Harry Potter

sceptre

Bought it, read it, finished it.

Pretty good on the whole - bloody hell, it really is a scary size for a book aimed at kiddies. Exciting up to the end. And I quite like the way Rowling has dumped the "three hundred words on who Harry is and what he did last year in case you didn't read the other books" in favour of a quick roundup conversation between Ron and Hermione. Nice additional Potter universe expansion, some clearing up of one or two passages in the previous books (but not all, I assume those will come in the next two books).

Pleased on the whole. I'll give it a more leisurely read during the week (I quite like the little bits in the books that don't seem to make sense without the next book in hand - can't pick them up zipping through the book in a little over an hour)

Originally posted by Shinji
Two authors are introduced at a party; one says, "I write books for adults, they deal with grown-up things like getting pissed, having sex and mid life crises." The other turns around and says, "I write books for children - they deal with childish things like the true forms of good and evil, whether there is a god, the nature of friendship and loyalty, and the reality of the world around us."

Excellently put

bonkey

Originally posted by oneweb
So I wanna know, what did/do you think of Harry Potter? Is watching the films good enough or should one read the books?

"Good Enough" for what?

If all you want to do is understand the story, so that when other people are talking about these weird characters and what they get up to you wont look like Johnny Noclue...then go see the movies - it'll take less of your time.

If you want to actually get enjoyment out of the material, then do both. The books are enjoyable, the movies are enjoyable. Both are worth your time.

Originally posted by WWM

come to think of it, how many people pronounced that name herm-e-own-i
well, i know i did, and quiet a few others. was a surprise in the cinema to hear it said as her-mi-o-knee

Tut tut The correct pronounciation is given (by Ron?) to Krum in book 4. Shouldnt'a needed the movie to correct you (Diagon Alley on the other hand....)

Course - up until I read book 4, I pronounced it "Her-me-own-ee", and often still read it that way.

As for book 5....I'm still waiting for Amazon to deliver mine. Slow ass bitches. Course, living abroad meant that buying it in the (English) book shop would have cost a fortune, so I am actually saving on it.

jc

Could someone who has read the book tell me which character gets killed off?

I'm not a fan of the books but was going to place a bet on it...turns out though that Sirius Black was 1/6 favourite so I didnt bother...

please please could someone put me out of my misery..pm me if you're worried about spoiling it for others...

cheers

Kalina

Has anyone seen the version of the book with the black cover, the adult version? I got the other 4 books in a box set for Christams and they had the black and white covers and were in paperback. Call me a freak but I really want to keep the continuity of the set and buy the Order of the Phoenix in the same cover.
Anyone know is it available yet? I asked in Tullamore and they looked at me like I had 2 heads! I can't wait to buy it so I can get started reading it.

sceptre

Originally posted by Kalina
Has anyone seen the version of the book with the black cover, the adult version?

Heh, the "adult covers" still make me chuckle. People ashamed of reading a kids book on the train I suppose

Amazon certainly have it on sale but I haven't seen it in any shops at all.

mavedic

I saw it on sale in reads on nassau street for 15 euros - compared to 19 euros in easons. That is the childrens version, I haven't seen the adult version yet.

Talliesin

Originally posted by sceptre
Heh, the "adult covers" still make me chuckle. People ashamed of reading a kids book on the train I suppose

"But it works on so many levels…"

Actually, while they doen't work on all that many levels, they do work on enough that they could be good source material for teaching children how to read on other levels and understand the mythological and literary references, the comments on journalism and politicians, etc.

I remember there being quite a jump in school from reading mainy drivel with nothing to say or mainly drivel with a blatant message and then all of a sudden reading Shakespeare and Heaney. Those that had an interest in literature outside of their studies were going insane for the first few years, those that didn't were suddenly dropped in the deep end.

tHE vAGGABOND

I have the adult version, about a quid more expensive on Amazon. When I preordered back in Jan/Feb I was just inrested what they would do with an adult version.

I was hoping for small print so the book would not be as big, but alas...

360 pages in, and its a bloody great book.

