What is your view of Harry Potter.

[ccharles000]

I love the books, movies(like the books more) and I have a harry potter cap(thats a hat). I only have two hats one with Harry Potter and another with Obama. So what is your opinion?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. My dear ccharles000!

I think that the Potter books are among the most wonderful stories for young adults and grown adults alike!

I thoroughly enjoyed all of them, and I felt that as the series went forward, the stories got longer and darker...

Wonderfully done!

Very satisfying, all in all...

:hi:

[mvd]

2. Hi, Peggy!

Yes, I'm 32 and you are older, and we both love the series. I admit I wasn't shocked at the overall outcome of the series, but one thing about the battle in the end did surprise me. It has to do with time. Won't give away more because it would be a spoiler.

[MrSlayer]

3. Put me down for an "awesome".

A very well done series. Books only for me though, I know the movies would just piss me off.

[walldude]

24. The Baseball Furies dropped the ball, made an error

our friends are on second base and heading for home.... Man she had the greatest voice. You know they are remaking that movie :eyes:

And the Potter movies are pretty good. Not as good as the books but they did a decent job of translating. Kind of like LOTR, it might not all be there but the spirit is.

[peruban]

4. Not into children's literature.

Right now I'm reading "Lolita" by Nabokov.

[redqueen]

16. Oooh that's a great book.

The subtext is fantastic... and the way he writes... *sigh*

It made me want to learn to speak Russian just so I could read it in his native language, it was so good.

[XemaSab]

25. Lolita was first written in English

:P

[redqueen]

28. Don't I feel stupid now!

Heh, like I didn't before! :P

[peruban]

29. Yes, Nabokov was fluent in Russian, German, English, and French.

The majority of his criticisms and novels were originally written in English.

[redqueen]

31. But his native tongue was Russian, no?

Can't remember when his family was exiled from Russia, but I thought he learned to speak it at home anyway, if not in Russia.

[peruban]

34. Yes, he was born in Russia.

Then studied in Germany and France before moving to the U.S. where he produced the majority of his works.

[RandomThoughts]

5. My thoughts on this

Harry Potter perpetuate the idea some are born special, and deserve secret special treatment. Exchange Harry Potter with a well born elite. And the normal people with commoners. And you get the view of many people in power. The school could be one of many real educational places around the world.

The parts about the arts, is something many get sucked into also.

However, showing that it does exist, I think is important.

Before getting to happy about the world of Harry Potter, what if someone said you were not special enough and where just a normal person. Again this whole idea hinges on people thinking they can be one of the special people. The top 1% most of us are told we can not be. In the story, it is due to birthright. See any familiarity with that idea in some societies today?

Same as the idea, support the uber wealthy, because you can be one someday too. Something that is sold to keep people voting against the interest of themselves and their neighbors.

However thats the backdrop of the story.

[Rabrrrrrr]

10. Wow - I don't see that at all. I say it's the exact opposite -

that the Harry Potter books offer a philosophy that those who have much (whether power, money, or whatever their gifts are) have a responsibility to use it for the good of all people and not for selfish gain.

I don't see any of the good guys in the stories acting at all in the way you characterize it.

Sounds more like personal bitterness that is biasing your reading, than anything that's actually in the books.

And what does your line "the parts about the arts" - no one said anything about the arts. What are you talking about? Total non sequitor.

[jpgray]

15. You're right--it's also heavily paternalistic.

:D

[Book Lover]

35. if people who have much are supposed to use their gifts for the good of all

why don't wizards and witches integrate into the muggle population and start healing the sick and injured, if nothing else? I totally agree - the books posit a world where the gifted secrete themselves away from the rest of humanity in order to not be bothered to help humanity as a whole.

[Rabrrrrrr]

36. Because muggles are fearful and intolerant of magic

The story is, I think, a message of not seeking revenge - even for being cast out and forced into seclusion.

I don't think the books can be read at all (except through a kind of utterly ignorant eisegetic nincompoopery based more on one's own emotional stuntedness than on anything that's actually posited in the books) that it is a message that the superior people should cloister themselves from the inferior filth of the world.

