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 I love the Harry Potter series. They're not the best-written books in children's fiction, but their strengths lie in the rich world-building and, especially, the myriad characters that Jo Rowling has created. I can't think of any other series of novels that has literally hundreds of supporting characters, all with memorable personalities and idiosyncrasies. (An aside: can you name, off the top of your head, the 200 most prevalent characters in the series? I got about 118. I don't know whether to be proud or not.) Rowling really should get around to writing that encyclopedia of the wizarding world. She has boxes and boxes full of material that never worked its way into the books. She's called the project "The Scottish Book" because she's wary to mention it by name lest she bring bad luck upon herself. She has said in the past that it could take her up to 10 years to write, however, so I'm not holding my breath.   So, it's been 3 years since Deathly Hallows was published. Has anybody re-read them all from beginning to end since the 7th book came out? I am currently doing a whole-series re-read, hoping to finish Deathly Hallows before the first part of the movie arrives in November. I'm up to Order of the Phoenix, which is probably my favourite of the 7 (if not favourite, then tied equally with Goblet of Fire and Half-Blood Prince). So much happens in this book. Not only do we have all the stuff with Umbridge vs. Hogwarts, but we visit more locations than any other book (other than the last book). I love the side-trips into St Mungo's and particularly the Ministry of Magic. The rescue mission that occupies the last hundred or so pages of the book is one of my favourite parts of the series. Anyway, discuss! edit: Because people are sperging out about inaccuracies in student numbers and demographics and how the magic works exactly, please keep the following mantras in mind when posting in this thread: a) It's a children's book b) It's for fun c) A wizard did it Hedrigall fucked around with this message at 08:04 on Aug 15, 2010 |
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Aug 10, 2010 09:46
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I've not read them all since then, but I've reread the later ones in order. Also, I loving love the white covers in your post. They look so old-school.
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Aug 10, 2010 10:00
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I just re-read the last two books very recently. I read the first two books to my two year old too. She loves them, but it may be more due to the silly voices daddy does when he reads them ("Hamster Huey and the Gooey Kablooey" style). I love the series. Anyone who gives me that "Rowling is a competent author, though she has many failings as a writer" schtick can ess on my dee. She writes great, fun, entertaining stories that anyone can appreciate, save for the types that are waiting around for the editing gigs they'll never score. Jim Butcher gets the same rap, and it's total bullshit. I'm honestly not much of a fiction buff, but anyone I've suggested the Potter and Dresden series to has loved them and read them as quickly as they could. I really thought book 7 was the weak link, if only for the amount of time the gang spent wandering around in the woods yelling at each other. Also, how exactly Harry defeats Voldemort and why Dumbledore lets Snape kill him (are these really spoilers?) are a mite convoluted, and pretty difficult to explain to someone in less than five minutes. That's my only bitch. Great series, and I can't wait for my child to get into it on her own years down the road.
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Aug 10, 2010 10:03
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I started reading Harry Potter when Goblet of Fire came out, and I still have all of my old copies (the binding on Azkaban and Goblet is pretty much gone at this point.) I'm not that fond of Order of the Phoenix, mostly because Harry acts like a huge twat in it, but Half-Blood Prince is one of my favorites.
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Aug 10, 2010 10:11
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Woodtopian posted:I started reading Harry Potter when Goblet of Fire came out, and I still have all of my old copies (the binding on Azkaban and Goblet is pretty much gone at this point.) I'm not that fond of Order of the Phoenix, mostly because Harry acts like a huge twat in it, but Half-Blood Prince is one of my favorites. I love Order of the Phoenix despite his twattiness, because there's 2 very good reasons behind it. a) He's tapping into Voldemort's anger, maybe not all the time, but in the more extreme cases such as when he feels like attacking Dumbledore. b) He's not like that throughout the whole book, in fact Order of the Phoenix probably has Harry's most important emotional arc. The journey he goes through, culminating in the very emotional (and in some ways cathartic) scene in the chapter "The Lost Prophecy", is very well done.
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Aug 10, 2010 10:16
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Also, he's 15. Everyone's a twat at 15.
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Aug 10, 2010 11:06
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Wow, it's been ten years since I've read a Harry Potter book. The fourth one was the last time I read one. I even have 1-5, with easy access to the rest from friends. Maybe I'll try to actually finish the series.
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Aug 10, 2010 14:05
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Anyone who's a fan of Harry Potter and just a little bit of a 'sperger (this means you) should read Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. It's arguably better written than the original series and twice as awesome.
