, not sure whether that's good or bad.

The last book is a bit less predictable and does not follow the school year structure of the other books, that doesn't mean it's an improvement.

Finally finished Harry Potter and the Interminable Camping Trip. One of the worst, the first half feels like an extended metaphor for Rowling not knowing how the fuck to finish this off. When we finally get some action at the end, of course it's interrupted with 25 pages of an incel's tortured memories, and then the obligatory 'the plot is explained at length because otherwise it doesn't make any fucking sense' scene.

Anyway no more will I have to suffer Rowling's prose, where we are always reminded when a staircase is made of marble, where people never go to breakfast but down the marble staircase and through the large wooden doors into the great hall for breakfast, where no-one ever frowns but knits their brows together, where dialog is constantly interrup - (a real pain in the arse when reading aloud).

Also - 'nurmengard' as a prison for german wizard war criminals. lol really.

I'm reading these books to my 8-year-old at bedtime. We're midway through the second.

Prior to this I read her the Narnia books, except The Last Battle. The main difference is that Lewis was actually a good writer and hugely enjoyable to read out loud. I don't find anything redeemable about the HP books: Dumbledore is the only likeable character (and he's not in it enough), Quidditch is confusing, Rowling is mean-spirited, and the only interesting thing is that 'stuff' happens constantly but it's all 'and then...and then...and then'.

I keep asking my daughter if she knows what's going on, because I zone out a lot. She seems to like it, though.

My kid never really caught the Potter bug. We read the first two books and he wanted to switch to something new. We’ve read 12 of the Warrior cats books so far and I think they’re superior to HP actually.

Warrior cats rule! My daughter has read them all (on her own). I've read the first 5 books and loved them. I got stuck in the second series. Maybe I should pick that back up.

We finished the seventh book last year. I think Rowling is a pretty good writer on the whole - compared to a lot of the other YA and kids stuff I’ve tried to get through with my kids, she’s brilliant. At least she can write prose that flows well, describe things without a million cliches, and has some sense of subtlety. Her writing is often funny as well. I think her weakness is much more in plot, tbh, which is very uneven throughout the books.

Maybe not a million cliches but a fair few. I can tell she tries, and the vocabulary gets more complex in each book (which would be effective if the reader aged at the same rate as harry, rather than polishing all the books off in a few months). But she tries too hard, can't just describe things simply (see above re: marble staircases and frowns), frequently relies on repetition (voldemort 'striking and smiting') and sometimes falls into error ('a clear and misty sky').

enjoyed the plot of Warriors, col series, but could not stomach having to constantly make cat noises while reading aloud - that series got moved to the "read on your own" pile after the first one

*cool series

"a clear and misty sky" -- straight up evidence she got the editors to back off lol

on the other hand the complexifying vocab may also have been an editor's suggestion (since such ppl will have had experience of what words land with which age groups)

Clear & Misty = Definitely Maybe ? Throwback to this thread's first post

Reading these to my kid at a current rate of one per year(!), enjoyable and nicely paced as you go along but as mentioned everything has to be explained at length at the end. As a kid who's fairly sheltered from The Real World it's actually a nice introduction to ""politics"" and sneaky tricks and e.g. the vain professor guy (my very earnest kid thought he was a nice character to start with). But can't remember a thing about them once I've finished. I vaguely remember reading them when they came out and not knowing what the fuss was about. Oh yeah and nothing making sense in the movies like whyyyy are the people in charge doing this overblown plan which involves lying to Harry and confusing the hell out of him.

is harry potter a classic in the sense that children still read them, do they watch the movies, i see parents reading them to their children itt but are they considered clutch in kid kulture or was it more of a millennial thing, i gotta think theyre at least somewhat still relevant just cause they were so popular, but are they still huge or just another thing

can't pretend to know if this is a general thing or not, but my kids now have zero interest in Harry Potter.

A lot of stuff came along in the wake of Harry Potter that kids seem just as into now. The trend in kids' books is more multicultural stuff, so books about a bunch of white kids may seem a bit 20th century these days too.

I can tell you that my kid read the series five times in elementary school, but his interest level definitely precipitously declined after awhile. We did watch all the movies once and I think he mostly enjoyed them, but I doubt he'll ever read those books again or watch the movies. He's really into the lore of fantasy and HP for all its confusing digressions and magic and history still seems like paper thin fanfic so he quickly grew bored with trying to explore that. Lord of the Rings it ain't. He wants to watch those movies yearly, and he loves the extraneous approved-as-canon LOTR material.

thank you for the replies parents, its interesting what stuff lasts and what doesnt, harry potter was like star wars for its generation but it doesnt seem like its aging like star wars

in and of itself its not aging like star wars but it's parallel legacy is more the genre/template it popularized. book series that follow the harry potter formula are a massive industry. i think reading hp is still a phase a lot of kids go through but if it's their thing they are likely to move onto others that they like more (and xxp yeah that are a little more culturally progressive). in terms of ubiquity i have noted that our local mom-and-pop candy store where space is at a premium still sells a whole line of harry potter themed stuff.

its
it's
its'

book series that follow the harry potter formula are a massive industry.

― Lavator Shemmelpennick, Friday, May 31, 2024 2:31 PM (thirty-two seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

whats the formula whatre the other books that follow it sorry i dont know anything about harry potter

My 14 year old and her friends were deep into Potter when she was 7-11. My 9 year old and her friends have no interest. We read the first book to her when she was 6 and she liked it but not enough to want more. Then we realized how shitty Rowling is and we’re collectively done with it all.

xp kid living a normal or crappy life finds out they are magical/special, gets whisked away to a magical school and progresses through the school across several volumes, gets embroiled in a big good v evil battle. variations thereof

ah really that specific interesting

yeah was wondering if rowling being such a high profile pos is influencing parents to leave the books alone, gotta think at least some xxp

Walking around London you could think the royal family tourism industry has been supplanted by the Harry Potter tourism industry - a dubious improvement

Don't think it's mostly kids who're the marks for it tho.

This may revive interest a bit

https://deadline.com/2024/05/harry-potter-tv-series-max-release-date-cast-1235323284/

He's really into the lore of fantasy and HP for all its confusing digressions and magic and history still seems like paper thin fanfic so he quickly grew bored with trying to explore that. Lord of the Rings it ain't. He wants to watch those movies yearly, and he loves the extraneous approved-as-canon LOTR material.

jesus eight movies isnt enough for you sickos xp

ugh I have begrudgingly been reading a David Walliams with my kid and it's soooo bad. oh a large social worker whose clothes all come off! heehee bras and knickers! lots of teehee haha snide asides and absolutely nothing happening!

Cow_Art at 7:36 31 May 24

My 14 year old and her friends were deep into Potter when she was 7-11. My 9 year old and her friends have no interest. We read the first book to her when she was 6 and she liked it but not enough to want more. Then we realized how shitty Rowling is and we’re collectively done with it all.