I see that JK Rowling has just announced the title of the 7th and final book in the HP series. It's going to be called: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Sounds a tad melodramatic to me - but then I'm not a multi-million pound-earning author - so what do I know. ha.ha.
C
Harry Potter and the Spiders from Mars
I will read it.
Then I will burn all seven of them and never speak of it again.
Nah, the early ones have sentimental value for me now, and hey, if she gets more kids reading then she deserves serious kudos.
Then I will burn all seven of them and never speak of it again.
Nah, the early ones have sentimental value for me now, and hey, if she gets more kids reading then she deserves serious kudos.
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cameron
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They're not drivel Keith. In fact, I've read all of them so far and they're very enjoyable: well plotted, good characterisation and good style. She's managed to combine the teenage/school novel with the children's supernatural/witchcraft novel. There are elements of Lord of the Rings - but she succeeds in making them her own.
Looking forward to the next book and the next film (The Half Blood Prince).
Long live Parry Hotter and the Philosopher's Bone!
Cam
PS I've also seen the films about 23 times each, as the kids love them.
Looking forward to the next book and the next film (The Half Blood Prince).
Long live Parry Hotter and the Philosopher's Bone!
Cam
PS I've also seen the films about 23 times each, as the kids love them.
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Bombadil
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One could surmise, then, that perhaps you are a tad biased...
I've seen the movies, but I have yet to develop the intestinal fortitude I feel will be requisite in order to actually read them.
To each his Bone.
I've seen the movies, but I have yet to develop the intestinal fortitude I feel will be requisite in order to actually read them.
To each his Bone.
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Robert E. Jordan
My kids, grandkids, and I have all enjoyed the Harry Potter series, and have read them all several times.
Bobby
Bobby
Yeah, I have to agree with that - His Dark Materials is supreme. I remember my first instance of literary snobbery was when I started reading that trilogy when I was about 12 and loudly proclaimed its superiority to Harry Potter.
Waiting for my sister to finish her copy so I can read it - you don't get £10 out of me that easy. I see Rowling fancies herself a high class author now though, she put a quote from Aeschylus in the front. My mother says it's a "bloody cheek".
The fact it's from the Libation Bearers puts a whole lot more fun into the guess the end game though - maybe Voldemort is Harry's Mum! Who knows...
The fact it's from the Libation Bearers puts a whole lot more fun into the guess the end game though - maybe Voldemort is Harry's Mum! Who knows...
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tomwein880
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I'm an unashamed Potter-geek. I read the latest book on the day it came out, and then started re-reading it the next day. Well alright, maybe I am just a little bit ashamed. But anyway, my point is that people seem to demand too much of Rowling. I will freely admit that she doesnt have the literary skill of Pullman, and her world is not as complete as Tolkien's, but shes a lot more fun than Tolkien (especially the earlier books), and given that she set out to write kids books, its hardly surprising that they are not classics of literature; those simple - even clumsy - descriptions were exactly what was required for the first couple of books. She has many faults, it is true. Her characterisation is shallow. Her style is clumsy. Her romances are laughable. But, she is a master of plot quite capable of making you really care what happens next.
Finally - and this is a personal thing, based on my age - I have grown up with Harry Potter. The first one came out in 1997, when I was choosing my secondary school. Each sucessive one came out just before my birthday, and so when Harry was worrying about asking out Cho, I was worrying about asking out Lottie. When Harry was preparing for OWLs, I was preparing for GCSEs. I was mortified when I finished the final book, not because it is bad (I think it is probably satisfactory), but because it felt - honest to god - like I had lost a friend. Because for a generation of kids in their late teens, Harry has grown with them, and now while we grow older, he is frozen in the pages, eternally 17, just like any other character from any other book.
All I can say in conclusion is that when I have kids, they will recieve the first book on their 11th birthday, and each successive book every year on their birthday.
Finally - and this is a personal thing, based on my age - I have grown up with Harry Potter. The first one came out in 1997, when I was choosing my secondary school. Each sucessive one came out just before my birthday, and so when Harry was worrying about asking out Cho, I was worrying about asking out Lottie. When Harry was preparing for OWLs, I was preparing for GCSEs. I was mortified when I finished the final book, not because it is bad (I think it is probably satisfactory), but because it felt - honest to god - like I had lost a friend. Because for a generation of kids in their late teens, Harry has grown with them, and now while we grow older, he is frozen in the pages, eternally 17, just like any other character from any other book.
All I can say in conclusion is that when I have kids, they will recieve the first book on their 11th birthday, and each successive book every year on their birthday.
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cameron
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I'm currently reading Deathly Hallows and I have to say that it's hugely enjoyable and exciting. (Kreacher has just brought Mundungus back.) As Tom says the plots are very good and it just so happens that escapism is exactly what I need at the moment.
I know it sounds a bit naff ( and is oft quoted) but Mrs Rowling has managed to get thousands upon thousands of young people reading books; so hats off!
I know what you mean about being mortified. I used to feel the same each time I finished Lord of the Rings. Makes you want to dive straight in again at the beginning.
Cam
I know it sounds a bit naff ( and is oft quoted) but Mrs Rowling has managed to get thousands upon thousands of young people reading books; so hats off!