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Aug 10, 2010 14:11
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I remember getting my first HP book, something about it was just a special feeling. It was a soft cover Azkaban and I read it about 4 times. I've read through the entire series a few times but I don't actually own any of them anymore, I gave them away.
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Aug 10, 2010 14:12
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Just sticking my head in here to say that I'm calling it that Scarlett Johannson will show up sooner or later.
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Aug 10, 2010 14:56
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ShardPhoenix posted:Anyone who's a fan of Harry Potter and just a little bit of a 'sperger (this means you) should read Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. It's arguably better written than the original series and twice as awesome. Ugh, I hate that fic. Then again, I hate all fanfics where a loving 11 YEAR OLD is Machiavelli, Newton and Richard Dawkins all rolled into one. I mean, bits of it were good. The whole battle magic subplot was good. Dicking about with the Time Turner was good. It's just that it all hangs on a self insert and everyone speaks like they swallowed at least 4 different textbooks.
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Aug 10, 2010 15:22
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I just finished listening to books 6 and 7 on audio book last week. I wanted to do a complete reread/listen, but my library is a missing a few of the books (stolen/not returned most likely), so I settled for the two books that I had only read once each. They were wonderful on audio. People complain, I know, about her writing style, but I must say it makes for an easy listen. I'm surprised that I didn't reread 7 earlier, because with all of the details in those last few chapters, I was coming upon information that I had forgotten/not noticed so often. The entire time I was listening, I couldn't help but think "how are they going to do that in the movies". So that was fun. Though I am always disappointed with the 7th because I was expecting something completely different. I had thought that all of the information that we needed to know would have already been in the first 6 books, but then she throws in a completely new element that we only barely knew about before. It does explain about the cloak which up until that point had been a mystery that many people probably wondered about, but it seemed like a lot for the last book. My favorite book has got to be Prisoner of Azkaban. I know that most people think it's quite boring since it has the least to do with the major plot line, but I love it for all of the information we get in it. Books 1 and 2 are getting us familiar with the world and characters and by book 3 we are ready to start getting serious back story and I just like that in books.
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Aug 10, 2010 16:57
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I spent this summer reading all the way through the series. I hadn't read one since Deathly Hallows came out so it was a little bit of nostalgia for me. I was part of that group who almost "grew up" alongside the series, so it had a pretty big impact on me. They're good books and they're fantastic for younger readers.
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Aug 10, 2010 17:18
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I started reading HP right after Chamber of Secrets was released. Since then, I've re-read the entire series before a new book was released but I've only read Deathly Hallows once. I'll have to do another read-through before the movie comes out. Maybe it'll change after I do another read-through but I have no problems with DH. My least favorite book has got to be Order of the Phoenix. It was too long and Harry made so many stupid and frustrating decisions. Overall, the series is absolutely fantastic. I'm not a huge reader but I'm constantly trying to find another book or series that'll capture my attention as HP does.
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Aug 10, 2010 17:47
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ShardPhoenix posted:Anyone who's a fan of Harry Potter and just a little bit of a 'sperger (this means you) should read Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. It's arguably better written than the original series and twice as awesome. There are two here http://fp.fanficauthors.net/ that are extremely well written. It's a shame his "Years of Rebellion" will probably never get finished due to his health. That and it's probably ~500k+ words. It picks up right after Order of the Phoenix and the first 30 chapters is just the summer after. It's worth the read if you like a lot of character depth (especially with secondary characters) and well thought out political machinations as well as diving into Goblin geeves fucked around with this message at 19:16 on Aug 10, 2010 |
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Aug 10, 2010 19:12
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Viconia posted:Just sticking my head in here to say that I'm calling it that Scarlett Johannson will show up sooner or later. Yeah I'm interested to see how reflir will do on the character quiz. I've read them through once after the series ended, and I've been meaning go back and do it again. Maybe during Christmas break. Half-Blood Prince was probably my favorite, with my least favorite being Chamber of Secrets.
