Not to be hater...but if you hate HP, come in! - Page 6

[mata]

so if all the reviews are correct, and there's true "closure" in the final installment-imagine what that could mean for us! I can only hope!

[Ambrose]

Originally Posted by mata

so if all the reviews are correct, and there's true "closure" in the final installment-imagine what that could mean for us! I can only hope!

But you KNOW it won't be true closure for HP fans... the fanfic has yet to be written....

[mata]

Originally Posted by Ambrose

But you KNOW it won't be true closure for HP fans... the fanfic has yet to be written....

omg. I was totally ignorant about what fanfic is-until I saw what it was on another thread. People do that?? :

[Storm Bride]

Random thoughts after reading 3 or 4 pages....

I don't hate HP - don't love HP. He's there. I read the books because ds1 has them, and I'll read almost anything left lying around, except horror. They're kind of fun and an easy read. I do NOT get the hype, and I don't think they're particularly well written.

George Clooney does nothing for me. He's a decent actor, but I don't see the sex appeal at all. (I also don't like Brad Pitt, and like Johnny Depp a lot better as an actor than a sex symbol.)

Wheel of Time. I shudder to think how much money I've laid out for those books, after having them recommended to me by several people. I quit before "Crossroads of Twilight" or whatever it was called. The characters are boring, the storyline doesn't move, and the jokes are unfunny and repetitious (how many times can the women call the men "woolbrained" or whatever...how many times do we have to put up with the three major male leads musing about how much better their friends are with women..). Jordan could have put as much plot and more characterization into about a third as many books. He should have stuck to writing Conan novels. Like dh, I ended up hoping the dark one would win, just so he could shut the rest of them up. I've been a fantasy fan for over 25 years, and I've enjoyed these books less than anything else I've read...including Harry Potter, now that I think about it. Considering how many people have recommended these books to me, I have to think I'm missing something...but I'm not going to put myself through a re-read to see if I can find it. They're going to the second-hand store as soon as I get them all together again.

[MelanieMC]

Who gave me my lovely ddddc? Abimommy - was it you?

I love it!!!!!!

Thanks to whoever did it!!!

[Ambrose]

Originally Posted by mata

omg. I was totally ignorant about what fanfic is-until I saw what it was on another thread. People do that?? :

Yes, yes they do. I know people who have written fanfic for Sailor Moon and Trigun. Very good fanfic albeit but by-the-gods the whole fanfic concept seems a BIT too obsessive IMHO

[Trinitty]

So nice to meet all of you!

My husband and I have played a lot of D&D in the past and we love excellent fantasy and magical realism books (Tolkien, Peter S. Beagle, Gregory Maguire, Susanna Clarke).... but we can't stand this hype over Harry.

For the record: I think it's great that children read Harry Potter and get into reading. I hope they move on from Harry to GREAT children's literature......

HOWEVER, the adult obsession over HP is really odd to me. I don't get it. I've read chunks of her books. They are fun. Like reading a videogame. But, she isn't a good writer and plenty of her ideas are borrowed from reams of other fantasy lore.

Ursula K. Le Guin wrote about a special wizard school. Using Latin for spells has been done a million times, and she didn't invent the creatures she uses, yet she acts like she did.

From the interviews I've seen of her, she doesn't give any credit to the stories and lore that spawned the ideas that she uses for her childrens' books. She actually had the nerve to take a shot at Charles Dickens when she announced she was finishing her series. That's a really odd thing to do. I guess because she has had such monetary sucess, she thinks that she is on a level where she can make snippy comments about writers of classics to the press?

I find the whole thing odd.

Trin.

Edited to add:

Stormbride: I agree with you too often. Maybe it's because you're from Vancouver. I'm from the Island. Hmmm..... I tried reading the Wheel of Time and kept putting it down and falling asleep. Didn't even get through the first book. Are his Conan books good? We have the original (I think) Conan books and they are really good, according to DH.


............

[QUOTE]I mean, even mentioning HP in the same breath as The Dark is Rising or Le Guin's Earthsea trilogy or Narnia or Tolkien or Lloyd Alexander's "Chronicles of Prydain" is just plain insulting.[/QUOTE]

I can't agree with you MORE.

[cocopop71]

Can not stand Harry Potter. Have tried NUMEROUS times to read the books and finally have just given up! :

:

[cocopop71]

Originally Posted by mata

so if all the reviews are correct, and there's true "closure" in the final installment-imagine what that could mean for us! I can only hope!