If Rowling had meant an Ayn Randian triumphalism of the Special, she'd have been far more explicit about it.

The message of the books is also that, even though some have magic, and within that world some have more magic than others, that ALL gifted in one way or another.

Your myopic vision that only the magically gifted are "gifted" is eisegetic nincompoopery.

[Book Lover]

37. I think not

Me and my master's degree in English Literature say that you are the one who is misinterpreting the work, my good sirrah!

on edit: To be serious for a second - it is the mark of a crappy writer that she posits a world in which every single muggle everywhere and for all time is fearful and prejudiced against mages. Yeah, it's a kid's book, but whatever. And another thing - keeping wizards/witches a secret, when there are nonmagical relatives that know their parents/kids/cousins are mages? C'mon. And what if someone is indiscreet with this information, the Ministry wipes the minds of all involved clean - and every mage is OK with this? It just doesn't work.

[Rabrrrrrr]

51. I should think someone with a Masters in English would know suspension of disbelief,

and the difference between eisegesis and exegesis.

And nowhere did Rowling posit a world in which every single muggle everywhere and for all time is fearful and prejudiced, a complete misreading of the books and a theory that you utterly disprove yourself in the following lines of your paragraph.

I mean, seriously, a guy goes to hell while he's still alive and he gets a personal tour from an ancient Roman poet? Please. :eyes:

[RandomThoughts]

42. The subtle message conditions the masses if repeated.

Any story that obtusely shows a theme, can be rejected when recognized on a conscious level. But the repeating of themes subtly and in many texts becomes a cultural standard, or supports one.

I agree that revenge is bad, or not for people to take. Revenge is retribution basking in the feelings of the sadness of others believed to have deserved it. Justice is simply pointing out and equating a level field on all, with sympathy for any.

However
The idea that religious people are scared of magic, although shown in many places and through history, misses some key points. Quite simply even the bible says that talents are given to people.

I guess the idea that it is based on bloodlines bothers me. I think the gift of the spirit is not of fleshly inheritance. I believe it is a gift of the spirit.

And yes many fear 'magic' because many draw from the dark side, and many judge people as drawing from the dark side. So much of the spiritual gifts in the world are viewed as evil by many. I think it is all based on the fruit the usage brings forth. which can also be subject to interpretation and judgment.

If you match the context of special people being gifted, and all normals being mean and dumb. You have the makings of a philosophy told by a few to many in thousands of stories. Too many to list. but it is a philosophy that can be used to lower empathy and divide people.

However, within their group in the story, their are some good moral points made.

[Rabrrrrrr]

52. So now you're judging Rowling because some characters in her novels

have an emphasis on the purity of bloodlines, in a fiction novel, in a way that shows that those who believe in purity of bloodlines are bad people, but your real issue is that those people's idea of bloodline purity doesn't agree with the Apostle Paul's pneumatology?

I think you've gone insane.

[tigereye]

48. wow, never thought about comparing HP to Ayn Rand

yeah that was a bit of a strange analysis up above. Almost sounded like a Marxist analysis from a quick perusal.


On edit, a Marxist/Christian perspective, if that could be possible....

[keroro gunsou]

58. my take

rabrrrrr shaped the ether to blather:

"If Rowling had meant an Ayn Randian triumphalism of the Special, she'd have been far more explicit about it."


and i blather back

if that was the case that draco malfoy wouldn't have been such a prat. and you know who would have won.

[RandomThoughts]

38. No bitterness here.

Just an observation. I am actually part of that group by heritage, four generations back, Scottish royalty. I just don't like secrecy :)

I do agree the story has lots of good things in it. I only commented on the back drop of the story. Within that context it does speak of many good things.

Their is good and bad in everything, is what I think. Just pointing out some contrast to the story.

(edit: also part German, English, French, Jewish, Native American, and a few others.)