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Aug 11, 2010 00:54
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Harry Potter isn't my favorite book series ever written and I don't think the JK Rowling is the greatest writer of our generation or whatever, but they are probably the most important books I have ever read from a personal standpoint. I read first book when I was in 3rd or 4th grade, and until that point I pretty much despised reading. There wasn't much appeal in books for my sports/video games/anything but reading brain. After finishing the first book I forced my Mom to buy me the second, and then the third and then the long wait for the fourth began. Everything changed after that and I began to read compulsively. Everything I could get my hands on, fantasy or not enthralled me. Now, twelve years later I'm off to a great college on an English scholarship and can't imagine what my life would have been like without reading that first book. I guess I owe more to JK Rowling than to any other author and have to believe, that for all of their faults, Harry Potter, more than anything else effected my future in an incredibly positive way. I'll always be sad it's over, but it was a great series. 
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Aug 11, 2010 03:06
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ShardPhoenix posted:Anyone who's a fan of Harry Potter and just a little bit of a 'sperger (this means you) should read Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. It's arguably better written than the original series and twice as awesome. Thanks for this link, this is one of the most enjoyable things I've read recently. Funny and intelligent.
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Aug 11, 2010 05:31
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I made the decision very early on to not read the series until it was finished. I was in high school by the time Harry Potter was in full swing and didn't want to be stuck waiting around for the next installment to show up. Even when the Deathly Hallows came out years ago, it still took me until last year to start reading. It was a good decision, altogether; I remained spoiler-free up to when I started reading, and even got through to the end without anything surprises being ruined. I missed out on some potentially good conversations, but I also got to enjoy the series without waiting around like an addict. So there's that. The series isn't the best written, but it certainly is my favorite. Are there quibbles I have with it? Yes. I never liked Ginny, because the entire story arc with her after Chamber of Secrets is out of left field. Character deaths are quick and lack any real sense of gravitas outside of "Well, he's dead now." I felt that Harry's douchiness in Order of the Phoenix made me want to strangle him, but, as was mentioned above... Harashaw posted:Also, he's 15. Everyone's a twat at 15. But despite my issues with it, I love all of the books. The moment I finished Deathly Hallows was terribly bitter-sweet, somewhat comparative to taking the final bow of a performance you've been practicing forever.
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Aug 11, 2010 10:04
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Ginny's plot in the later books was a bit sudden, but it lead to some good scenes, so I'm pretty OK with it. With you on Luna, though.
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Aug 11, 2010 13:21
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The most annoying thing to me about the Harry Potter books is that there didn't seem to be any real rhyme or reason to the magic "system" and things seemed pretty formulaic when it came to what they would need to defeat whatever was going on in that book. Like, "oh they're learning about such and such in the first few chapters, I guess we now know what they'll use at the end of the book!". I think it's just the problem of her introducing new ideas and magic specifically to be applicable to that book, so there's no real underlying order to all of i. All that said, they're fun books to read and entertaining
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Aug 11, 2010 15:47
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Levitate posted:The most annoying thing to me about the Harry Potter books is that there didn't seem to be any real rhyme or reason to the magic "system"... This is probably the thing that annoys me the most about the series. I wish Rowling could have spend just a couple of paragraphs in the first few books explaining a bit more about how magic works, because as it is, it seems ridiculously overpowered and the reader's forced to assume there are all sorts of rules that the book never actually states. There are a lot of things mentioned briefly that seem like they should just completely ruin the way magic works - like the fact that wizards can direct magic through any implement, not just wands, or the fact that there are Time-Turners and nobody uses them for the main plot except once in the third book, even though there's a pivotal point in the fifth where every character runs right past vats of them. But I guess at some point this just turns into nerd complaining, so I'll shut up. vvv I just realized I sounded pretty pissed off at the books, too, so I'll add that I really like the Harry Potter series and the thing that most annoys me is pretty much the only thing that annoys me. Besides Ginny's subplot. Cobweb Heart fucked around with this message at 19:27 on Aug 11, 2010 |
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Aug 11, 2010 18:59
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The longer the series went on the more holes were punched in it by the introduction of really awesome stuff that was then dropped for no reason or just not used. 7 being the absolute nadir (we can teleport now! But we just kind-of won't. Ever). 1-3 were good fun, with 3 being pretty great, but after that it was a decline punctuated by the return to form in 6. The most annoying thing about the series for me was how Voldemort/Dumbledore could bend the fabric of the Universe at a whim, and our protagonist could knock someone's wand out of their hand by flailing about like a spag and shouting. I must sound pretty down on them, but really I would recommend anyone read them, they were great fun little yarns and gripped you like a barnacle.
