Harry Potter Discussion [warning: spoilers]

Ahh, so many critics here.

put some spoiler tags around it just because

[spoiler]
Personally, I thought the final book was really good. It was one of the better ones I think. It was fast paced and an enjoyable read. I tried to make it last, because I thought it worth saving. Rushing through it without pause to think makes it less enjoyable, I think. I savored it, I stretched it over 5 days (some sort of mini-miracle), and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

In ten years time, I will still appreciate the books, and will remember them as a really good thing. To claim that the book had little to gain from reading it, they are of course right. It was just a good vs evil battle, albeit a highly enjoyable one (I’ve read all of them about 7 times, not including the last one).

However, even then, what did the book do? It dragged kids away from the computer and the stupidity box (the tv) and got them reading. Now, after Harry Potter, these kids probably have a better chance of reading something else, perhaps something a positive message, something they otherwise would not have read if not for Harry. And besides, it also got kids imaginations working. Nothing but good can come from reading Harry Potter. [/spoiler]

Brother bought a coconut, he bought it for a dime; his sister had another one, she paid it for a lime. She put the lime in the coconut, she drank them both up—she put the lime in the coconut, she drank them both up. She put the lime in the coconut, she drank them both up: she put the lime in the coconut, she called the doctor, woke him up, and said, “Doctor, ain’t there nothin’ I can take, I say, Doctor, to relieve this belly ache? I say, Doctor, ain’t there nothin’ I can take, I say, Doctor, to relieve this belly ache?”

“Now let me get this straight! Put the lime in the coconut, you drank them both up; put the lime in the coconut, you drank them both up? Put the lime in the coconut, you drank them both up; put the lime in the coconut, you called your doctor, woke him up, and say, ‘Doctor, ain’t there nothing I can take, I say, Doctor, to relieve this belly ache? I say, Doctor, doctor, ain’t there nothin’ I can take, I say, Doctor, dooooctor, to relieve this belly ache?’ Put the lime in the coconut, drink them both together, put the lime in the coconut, then you feel better; put the lime in the coconut, drink them both up: put the lime in the coconut, and call me in the morning!”

[spoiler]Oh blast! You had to highlight the spoiler tag, didn’t you? Now, look at that. Look what you’ve done: you spoiled it for yourself. Now you stand there all soaked and miserable because the book is no longer fun. Shame on you…

Seriously, I’ll count to three before I start talking. Last chance to change your mind and de–highlight this spoiler tag. (Boy, I must admit, I’m having fun with the smileys and the random words.) One… Two. Three! :shock:

ahem Where was I again? Well, first, to address to the “why did you bloody read the book to begin with” question Bree asked. no: Well, foremost, to have something to discuss with random people (Harry Potter brings people together , it would seem). Secondly, to kill time :time: — Harry Potter: great thing to read during chemistry classes , or in the metro, or when you’re in town but your friends are not, and you can’t be bothered reading something too serious (like Il Nome Della Rosa, which I read at the same time as I read HP–7) or too technical (like that book on semiotics :shock: I’ve been meaning to read for almost an year now ). Third and more recently, because Potter has become a social phoenomenon and I’d like to understand what happened that made that particular story become so much for so many people.

Because, to me, it’s really a silly time killer story, not something worth of devotion or anything, at least not in my opinion. That doesn’t mean I dislike Harry Potter, or that I would prefer not to have read it, or anything like that. It was quite an enjoyable read. Just not quite a “whoa,” if you know what I mean.

In terms of plot, it was meek at best. Stating you admire Jo for how she plots her story is like stating you admire a guitarist who plays really fast solo in which he never leaves the C harmonic scale (cough Dream Theater cough — lol look at me talking like that about one of my favourite bands! ). It was predictable throughout, one big silly fairy tale, with hero and villain etc. Not for a moment did I have any doubts that Harry would kill Voldemort or that Dumbledore was indeed dead, or that Snape was good (and if he wasn’t, it wouldn’t be surprise enough to change my views on the plot anyways )…

Miserable. The turnpoints and such were just miserable in this book: what, Voldemort dies from a backfiring avada kevadra of his own? SERIOUSLY! And Harry marrying Ginny, it just “happened,” it’s not like something built up, consistently; it wasn’t something I was hooked on and wanted to see what happened. What about those twists, like Draco being the master of the super wand? In my opinion, the plot of Harry Potter was just one big chunk of obvious with a lot of fan–fiction—quality twists. So, seriously, I don’t like the plot at all.

However! On top of that miserable plot, Jo built a lot of very interesting stuff. Her daft sense of British humour and her life experience really show, and are really what hook me to the series. The way she describes the Ministry of Magic after Voldemort takes over it; her depiction of Harry and Hermione’s lives as refugees , Harry’s affair with Cho and the way he’s completely pathetic around girls… That’s real! That’s something worth reading. It’s the silly things, I know, the details, but to me, that’s what made Harry Potter worth reading.