[RoyGBiv]

17. You've read the books?

I ask because I don't know how you take that away from them unless you're reading a lot into it that simply is not there.

In fact, the very opposite is clearly there.

[CBHagman]

23. Have you been hanging out with Dementors or someone?

Seriously, I don't see the concept of an elite as the backdrop of the story. Perhaps you're just pulling our legs.

Harry Potter covers all the usual bases -- the struggle of good against evil, the maturation process, the value of friendship and loyalty, looking past appearances to the truth, etc.

[XemaSab]

26. I *DO* see the concept of an elite as the backdrop of the story

Namely, the Death Eaters, as personified by Draco Malfoy.

[raptor_rider]

6. I am re-reading the entire series

for the 6th or 7th time. Now on Chamber of Secrets. I just love those books!

[baldguy]

7. meh

[BarenakedLady]

8. I enjoyed both the books and the movies.

:D

[MorningGlow]

9. Totally awesome

Speaking as a witch, I got a huge kick out of the books. Plus they're quite deep--even the early ones geared toward younger kids. I love the characters, I love the plots, I love the humor, I love the magic.

Read the series through twice--once as each book came out, then again straight through before the last book came out. Recently read books 1-3 to MG Jr. (he LOOOOOOVED them as well) but will have to wait a bit for the rest, as he's only just turned 5, and when the characters become teens and get all angsty, I know he'd get bored.

[Rabrrrrrr]

11. I love it - I love also the fundie Christians who think witches actually exist,

and so are against the book; and the wiccan-types who also think that this shit is real, and so think of the books as a kind of almost documentary.

Fucking hilarious!

But as a read, the books are wonderful - it's children's literature that isn't dumbed down for children (not in terms of vocabulary, nor in terms of ethics and moral dilemmas), and it has a most wonderful and beautiful message for people: that love is the greatest of all things; and the books are all insanely engaging, well-written, and literate.

Rowling pulled off a tremendous feat.

[Parche]

21. Witches Do Exist

Look at Endora........:hi:

[MorningGlow]

33. Gasp!

Since when don't I exist? I can still see me in the mirror! :D

[Rabrrrrrr]

44. No, it's not that you don't exist, it's that witches don't exist.

At least, not in the sense of being magical beings who cast spells and defy the physical realm and such as port forth in literature.

I realize there are a lot of people who call themselves witches and warlocks and whatnot, but they aren't in any way identifiable with the classic witches and whatnot of literature and Christian terror.

[MorningGlow]

45. Erm, yes, that is sort of true

We are magical beings in that we recognize and embrace the higher potential that all humans possess. We don't defy the physical realm, but we do work with the quantum field that some people don't believe exists--to great success.

Male witches do not call themselves warlocks. Warlocks are fictional--the word just means "outcast" and is a product of Hollywood.

If you mean classic witches and whatnot of literature such as the "wicked witches" of fairy tales, then no, we are nothing like that. We're much, much better. :evilgrin:

[Rabrrrrrr]

46. Yes, it's the witches of fairy tales and literature I'm talking about.

Sadly, a bunch of Christians actually think those witches are real, and actually think magic (as shown in Harry Potter and Bewitched and Merlin and Lord of the Rings) is real.

Fucking morons. It's embarrassing.

[MorningGlow]

47. Magic is real.

And witches are real.

But the Christian view of witches is extremely erroneous. Goes back to the Church teachings that only Jesus can perform miracles, so if any "mere mortals" did the same, their powers came from the devil. And in that I can agree: fucking morons.

[blueraven95]

12. I like the movies.

the books, not so much. I thought the first one was good, for a first novel, but then it was so successful, the editors didn't have the guts to actually do their jobs, so the writing, which should have improved from a first novel, never did.

I personally think she was writing in a genre which has not only been done before, but done better, by much more talented authors.

There, now. I'm a hater.

But I was awfully tempted to check the "Ron is a super hunk" option. :evilgrin:


edit because I type too fast.