[Trinitty]

Now, Ramona Quimby, THERE is a children's hero(ine) with pluck!

And a really talented writer that brings Ramona to life. AGREED!


Deliver me.


I read the original Little Mermaid and my sisters and I watched the little-known anime version that used Andersen's words (from what I remember) when we were very little. I STILL remember the image of her grasping the pointed ice... I still remember how hollow I felt after reading the story. It was hard. But, I don't regret it. Much as I don't regret Charlotte's Web or Where the Red Fern Grows, or Old Yeller.....

Children were treated differently then, in Andersen's day, and the stories weren't only written for children, adults read them too. It's only the modern day that has relegated the fairies and trolls and magic to the toy box.... and I find that sad. There is so little wonderful modern fantasy, fairy tales, magical realism, etc. But, it is out there... and that's one of the reasons why the HP hype ticks me off so much. There are wonderful books and really skilled writers who will never get 1/4 of the attention that JKR does. BUT, I take heart that HP will not be remembered as a classic. Fifty years from now, we won't still be reading it, because it's bad writing. The classics will always endure.

In that sense, I am still happy that children are really excited about a book and not a TV show or a video game... it's great to see. Even if it is a poorly written book. I hope it launches them into a life time filled with great reading. These same children will most likely go on to read the classics, and that is a wonderful thing.

Good for all of you HP fans for reading these books to your children, please keep reading to them after you are finished with this series!!

Trin.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by Trinitty

Stormbride: I agree with you too often. Maybe it's because you're from Vancouver. I'm from the Island. Hmmm..... I tried reading the Wheel of Time and kept putting it down and falling asleep. Didn't even get through the first book. Are his Conan books good? We have the original (I think) Conan books and they are really good, according to DH.

His Conan books are very different from the originals. However, they're not a bad read. Just don't expect them to be anything more than generic sword & sorcery...reasonably well written (no room for pages and pages and pages of over-description), but still not anything like the originals. Howard was...more artistic in his language, maybe? I'm not sure how to describe it. I've read a couple of Jordan's Conan novels, and while I wouldn't go out of my way to pick them up, I'd scoop them quickly at a second-hand store, yk?

[Krisa]

Ah, ha! I just knew I couldn't be the only one who didn't like HP!! So glad to hear others chime in.

[chiro_kristin]

Not a HP fan here. I was so not interested that I didn't try. There isn't much that would be worth me standing in line for all day, and it certainly wouldn't be a HP book!
FWIW, I don't find Clooney OR Pitt attractive, and I never thought Cruise was either (back when he was considered hot).

[BelgianSheepDog]

Oh sweet relief! I haven't read any of the books and I haven't seen any of the movies and what's sad is I have a basic idea of the plot and characters anyhow just because the fans CANNOT SHUT UP about it.

And heaven forbid you admit you're not into HP...they'll try to convert you. I have heard the most outlandish claims made about HP--it's going to save America's literacy, it's going to make an entire generation into peace-loving geeks, it's better than Tolkein, Lewis, and Shakespere combined...argh!

I don't think George Clooney is hot either, but then again I'm like 4.8 on the Kinsey scale so my opinion doesn't necessarily count. I'm not big on "rugged" at any rate.

[AbundantLife]

I tried, I really did. I am just not into any fantasy fiction.

[Suzannah]

Originally Posted by Alkenny

Like I said before, I think Rowling just struck it lucky that there hadn't been much choice in children's literature in awhile.

There has been a TON of choice in children's literature; it just hasn't been over-hyped, over-marketed and over-commercialized. Children's and YA literature is not generally a profitable enterprise, so not much $$ is spent marketing it, but I can tell you, as a reading teacher, there are many, many incredible books out there to read if you look.

Science fiction for people who don't generally like science fiction: Ender's Game and The House of the Scorpion. Also The Giver, Gathering Blue and The Messenger. I could go on.

Edited to add: I have read all of the HP books, hated #6, and am very, very bored with #7. I actually skipped to the last 100 or so pages just to see who dies to decide if I want to keep reading (gack!! never did that before). I am halfway through and may or may not continue. I am not technically a hater because I think anything that gets kids to read and discuss a book is a good thing, but I am not really a fan past the first book.

Edited again to add: George Clooney bleccch. Viggo Mortensen yummmmmmmmmmmm.....

[bjorker]

I work at a bookstore, and one of my managers gave me a good idea. She said she didn't like HP either, and barely made it through the first two books. Now that the 7th is out, she simply read the last chapter. heheh. I'm gonna do that.