Another thing which completely stunned me, in the good sense, was how Jo dealt with some character’s backgrounds in this book. After the frustrating decision she made not to give Voldemort any depth whatsoever (he was born evil, grew up evil, set up an evil plot, and did evil stuff for the sake of “I am evil, I do evil” ), it was refreshing, to say the least, seeing how she gave us some real background for Dumbledore (ooh so he had an obscure evil past as well!), or Mrs Weasley (I would have never imagined she would use an avada kevadra, but Jo created a context and a situation in which it was a brilliant moment, a “whoa,” so to speak). Now, concerning the deaths, I think they were nicely done. I feel some people were expecting this was all the book would come down to: key deaths. No, no. It was one of Jo’s good deeds in book seven: if it was going to be war, then lots of people, no matter how important to the plot, would die, pretty much at random. Casualties, like in any other war. This is also why I don’t feel she did wrong not to make too big a deal of Remus’ or Tonks’ deaths. It was something that happened on the run, and yes, it was sad, but people couldn’t just stop what they were doing and regret, could they?

I still don’t think Harry Potter will be remembered. It was a bestseller, yes, but that doesn’t prove quality. I’m afraid Harry Potter just didn’t bring anything new, wild or exciting to literature. It was just another story—a big one, that hooked a lot of people, but not something anyone will really mind mentioning in ten years. It’s not like Tom Sawyer (I love that book! ) or The Lord of The Rings (and I absolutely loathe this one ). I don’t think it’s worth defending or anything.

It’s literature. It’s valid. It’s enjoyable. Just didn’t made me feel it should go anywhere near the list of “really great books I have read.” [/spoiler]

I still havent read the book (drew the page QUICKLY down to he bottom )

But guys! 0.0 Youre ALREADY at the 2nd thread discussing

Well, after reading all of Bruno’s post, I was once again reminded that compared to him, I’m really no more than some stupid American with no sense of culture, and a clear lack of literary knowledge. I’m only posting in this thread because after years of Potter neglect, this was the summer that I finally turned back to the series: I bought the sixth book only days before the release of the seventh (having not read it yet, but taking my time to reread the fifth, which gave me several backaches for some reason), finished it last night, and scurried off to get the seventh like a good little mindless ghoul. I didn’t really care about the few little spoilers, I don’t think I’ll be scarred for life, but you can never be so sure about such serious matters.

As a sidenote, I was a bit teary eyed after reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince; I was best off locked in my room weeping into my pillow, but I recovered…you’re not reading this, are you?

Don’t you say that!

[size=9]I read your size one and, if you ask me, I’ll tell you this: I quite admire someone who can cry with a book or a movie, actually. In my opinion, it’s the people who say “pshh, that’s just a {book, movie}, pull yourself together” who should be glared upon; or rather, pitied: they can’t experience the nicest thing about arts, which is feeling it.[/size]

I knew it!

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7053982.stm

I’m impressed really. I think its good that there’s a gay character in such a world wide sensation. I’m not gay but I think it will help with acceptance in younger people about homosexuality Go on JK is what I say

Yes, I agree. I think it’s great to add a gay character into such a huge series. Now any homophobic fans of the books will think twice about their hate, if there are any.

I’m suprised… well… because I grew up with the guy. After reading the Harry Potter books for several years since I was nine years old it just comes as a shock to suddenly learn that one of the characters was suppose to have a sexual orientation. Its good they have a gay character in the book… though I was always thinking it would be Ron.

Wow, Dumbledor is gay? I was never really a fan of harry potter, so it doesnt effect me but its still surprising.

what the??? My post got deleted for some reason!!

oh well

I said ‘woo’ pretty much.

I loved reading that press release.
I think it is kind of her way of sticking it to the people against her book.
Plus, there is somebody that everybody (well most everybody if you include the last book) respects that is homosexual. I think that is a good thing for younger children who are not yet socialized into thinking that it is a bad thing (which happens to the majority of the youth).

I think it was brilliant! Dumbledore is gay… Ofcourse… And he “liked” Grindewald- Ofcourse…

I’m a bit chocked… Ofcourse… But in a good way… Ofcourse.

GO ROWLING!!! WOHO!

Well, when it comes to harry potter, I really feel that it went downhill. I started reading it years ago when the 1st-4th books came out, and I was basically entertained. As the books progressed though, it started to lose it’s luster. I barely survived reading the fifth book, and waited a while before undertaking another book. So after a while I decided ‘well, everyone is hyping this thing, so I might as well take another look, maybe it will be better’. Man, was I sadly mistaken, the sixth book was so full of drama, whining, teen angst, and all the rest of that kind of crap. Really, I’m trying to read a fantasy novel about witches and wizards, not ‘chicken soup for the teenage (wizard) soul’. I mean, once you get into the book, you have to wade through a couple hundred pages of this mindless prattle…In the end, I never finished this book, far from it, in fact(maybe made it to 200, or so).

I have to agree with what Alvin said earlier, there are probably much better fantasy novels on the market, living in Harry Potter’s shadow, but none of them get a second of the media coverage. So they flounder, despite superior storytelling, and we get an over-hyped, cliche, drama-filled, nearly mediocre novel.