[derby378]

13. Terrific series - but Book 7 was sort of a letdown

We got to watch a young misfit boy blossom into a powerful wizard with lifelong friends and a sense of belonging. But I think Jo Rowling rushed through the latter part of Deathly Hallows and thus failed to tie up a few loose ends. The final battle was also a wee bit anticlimactic.

[IndianaJones]

14. it beats Lord of the Rings. nt.

[RoyGBiv]

18. Only when thrown ...

:P

(There's more of them, and they're heavier, you see.)

[JitterbugPerfume]

19. it got a lot of young people to read

so in that context it is great.

[Parche]

20. Harry Of Potter

:hug: :hi:

[Deep13]

22. False dilemma. I don't have to hate it not to be impressed.

It's good adolescent literature.

[Fire Walk With Me]

27. Read a few of the books, saw a couple of the films; I'm done.

[Taverner]

30. Its OK

Yeah, just OK

Thing is, she showed that kids aren't stupid - and that's something I already knew

[bigwillq]

32. Never read any of the books.

I've watched bit and pieces of the movies and they just didn't interest me. I am not into sci-fi or fantasy movies or books.

[RevolutionaryActs]

39. It is awesome AND Ron is a super hunk.

:silly:

[tismyself]

40. good yarn

I thought the books and the movies were good entertaining stories, but I swear, I haven't seen anything so over analyzed since the old feminist re-visionings of Cinderella's glass slipper.

[Orrex]

41. I would like to have one in-real-life conversation about it that didn't begin...

"But it's really not a kids' story."

I got it, I got it. But I still have less than no interest in reading it, even though I'm quite fond of the Fantasy genre in general.

[tigereye]

49. you could argue that a lot of books for kids aren't entirely children's stories

and those are usually the best ones.

[Orrex]

50. Well, sure. But most of them aren't 10,000 pages, either

I'm sure that it's a fine story and very well written, but I'm just not interested in the characters or the setting or what I know of the plot.

[tigereye]

55. I wouldn't have been had my husband not started listening to em on tape

and then we read em all to the kid.


Not as good as some fantasies of the past, but pretty good plots, and she's a smart cookie. Plus she gives tons of money to good causes.

[Orrex]

59. I have nothing but good things to say about Rowling

Though I confess that I think it was kind of cheap to out Dumbledore after the fact. I don't fault her for it, but it would have been more daring to reveal it while the series was in full bloom.


Her rags-to-riches story is quite a tale in itself, and she certainly hasn't been stingy in sharing her success. Even the lawsuit about the online Potterpedia was driven by the publishers more than by Rowling IIRC.

[Broken_Hero]

43. Its very good, read all the books just once so far

my wife is damn near a fanatic, she reads the series at least once a year, usually a couple of weeks before the new movie is coming out, she can get refreshed.

[applegrove]

53. At first I was against Harry Potter books because it was like a cult. But

now that I realize that series has taught many kids a love of books I'm all for it. Never read any Harry Potter. Doubt I ever will.

[Rob H.]

54. Other: I really enjoyed reading them, but

have gotten absolutely addicted to Jim Butcher's "Harry Dresden" novels--they combine magic with my all-time favorite genre, hardboiled detective fiction. I just got books 8 and 9 in the mail today. I'll give you three guesses as to what I'm doing instead of shopping this weekend, and the first two don't count. :P

[mokawanis]

56. Have not read any of the books or seen any of the movies

and never will. Boo! Hiss!!

[WritingIsMyReligion]

57. It is 436576765767 times better than TWILIGHT.

Comparing SMeyer to JKR is laughably awful, considering that JKR actually has half a brain, and Meyer has none.

Sorry, there--I just saw some incredibly stupid tweens railing about how TWILIGHT is the next HP, and had to roar with laughter.

On the whole, however, I thoroughly enjoy HP. It is not a Pulitzer-Prize contender, but compared to so much of the bullshit that gets tossed around and popularzied by publishing houses (*coughTwilightcough*), it is imaginative, funny, and thoughtful, not at all offensive to people who actually think.