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Aug 11, 2010 19:08
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I don't really talk about Harry Potter on the internet anymore but as an obsessive test destroyer I couldn't resist... and apparently I know a lot of characters that are mentioned fewer than 12 times. I haven't read a Harry Potter book in two and a half years, so cut me a little slack The first ten minutes were fun, because I could just enter any name that came to mind and it'd be on there, but after the first 150 it was really really slowgoing and frustrating. Bogrod over Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange, are you loving serious? Broderick Bode? Warrington is apparently mentioned 22 times, which I suspect isn't true because his cornflake skin is referenced exactly one whole loving time from what I can remember. Dawlish I legitimately forgot, which seems fitting somehow. edit: Derrrp, Warrington is of course a quidditch player 
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Aug 11, 2010 21:36
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reflir posted:I don't really talk about Harry Potter on the internet anymore but as an obsessive test destroyer I couldn't resist... and apparently I know a lot of characters that are mentioned fewer than 12 times. I haven't read a Harry Potter book in two and a half years, so cut me a little slack There was at least one glaring omission I think - Seamus - maybe a few others for some of these lesser-mentioned characters.
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Aug 11, 2010 22:02
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Seamus Finnigan was on there, are you sure you spelled his name right?
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Aug 11, 2010 22:04
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I only got something like 75 out of 200 on that thing. I swear to god I can recall pretty much every single one of the characters and what their role in the plot was, even the ones that weren't mentioned enough to make it on the list. My stupid-rear end brain just wasn't cooperating. I even somehow missed the Dursleys. 
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Aug 11, 2010 23:10
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There are some weird inclusions and exclusions on that list, like Ron's retarded owl but not Fawkes, or random-rear end bank goblin but not the sorting hat.
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Aug 12, 2010 00:20
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Cobweb Heart posted:the fact that there are Time-Turners and nobody uses them for the main plot except once in the third book, even though there's a pivotal point in the fifth where every character runs right past vats of them. Time Turners cannot be used to change the past 
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Aug 12, 2010 01:14
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quote:The most annoying thing to me about the Harry Potter books is that there didn't seem to be any real rhyme or reason to the magic "system" and things seemed pretty formulaic when it came to what they would need to defeat whatever was going on in that book. Like, "oh they're learning about such and such in the first few chapters, I guess we now know what they'll use at the end of the book!". Cobweb Heart posted:This is probably the thing that annoys me the most about the series. I wish Rowling could have spend just a couple of paragraphs in the first few books explaining a bit more about how magic works, because as it is, it seems ridiculously overpowered and the reader's forced to assume there are all sorts of rules that the book never actually states. There are a lot of things mentioned briefly that seem like they should just completely ruin the way magic works - like the fact that wizards can direct magic through any implement, not just wands, or the fact that there are Time-Turners and nobody uses them for the main plot except once in the third book, even though there's a pivotal point in the fifth where every character runs right past vats of them. You should both read the fic I posted a link to above.
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Aug 12, 2010 03:35
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Hedrigall posted:Time Turners cannot be used to change the past I hope you realize how stupid what you wrote just was. If you can't change the past, then it wouldn't matter if you ran into past versions of yourself. You also wouldn't be able to breathe, because then you'd change where the air was in the past, not to mention localized oxygen concentrations. If you didn't change the past, you couldn't walk on a carpet, because you'd cause wear as a byproduct of the friction necessary to move. Or maybe you just can't change "big" outcomes. So I hope that butterfly's wingbeat you f-ed up wasn't going to cause a storm in Honolulu, I suppose. Besides, what characterizes a "major" change in the timeflow? JKR sure as hell doesn't know! I'm not going to say they're bad books, but crap like that is author fiat of the worst kind. Pick fucked around with this message at 04:03 on Aug 12, 2010 |
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Aug 12, 2010 03:55
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ShardPhoenix posted:Anyone who's a fan of Harry Potter and just a little bit of a 'sperger (this means you) should read Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. It's arguably better written than the original series and twice as awesome. I hate this thing so goddamn much, it's like  and  had a baby and love to whip pictures of it out at every opportunity to show how awesome and clever they are.
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Aug 12, 2010 04:59
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Pick posted:I hope you realize how stupid what you wrote just was. Yeah but you're forgetting a wizard did it.