Now maybe I’m being too harsh here, but I think this book had plenty of potential to be great, yet the opportunity was squandered. Allow me to explain:

First of all, the concept was good, the main character was likable, and I’m sure plenty of teens and pre-teens could relate(this is good). Along the way harry acquires enemies and a band of loyal friends in his journey to save the world from Voldermort(a little overused, but workable nonetheless). The real problem is that only a few of the characters get the proper amount of attention and character development. Everyone else, well…they don’t get jack(bad for longevity). Also, the story doesn’t really take the genre in a different direction, it’s just the same old recycled plot about the innocent kid destined to save the world from his evil arch nemesis(wow, that plot hasn’t been done a million times already). During his journey, our hero will seek to be good yet be tempted by evil and have to walk a fine line between the two. Ultimately, he will lose a few friends, yet will still save the world, get the girl, and have a cliche ending that ties up all the other under-developed character’s loose ends…I mean, this formula has already been beaten to death. Couldn’t we see any original concepts, maybe a twist? Also, what is the deal with the muggles? None of them ever notice this kind of shit going on around them? They really never see owls carrying messages, or kids flying around on brooms, or a million other things? Perhaps they should have said, OK the wizard world is another dimension, one that is on the same plane as the muggle world and occasionally overlaps(and maybe magic doesn’t work in the muggle world). See? That wasn’t hard, yet it would open up all kinds of what-if scenarios. Or maybe, McGonigal has always been working for the death eaters(there’s a twist for ya).

The other problem I have with this series is that EVERYTHING(and I mean everything) happens to Harry Potter. The entire universe, heavens and all that inhabits the two revolves around Harry. I mean, if I were a student at Hogwarts, I would be thinking “Well, I’m starting another year here, I wonder what kind of weird shit is going to happen. I bet it will involve Harry Potter. Man, that guy should have a newspaper devoted entirely to him.” Why can’t another character have anything interesting going on, what about Ron? His only purpose is to be the comic relief(as someone mentioned), and play the token bumbling sidekick. Then you have Hermione, the bookworm(ooh, clever JK, very clever). Why can’t she have anything special going on, she just exists to play the clever, down-to-earth, never-noticed-how-attractive-she-really-was bookworm stereotype. Dump on a heaping, steaming pile of drama, and you have Harry Potter.

Whew, sorry for that rant, but I think you get the point(haha I could go on all day complaining about Harry Potter).

I bet you loved the last book Rad.

[spoiler]All that wondering around looking for nothing, because no one had a clue what they were doing. It’s was a few hundred pages of a freaking camping trip!

I mean Harry Potter’s horcrux search was beyond incompetence and blind luck, which makes Voldemort look ever worse, hell his whole “must kill Harry” vendetta was school play ground stuff in it’s self.

Voldemort and his gang can’t touch Harry at the Dursleys, here’s a solution. Hire a muggle hit man. Novel idea, get the impure to kill the impure. Voldy has been around, he could have done what ever he wanted. Hell, Pettigrew slept in the same room as potter in Hogwarts. He could have smothered him to death in his first NIGHT there, then Voldemort would have risen at the end of the year. But no he just squeaks around and Voldy is left thinking “And I would have gotten away with it if it wasn’t for those pesky kids”.

The series got darker and darker, but Jo just had to cheap out on the ending and go back to the fairytale ending: And they all lived happily ever after, even Draco. In reality at least one of the couples should have divorced, at least 50% of the kids would have been brats and Cissy would not have told Voldy Harry was dead if he wasn’t, because lets face it, the fighting stopped when Harry was “dead” she could have gotten her son anyway after “really” killing Harry. But no she faked it so he could come back and let Voldy kill himself… Uninspiring, good always wins BS is how it ended, but I don’t think anyone can really say it came as a surprise. I feel sorry for those people who followed these novels for the full 10yrs start to finish. [/spoiler]

I’ve never been a Harry Potter fan, but I do have the first four or five books in the series. I don’t want to read them though.

haha Mohegan, you make a lot of sense in a way. I have to say that the whole Dumbeldore is gay thing is really stupid. I mean why is everyone making such a big deal out of it! He’s just a character! And I don’t think it will help homophoic people to get past their fear , I mean we don’t look at the characters in terms of their sexual orientation, just simply their personalities.

So Dumbeldore could be a transexual for all I care, the matter of the fact is, he was the headmaster at hogwarts and wanted to do the right thing and help potter, blah blah blah.

Exactly, therefore equating homosexuals and heterosexuals.
I think it was either a brilliant move on her part, her revealing one of her thousands of facts that we don’t know but she does, or just her having a bit of fun.

She messed up the last book, then after I finished it she anounce Dumbldore was gay, it was deffinatly her just having fun and trying to make people mad. There is no hints to dumbldore being gay in the earlier books. She is just tring to get more people mad at her, and the timing is wierd, maybe she did that so the movies would fail

Whoa, man! Get ahold of yourself! First off, there are no hints to old Albus being gay because there are no hints to anything whatsoever: Jo is a lame writer, her books work on a deus ex machina basis. Second: seriously, what’s with the homophobia?