I know what you mean about being mortified. I used to feel the same each time I finished Lord of the Rings. Makes you want to dive straight in again at the beginning.
Cam
"And I meet full face on dark mornings
The bestial visor, bent in
By the blows of what happened to happen."
Larkin
The bestial visor, bent in
By the blows of what happened to happen."
Larkin
I didn't "grow up" with Potter - I read the first book when I was 12, and then decided about three weeks ago to finish the series and read the other 3000 + pages of books 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 during slow days at work or lazy afternoons at home. I enjoyed the books as well, I thought it was a fitting last book. Oddly enough Cam, was just thinking on how I have a similar feeling after finishing the last book that I did when finishing Lord of the Rings when I read your comment. The binge is over and I feel empty.
Keith, it doesn't surprise me that you wouldn't even think to pick the books up, though I'd encourage you not to judge Rowling based on the movies (if you ever had the inclination to), just as it is not fair to judge Tolkien by Peter Jackson's...let's just call them his "abridged versions." I know this isn't the movie section but I had not realized just how many subplots were completely ignored in movies 3 and 4 - and the girl and guy who play Ron and Hermoine completely fail. Hermoine needed to be more know-it-all and less sweet; Ron needed to be less of a wimp and more sarcastic.
If there is one criticism of Rowling it is the strain to get inside Harry's head in books 5, 6, and 7. Up until 5 I was able to suspend disbelief, but I found some of Ron and Harry's behavior with each other kind of catty and girlish up until mid-7.
Doesn't matter much whether the books are popular are not. Some people will criticize, avoid, obsess over or praise the books just on the basis of their popularity - I say they are just good stories and I would be perfectly happy with them if I were the only person to ever read them.
His Dark Materials, eh? I've heard the Ender's Game series is good too, though I haven't read them myself. I think I've found the next two series' to sink my teeth into. Thanks for the reference.
- Caleb
Keith, it doesn't surprise me that you wouldn't even think to pick the books up, though I'd encourage you not to judge Rowling based on the movies (if you ever had the inclination to), just as it is not fair to judge Tolkien by Peter Jackson's...let's just call them his "abridged versions." I know this isn't the movie section but I had not realized just how many subplots were completely ignored in movies 3 and 4 - and the girl and guy who play Ron and Hermoine completely fail. Hermoine needed to be more know-it-all and less sweet; Ron needed to be less of a wimp and more sarcastic.
If there is one criticism of Rowling it is the strain to get inside Harry's head in books 5, 6, and 7. Up until 5 I was able to suspend disbelief, but I found some of Ron and Harry's behavior with each other kind of catty and girlish up until mid-7.
Doesn't matter much whether the books are popular are not. Some people will criticize, avoid, obsess over or praise the books just on the basis of their popularity - I say they are just good stories and I would be perfectly happy with them if I were the only person to ever read them.
His Dark Materials, eh? I've heard the Ender's Game series is good too, though I haven't read them myself. I think I've found the next two series' to sink my teeth into. Thanks for the reference.
- Caleb
"Don't treat your common sense like an umbrella. When you come into a room to philosophize, don't leave it outside, but bring it in with you." Wittgenstein
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cameron
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Caleb,
That's the kind of job I'm looking for - where you can read 6 novels without anyone noticing ha, ha!
It's intersting isn't it that I (we) can lose ourselves in LOTR or HP and are so sad when we reach the end. Both of the books show us dangerous/perilous worlds but, at the same time, worlds which are reassuring - namely because there is a sense of things being meant to happen. For instance, Frodo is meant to become a ring bearer; Sam is meant to accompany him; Gollum is meant to be their guide; Harry is meant to have the invisibility cloak; Harry is meant to find the Deathly Hallows and is meant, ultimately, to face Lord V. There is also a reassuring sense of good and evil - with the odd person who is difficult to read - such as Snape or Aragorn (at the start).
However, when we step out into the real world things are so much more random, amoral and meaningless.
Cam
PS Did the bookmarks arrive?
That's the kind of job I'm looking for - where you can read 6 novels without anyone noticing ha, ha!
It's intersting isn't it that I (we) can lose ourselves in LOTR or HP and are so sad when we reach the end. Both of the books show us dangerous/perilous worlds but, at the same time, worlds which are reassuring - namely because there is a sense of things being meant to happen. For instance, Frodo is meant to become a ring bearer; Sam is meant to accompany him; Gollum is meant to be their guide; Harry is meant to have the invisibility cloak; Harry is meant to find the Deathly Hallows and is meant, ultimately, to face Lord V. There is also a reassuring sense of good and evil - with the odd person who is difficult to read - such as Snape or Aragorn (at the start).
However, when we step out into the real world things are so much more random, amoral and meaningless.
Cam
PS Did the bookmarks arrive?
"And I meet full face on dark mornings
The bestial visor, bent in
By the blows of what happened to happen."
Larkin
The bestial visor, bent in
By the blows of what happened to happen."
Larkin
Aye. I got the bookmarks, thanks.
About the real world being totally random, amoral and meaningless, we'll just have to disagree, haha.
About the real world being totally random, amoral and meaningless, we'll just have to disagree, haha.
"Don't treat your common sense like an umbrella. When you come into a room to philosophize, don't leave it outside, but bring it in with you." Wittgenstein