Harry Potter

[The Beatles]

The book I read, and from plot details of others, is a straight detective story in a rich fantasy setting, which is, I gather, fairly unique. I think that is sufficient account of their popularity.

The writing presents no challenges to the reader -- then again, largely because it gives no rewards. The writing, in a word, isn't bad, so it is eminently readable. But because there is not much substance in the passages (only, perhaps, in the very high-level plot), it doesn't have to work very hard to be readable.

Take against this my favourite book, Villette. The plot itself probably has no real message. It is just a tapestry into which a most brilliant series of truths, from one-sentence to several chapters, are woven. It is less easy to read, but infinitely rewarding.

[Gen. Volkov]

The first 4 were detective stories told for kids in a fantasy setting, the last three didn't really follow that pattern. The 4th was borderline really. I think she new her fanbase was maturing, so she started making the books more mature.

As for the 7th, many surprises, my version is 759 pages long. I think she is saving stuff for an Encyclopedia of Harry Potter, which is why the epilogue is so short and vague. She killed off most of the characters that I liked in this book. Unhappy about that, but the book was alright. On par with all the rest. The one thing JK does well is write a narrative hook. There are some books I just never to get into reading, because while the story is interesting, the writing is not. I don't have that issue with the Potter books.

[Freenhult]

I'm in agreement with Devari. I watched the first movie, read part of the first book and all, and most of the 2nd movie.

Its not bad, just not my style, and its a bit simplistic for me. Being meant for younger, middle school aged children in my book.

Might watch all the movies. Heard from a good many people they do the book pretty good justice for once.

[Gen. Volkov]

I enjoy simplicity, but then I read a lot of primary sources for my biology classes, which are dense with special terms and phrased completely in the passive tense. As though things just occurred, and there were no humans present. Definitely not easy reading material. (Primary sources, in case you don't know, are the first reports on experiments, written by the scientists who did them. In biology anyway, primary sources in historical research are slightly different, but no easier to read)

[Slasher]

A wide spectrum of thoughtful analysis... well, why'd you come here anyway?

Good point! :*laughs*:

[Kraken]

your confused nuke?
doesnt suprise me.

[The Beatles]

Even though the last books don't follow the pattern, they were massively successful by then. All she really had to do was not cock it up, because she had people interested in Harry Potter's fate and how the plot would wind up.

Although frankly, the series as a whole has a detective feel about it. Is this character good or bad? Why was this or that done? What might explain this or this event? Etc. The only difference, perhaps, is that because the first 4 were self-contained, they were more like the traditional "fair" detective stories (give the reader all the clues).

[Devari]

Detective story? Really? It all seemed fairly clear cut, to me... Still, I suppose you're right; now that you mention it, I can certainly see the detective elements to the story.

[The Beatles]

Definitely detective story. I only read the first book, so I can only cite one example with confidence: Mr. Quirrell was the last person I suspected of being a bounder. And judging from plot summaries of the others, that pattern held true for at least the first four books, if not longer. Plus the whole overall plot has that feel to it.

[Arthus]

The 5th movie did not do the book justice. I was quite dissapointed with it.

[Kraken]

the first movie was decent, but the others that followed were crap in comparison the books. the directors themselves even claimed that they were refitting the story to fit a...more mainstream audience. what the hell ever that means.
anyways
i agree with you beatles, it was a detective type of novella in that there were always mysterys to solve and the end results were, in my opinion, always fantastic and damn near flawless.
the last book pulled every thing together and even added new twists and plots that were summed up ever so sadly.
JK Rowling may write other books, but she also may not. she is the worlds first Billionare Author and has rejuvinated the litature market for childern all around the world.

Another series of books that ended up being 7 were Stephen King's Dark Tower series. I am a HUGE Stephen King fan and waited patiently over the...i forget how many years it took it for him to complete the series. I was 13 when i read the first book and it had been out for quite awhile and i was 29 when the last one came out. as a whole: the series was wonderful until the last two and the ending was a sort of...spectacular hooey. Rowlings 7 book series of Harry Potter was by far more satisfying and complete whereas the King series left me feeling like i took a long dump and still had a turd or two hanging in there.
Ask anyone who knows me: I am a Stephen King fan delux and even comparing the Harry Potter books to anything he has written has been a true test to my faith.

[Devari]

Mainstream audience? Sheesh, Potter is the epitome of a series that appeals to the mainstream. Sounds like they took a book which never really challenges the reader and dumbed it down in order to appeal to the typical Holywood audience. Not surprising, but completely unnecessary and a sad commentary on filmmaking.

[The Beatles]

Porcine Airlines flight PIG-37 had difficulty landing at Lucifer Airport, Hell today, due to ice piled on the runway.

... or Kraken really did agree with me for a second there.


Just fyi, many HP fans are really disappointed with the last book. It was released on torrents 4-5 days early, and a lot of people were saying it was a fake because it was poor. This wasn't a majority opinion, but a far stronger undercurrent of dissatisfaction than with, say, the previous leak.

I agree with you Devari, but only partially, as a detective story can be hard to film. Rowling herself was pleased with the films' direction.

[Kraken]

Porcine Airlines flight PIG-37 had difficulty landing at Lucifer Airport, Hell today, due to ice piled on the runway.

... or Kraken really did agree with me for a second there.


Just fyi, many HP fans are really disappointed with the last book. It was released on torrents 4-5 days early, and a lot of people were saying it was a fake because it was poor. This wasn't a majority opinion, but a far stronger undercurrent of dissatisfaction than with, say, the previous leak.

I agree with you Devari, but only partially, as a detective story can be hard to film. Rowling herself was pleased with the films' direction.

yes beatles: i agreed with you

but i will say this. the (Profanity is a sign of Maturity) or (Profanity is a sign of Maturity)s who stole the book and posted it on torrent sites were not as succesful as they had hoped. i believe that one of the sites that was hosting it said that they wanted to discredit the book and make it irrelevant.
every last person i have spoken too, family and freinds, who have read the book have all loved it.
only slashys semi gutteral thought process and Artus G rated book left them with the only opinions that were different from what else i have heard.
no one that i know or who i have spoken too tried to even aquire the book online. why? because they knew that it would spoil the fun of waiting for a ligit moment of anticipation.
so, if you were one of the losers who did get the book from the torrent, i pity ye.

[Devari]

Arthus didn't have a G-rated book, he had one with a different size print and layout.

To be fair to the torrent-spoilers, I don't think their intention was to discredit the book. In addition, I find it unlikely that they actually stole the thing; if they went through that much trouble to get it, they would have most certainly sold it. More likely, they were someone who got their hands on a store copy before the release date, either by breaking the legal agreement or through one of the bookstores that mistakenly put the book out early. There's a good chance that they were simply excitable fans that wanted to share the book earlier. After all, if they really intended to spoil the experience for everyone, wouldn't they have posted all sorts of spoilers in the torrent description and traversed a multitude of websites posting spoilers? I mean, perhaps they intended for others to do it, but I have my doubts. There's also a bit of "glory" associated with sharing an as-yet unreleased book/movie/game, so it could have just been the "thrill" of that.

As for everyone loving the book? A good friend of mine who was quite into the series found it fairly disappointing. I don't think it's as universally enjoyed as, say, the first book seemed to be. I can't comment on the opinion of any wider portion of the population, since I don't really know that many people who would read that series.