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Aug 12, 2010 05:22
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...of SCIENCE! posted:I hate this thing so goddamn much, it's like
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Aug 12, 2010 06:35
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I love the books and practically grew up with them, but I HATE HATE HATE how even the good wizards treat Muggles (i.e., in pretty much the same way as the SPCA treats animals). It first started to bother me when they had to keep mind-wiping the Muggle groundskeeper at the Quidditch World Cup in GoF and came to a head when Hermione gave her parents entirely new personas without their prior knowledge or consent in DH. Okay, so the relatives of wizards and the Prime Minister are in on the secret, but how will the rest of the Muggles protect themselves from Voldemort? Harry and Co. are all gung-ho about how the wizarding world has a right to know about Voldemort's return, but they never even think about telling the Muggles about it. No, maintaining the Masquerade is more important than protecting human rights. And why do they have to expend all that effort to maintain the Masquerade anyway? In the very first book, Hagrid explains to Harry that they need to do it to stop Muggles from bugging them for favors, but this excuse falls apart when you consider that wizards have no problem marketing their magical skills to each other. "Of course you may purchase these wares, fellow wizard, but the Muggles don't have the wisdom to fathom the majesty and power of my magical whoopie cushions."  Maybe the wizards needed to protect themselves from the masses centuries ago, when each village had maybe one or two wizard families that couldn't pack up and leave their homes easily, but the wizarding conspiracy grows less and less tenable as global communication and travel grow more and more accessible to everyone.(Oh yeah, and the UK wizards are ethnocentric: in GoF, they refuse to bow to international pressure and add carpets to the list of approved flying objects on the grounds that they're "Muggle things," even though rugs are much less conspicuous than wooden brooms.) Pththya-lyi fucked around with this message at 05:45 on Aug 14, 2010 |
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Aug 14, 2010 00:12
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Pththya-lyi posted:And why do they have to expend all that effort to maintain the Masquerade anyway? Because if they didn't, there goes your "secret in crowd" wish fulfillment. What really got me was when Voldemort seized power and...they kept being secret.
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Aug 14, 2010 02:37
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Harashaw posted:Ginny's plot in the later books was a bit sudden, but it lead to some good scenes, so I'm pretty OK with it. I actually thought Luna was very out of left field. I honestly can't remember her doing much besides being weird and her dad playing a part in the last two books. Anyway, I'd love to see some kind of encyclopedia, or at the very least more books like the monster and quidditch ones.
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Aug 14, 2010 04:48
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LooseChanj posted:Because if they didn't, there goes your "secret in crowd" wish fulfillment. That's true, but it sure doesn't mesh very well with the general message of "everyone deserves dignity and respect" that JKR's trying to convey. No wonder there are so many pure-blood supremacy fanfics. 
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Aug 14, 2010 05:20
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The Muggle issue bothered me too. I mean, I can see why she wanted her wizarding world to be a secret (because otherwise the world would have gotten a little too complicated), but there had to be a better excuse than that. I think the words "international political clusterfuck" would have gone a lot further with me. Hedrigall posted:Yeah but you're forgetting a wizard did it. This... was the right response  .
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Aug 14, 2010 05:33
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Pththya-lyi posted:I love the books and practically grew up with them, but I HATE HATE HATE how even the good wizards treat Muggles (i.e., in pretty much the same way as the SPCA treats animals). It first started to bother me when they had to keep mind-wiping the Muggle groundskeeper at the Quidditch World Cup in GoF and came to a head when Hermione gave her parents entirely new personas without their prior knowledge or consent in DH. Okay, so the relatives of wizards and the Prime Minister are in on the secret, but how will the rest of the Muggles protect themselves from Voldemort? Harry and Co. are all gung-ho about how the wizarding world has a right to know about Voldemort's return, but they never even think about telling the Muggles about it. No, maintaining the Masquerade is more important than protecting human rights. The whole magic world itself is never very well explained. From the way the books are written every wizard who is worth half a poo poo is from Britain. However that doesn't really jive with me to well considering there are long traditions of magic in other cultures like Asia, the middle east and even the native Americans with shamanism. You would think that there would be bad asses all over the globe and if some dark wizard started genocide and took complete control over a country some one would get on that instead of leaving it to a child. Also their selection of what mundane things where normal and what was weird never really made sense to me either. Like radios are OK but no phones or internet. Owl communication is such a pain in the rear end you would think they would pick up some of this stuff considering a lot of young wizards and witches at Hogwarts come from Muggle families. Don't get me wrong I really love the series and think they are a lot of fun. My point is just don't think about this stuff very hard and accept it for what it is.
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Aug 14, 2010 05:43
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