The Harry Potter Books

Jamfocus · 09/04/06 - 23:28

The topic for discussing the Harry Potter book series by J.K Rowling.

Before I continue, better just say that its possible this topic could contain spoilers for anyone reading the books currently. You have been warned!

What are your views on the books? Do you love them? Or hate them?

What do you expect to see in the final Harry Potter book?

And feel free to talk about anything else related to the book series.

[Deleted User] · 09/04/06 - 23:30

I was waiting for someone to make this one

Love them

[Deleted User] · 09/04/06 - 23:33

Love them! hate the controversy about adults 'not being allowed' to read them :rolleyes:

Mark. · 09/04/06 - 23:33

I personally don't like them. Far too "wordy" for my liking.

rugbynut · 09/04/06 - 23:34

I really like them.

Sadperson · 09/04/06 - 23:35

Love 'em. And the films - they've done a brilliant job of bringing the books to life.

My son was on a violin course this week and one of the pieces they performed was a selection of Harry Potter themes. Made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end and brought tears to my eyes.

Such is the power of Potter :eek: I should probably be ashamed of myself, but I'm not.

[Deleted User] · 09/04/06 - 23:35

dundee_mark wrote:

I personally don't like them. Far too "wordy" for my liking.

Yes those books... damn those books with their *splutters with indignation* WORDS in them!! :mad:

(p.s. only kidding

no offense meant)

Mark. · 09/04/06 - 23:36

alone wrote:

Yes those books... damn those books with their *splutters with indignation* WORDS in them!! :mad:

(p.s. only kidding no offense meant)

It's OK - none taken

But by "wordy", I don't mean they have too many words - I mean they're long books, but have no real plot or meaning.

Jamfocus · 09/04/06 - 23:38

Does anyone else feel that in the 7th book we may actually see Harry Potter die along with Voldermort?

[Deleted User] · 09/04/06 - 23:44

Probably... she's not planning on writing any more is she? She owes it to the fans \:mad:/ to give it a nice ending lol

What were peoples saddest part of Harry Potter so far btw? I'm a bit sketchy as I find the length between books means I forget stuff so end up re-reading all (or at least the preceding book) again before reading a new edition of HP. Mine was the one where Harrys uncle went into that door and never came out again... how vague can you get eh? I can't remember which book or his name!

union_jak · 09/04/06 - 23:44

I waited a couple of years before I read the first one. The only people reading them in school were the ones who went to 'maths club' etc, so I didn't see them as my kind of thing.

After I read the first one, my whole family borrowed it, and my parents bought me the next two to read. It wasn't long after that the fourth one came out, and we all read that one as well.

However, the fifth one wasn't that good, in my opinion. I can't even remember the plot much, only that I thought it needlessly dragged on too much.

Haven't bothered with the six one just yet, but I think I know who dies anyway (although I must say everyone's been good to keep it quiet even now).

I just can't help thinking that the films have interferred with JK Rowling and her writing.

Also, should Harry Potter be 20 nearly? In terms of real years, he was the same as me, and we were 'ageing together' until the fourth book I think, but he turns 18 in the seventh book, and it's not going to be out for a while...

Jamfocus · 09/04/06 - 23:50

union_jak wrote:

Haven't bothered with the six one just yet, but I think I know who dies anyway (although I must say everyone's been good to keep it quiet even now)

Your lucky. On the day of its release someone put it as their MSN display name :eek: Its safe to say I was not happy.

[Deleted User] · 09/04/06 - 23:53

Obviously he cannot age at the same rate as you, given there are usually a couple of years between the books being released. JK would have to skip years other wise, and things would be extra complicated then.

Anybody wanting cold water pouring over any theories they have about what is going to happen in Harry's universe should head over to jkrowling.com where she debunks a lot of reader's theories.

Your lucky. On the day of its release someone put it as their MSN display name Its safe to say I was not happy.

I made sure that I kept the TV, radio, internet etc turned off and read the book as quickly as I could on the day of release to avoid the secret being spoiled. Incidentally it took me about 8 hours to read it, my concentration got broke a bit when I had to go to work!

Jamfocus · 09/04/06 - 23:59

the_saint_2005 wrote:

Obviously he cannot age at the same rate as you, given there are usually a couple of years between the books being released. JK would have to skip years other wise, and things would be extra complicated then.

Anybody wanting cold water pouring over any theories they have about what is going to happen in Harry's universe should head over to jkrowling.com where she debunks a lot of reader's theories.

I made sure that I kept the TV, radio, internet etc turned off and read the book as quickly as I could on the day of release to avoid the secret being spoiled. Incidentally it took me about 8 hours to read it, my concentration got broke a bit when I had to go to work!

I should of done that

Mugglenet.com is also another very good Harry Potter site. I'm also going to keep this topic up to date with the latest news on book 7 for any fans of the series.

So do we think Harry Potter will eventually be known as a classic? Some people may even consider them to be classics now.

union_jak · 09/04/06 - 23:59

the_saint_2005 wrote:

Obviously he cannot age at the same rate as you, given there are usually a couple of years between the books being released. JK would have to skip years other wise, and things would be extra complicated then.

