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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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Paragon8 posted:That might be Rowling's statement on higher education maybe? You really think Rowling was trying to make significant social commentary in these books and that the things you describe aren't just a result of poor world building by her? Again, not to slag on the books, since I enjoyed them, but I really don't think you can look too far into these things and come up with real answers. quote:You can even compare Hermoine who is this generation's smartest student at Hogwarts with someone like Snape at Hogwarts. All Hermione does is rote learning, but Snape as a student was intensely curious and developed his own spells and improved old potions recipes. I think this is just that Rowling didn't want to write these kids to be like super special and great at everything, but instead kind of have them struggle with this and that so it seems more "real". But when it's convenient to have these super awesome magicians in the past, she'll write that in. Again, I don't think she really had these complex social questions about the deterioration of magical learning ability, etc Maybe that's just me, though
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Sep 17, 2010 21:30
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I just read The Magicians, that everyone recommended, and have to say I was disappointed. It seemed like the guy took a somewhat interesting idea and just didn't have the writing ability to do anything with it. While it's probably fair to say the point of the book is less about magic and more about growing up, interpersonal relations, etc, the magic and fantasy elements just felt way too derivative. None of the characters were really sympathetic, or in the end, all that interesting. It was still kinda fun, but I dunno, just feels like a better writer could have done so much more with it.
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Oct 16, 2010 14:09
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IRQ posted:It really shouldn't have been recommended in this thread is the biggest problem. Why this thread in particular? I mean, I wasn't expecting anything similar to Harry Potter or any of that, I just expected better writing I guess.
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Oct 16, 2010 16:52
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ConfusedUs posted:A large part of me has always wondered why it's so bad to use the Imperius Curse on someone, controlling their actions temporarily, but modifying someone's memory permanently, which can entirely change a person, isn't just okay, but encouraged at many levels. There's a whole department at the Ministry dedicated to modifying memories, after all! Because Rowling isn't actually a good writer who can make a world that's consistent in its rules and every attempt to reconcile the inconsistencies in the books without just stating this fact is pretty funny. She is a good story teller though and the books are entertaining
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Mar 10, 2011 16:32
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What's unclear is once it's linked to your Amazon account, are you free of the 8 downloads only? Do you get unlimited downloads like all other Amazon ebooks once it's on your Amazon account, or do they just do some middleman distribution magic and Pottermore is still ticking off downloads behind the scenes. This whole thing seems stupid and awkward and a prime example of why people try to strip DRM out of poo poo they buy.
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Mar 29, 2012 15:01
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RichterIX posted:What IS bad is that if you get the Amazon-delivered versions, the formatting is all hosed up on them. It's not in any way that affects readability, but the artwork and stuff is all over the place in alignment and some stuff seems to not be aligned correctly vertically on the "page." The raw epubs are fine and I could easily convert them myself, I just don't think it's very professional to have the Kindle version be crappy. That sucks, I hope they fix it. This would be a great gift to give my wife since she re-reads these things like crack but all of her books are falling apart
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Mar 30, 2012 03:27
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So is it best to wait to purchase for the Kindle and see if they fix the formatting if you're in the US?
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Mar 31, 2012 21:16
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iolo_the_bard posted:How much of the formatting is messed up? If its just the chapter header images being misaligned, that's not too big of a dealbreaker for me. Yeah that's what I'm wondering
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Mar 31, 2012 21:20
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It's still horrifically hosed up though.
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Dec 10, 2013 15:45
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Probably because all of these nuances are a bit too complex for something that started out as a relatively simple childrens book and whos author clearly had certain things she wanted to put in the books and not necessarily focus on creating an entirely coherent world and structure that stands up to close scrutiny. I kind of generally feel that the basic framework was created with the early book(s) and contained some of these inherent problems and then when Rowling started to flesh things out more, it became difficult to reconcile them with other stuff or provide better explanation and gently caress it she had a story she wanted to tell not get bogged down in the details. Maybe I'm wrong.
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Dec 18, 2013 19:17
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