Talliesin

Originally posted by WhiteWashMan
come to think of it, how many people pronounced that name herm-e-own-i
well, i know i did, and quiet a few others. was a surprise in the cinema to hear it said as her-mi-o-knee

Aw well, at least you hadn't thought "that's a nice name" and named a child herm-e-own-i

echomadman

Originally posted by Sposs

Harry's a wizard

ahah best spoiler ever,
i haven't read any of the harry potter books, but their offhand dismissal by people is typical of the attitudes of the masses to the whole fantasy/sci fi genre.
If its not a tense courtroom drama or a "tom clancys" whatever, the general public wont touch them,

I dont feel they justify the cost of me buying them, cos books are expensive these days and judging by posts here i'd have read them all in a week. I'll try to find a family member who has them.

So I wanna know, what did/do you think of Harry Potter? Is watching the films good enough or should one read the books?

(Not read/seen any of it... ...yet)

Is watching the films enough? .... this is a literature forum...
but anyway
99.9% of the time that question is redundant, the book is always better...

bonkey

Originally posted by Kalina
Has anyone seen the version of the book with the black cover, the adult version? I got the other 4 books in a box set for Christams and they had the black and white covers and were in paperback. Call me a freak but I really want to keep the continuity of the set and buy the Order of the Phoenix in the same cover.
Anyone know is it available yet?[/B]

You are asking if a paperback version of the book was released at the same time as the hardback version????

No chance.

(The adult version on amazon, incidentally, is listed as hardback as well)

As a general rule - with major releases - there is an absolute minimum of 6 months delay between hardback and whatever format is released next (normally trade paperback, but the HP books seem to have skipped that).

If you really wanna have it in paperback, my advice would be to put it on your Christmas list and hope its out by then.

jc

loismustdie

the books are all brilliant so far, i'd hardly call them kids books though anymore and the film was a load of crap, or at least the first one was because i didn't bother seein the rest

Sposs

Just Finished "Order of the Phoneix" and have to admit im fairly disappointed,the first 600 pages are pure crap,boring if you will.

The death scene was over in a Paragraph and was badly written.I think she has alot of work to do with the next book as this one just seemed to fill in Harry's Gap year.

Mr E

I agree. I enjoyed Phoenix, but Goblet was much better.

Any thoughts on how book 6 and 7 will play out? Any more casualties? Will Harry be killed off? Will Neville become more important? Will there by any good-guy-turned-bad twists?

- Dave.

Sposs

Depends on if she has guts,a good finish with be to do it the Shakespeare way

Funky

i reckon both Voldemort and Harry die at the end, Dumbledore probably didn't tell him the whole of the prophecy anyway...

I think

the archway Sirius fell through and died will feature again for some reason, maybe the voices Harry could hear from beyond were a hint or something...

It'll be interesting anyway, i cant think how she'll delay the ending till the 7th book though, it seems like its already set up

Blitzkrieger

Originally posted by BuffyBot
I would be quite happy if I never heard of the words Harry Potter ever again!

My sister had the first three books, so I decided to see what all the fuss was about. The first was utter tripe, but I decided to give the second a try. I put down the secound about 5 pages from the end when it was painfully clear they weren't going to improve. They're for kids and IMO you'd have to be as naive as a child to enjoy them. For example, just when he's faced with a giant snake, a magic sword happens to be to hand. You get the feeling no matter what happens to Harry, some magic artifact will be just lying around to help him out of it, and he'll never actually have to 'overcome' anything.

Kalina

Originally posted by bonkey
You are asking if a paperback version of the book was released at the same time as the hardback version????

No chance.
jc

Yeah, you're right. I got the version with the black cover and it's in hardback. Quite happy with that though cos hardbacks are easier to keep.

The Goblet of fire was better then the Order of the Phoenix, yet I enjoyed reading the OotP.

I watched a documnetary about JK Rowling the other day, I didn't know that she was a practically penniless single mother before the Philosophers stone was published. And look at her now!!

loismustdie

parry hotter's cool, overrated but if you heard no hype about the books you would love the,. they're not kids books and the films are desperate

LoneGunM@n

I have to admit I'm a big fan of the Harry Potter series.

I started reading them with a sceptical opinion that they were just for kids, but hey, I'm hooked!!

I got the Order of the Phoneix & read it in 15 hours [straight through from 8pm], but I have to say I preferred The Prisoner of Azkabhan and The Goblet of Fire

The best thing about the series though is the fact that it has become cool for kids to read again & that's no small miracle!!

I've started re-reading them again & I think it's funny the reaction I get from clients, when they see the books sitting on my desk!!