The first few were released annually, until about the fourth one. They are set straight after each other, so what I'm saying is where we we both 11, 12 and 13 at the same time, he's now only just 17, whereas I've reached 20!

[Deleted User] · 10/04/06 - 00:05

Jamfocus wrote:

So do we think Harry Potter will eventually be known as a classic? Some people may even consider them to be classics now.

I'm not sure I think of it as a classic now. I have all the books (so far) though and I'm keeping them should I ever have kids simply because I got enjoyment from them and I'd love it if other people did too. If they become a classic then even better

[Deleted User] · 10/04/06 - 00:13

I think they will become classics

System · 10/04/06 - 00:19

They're OK... Although I am not a great fan, for some reason, be it jumping on the bandwagon or because they are strangely compulsive, I have read all of them and I am still waiting for one of them to knock my socks off but it hasn't happened yet. I thought the His Dark Materials were better-written with some more interesting ideas; perhaps I am just getting old... I can remember being utterly capitivated by the Chronicles of Narnia books and BBC TV series and terrified by The Box of Delights... HP just seems a bit "blah" to me... the last book in particular was disappointing to me, for a variety of reasons. Mostly because of how JKR has written Snape.

[Deleted User] · 10/04/06 - 00:22

The weird thing is about them, that no matter how engrossed I get, a few days after finishing one I can never remembered what happened. My mum is the same. Apart from the REALLY obvious things, I couldnt tell you what happens in each book, and I forgot most of the character's names.

I watch the films and think 'I dont remember that!'

It just doesnt stick

System · 10/04/06 - 00:27

katebug wrote:

The weird thing is about them, that no matter how engrossed I get, a few days after finishing one I can never remembered what happened. My mum is the same. Apart from the REALLY obvious things, I couldnt tell you what happens in each book, and I forgot most of the character's names.

I watch the films and think 'I dont remember that!'

It just doesnt stick

Yeah... that's a good point, I'd say that happens for me too. It's possibly because the books follow a set pattern of HP at Privet Drive then a year at school with slightly odd things going on before there's a major confrontation nicely timed to coincide with the end of exams... all the books have similar plots and for a great part of each novel, there is a lot of plodding along. Especially since Book 4, where JKR has bowed to the pressure to give her fans more, hence more running around school corridors and concocting potions and Quidditch matches and conspiracy theories... the kind of stuff where major things aren't really happening, but you are getting that Hogwarts descriptiony stuff. To me it seems like a great deal of padding but maybe the kids love it.

[Deleted User] · 10/04/06 - 00:33

thats very true

All that padding is fun to an extent and helps with the escapism element which I think is a large part of the books success.

However, like a lot of best sellers I think that quality is substituted for giving the readers what they want. I suppose life is like that. Manufactured pop music generally sells better than brilliant but understated artists. Its quality/versus quantity.

But I dont blame JKR one bit! I'd do the same in her position!....

Holly Golightly · 10/04/06 - 00:34

I LOVE the Harry Potter books. Hate the films. Grrr.

I hate to admit though, I think when I was aged about 7, I dont think I would have really understood the books from the Goblet of Fire onwards! There were bits I had to read a few times to get them fully, and I'm 20!

Anyone else find that? Or am I just a bit thick?

[Deleted User] · 10/04/06 - 00:53

No I easily lose track... they're not so much complex as long winded at times... you get lost in the miscellaneous writing when normally you'd be in the depth of the plot as such....

[Deleted User] · 10/04/06 - 01:51

union_jak wrote:

The first few were released annually, until about the fourth one. They are set straight after each other, so what I'm saying is where we we both 11, 12 and 13 at the same time, he's now only just 17, whereas I've reached 20!

I'm the same (although i'm not 20 for a good 6 months yet.) I was so disappointed when she had to start leaving a few years between the books, because it meant I wasn't the same age as Harry anymore

as for the who dies in the 6th book thing, I was shocked, not only at who it was, but also at the fact that it took me a few days to read it, bhut it never got spoiled for me (same with the 5th.) Either people I know are nice, or just don't care as much as they should.

pad · 10/04/06 - 02:34

dundee_mark wrote:

Far too "wordy".

I agree, and she has been getting worse since the Goblet of Fire. I think she is very self-indulgent and must have a very kind editor too.

My own gripe with JKR is her insistence on using "I" instead of "me" ..... as in "It was I who opened the Chamber of Secrets" .... grammatically correct it may be ... but it's so annoying.. people just don't talk like that.

It doesn't stop me liking the books, although The Goblet of Fire was the best in my opinion, The Order of the Phoenix and the Half Blood Prince haven't lived up to the Goblet of Fire - far too long and short on substance.

Prospects for book seven??....... Intriguing. There are so many loose ends at the moment, either many ends will be left loose or book seven will be an absolute monster.

p.

trash80 · 10/04/06 - 08:18

well like i said in another thread, i held off reading them for a long time as all the hype put me off but i finally got around to reading the Chamber of Secrets and it was fantastic, so i expect to read the others in future.

Hey there!

Quick Links

The Harry Potter Books

Comments