Harry Potter - WTF?
Jul. 13th, 2004 03:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jeriendhalI have come to a conclusion. I simply don't "get" the Harry Potter phenomenon.
At the urging of Tracy I read Philosopher's/Sorceror's Stone, and while it seemed an okay book, it didn't particularly overwhelm me. Sure, the book was well written, it's (supposedly) going to end at Book Seven, and the idea of combining magic with the traditional British School story was a stroke of inspiration, but the book did not hit me in the gut like some have (ie: LMB's "Mirror Dance", RAH's "The Rolling Stones") After reading PS, I didn't feel particularly enthused to read the rest of the series, and I only watched the first two movies because Tracy bought them herself.
So forgive me if I simply do not understand why grown adults, much less children, treat each utterance from JKR as a missive from the Pope, and each book is worthy of adulation on the order of Tolkien rising from the grave and doing a fourth book in the Lord of the Rings.
It gets even wierder when you toss fanfic into the blender, with people arguing themselves blue in the face over such and such bit being canon or not, and whether JKR is writing a balanced portrayal of Slytherians or blatantly playing favorites (patently obvious villians in a children's book? Who'da thunk?)
I don't get it. I don't get the phenomenon. I don't get the books. I don't get the fanfics. I just don't get it. It's a series of childrens books on the order of The Hardy Boys or (and I'm being generous) The Wizard of Earthsea, not the freaking Holy Bible. Why are people so wrapped up in this series?
At the urging of Tracy I read Philosopher's/Sorceror's Stone, and while it seemed an okay book, it didn't particularly overwhelm me. Sure, the book was well written, it's (supposedly) going to end at Book Seven, and the idea of combining magic with the traditional British School story was a stroke of inspiration, but the book did not hit me in the gut like some have (ie: LMB's "Mirror Dance", RAH's "The Rolling Stones") After reading PS, I didn't feel particularly enthused to read the rest of the series, and I only watched the first two movies because Tracy bought them herself.
So forgive me if I simply do not understand why grown adults, much less children, treat each utterance from JKR as a missive from the Pope, and each book is worthy of adulation on the order of Tolkien rising from the grave and doing a fourth book in the Lord of the Rings.
It gets even wierder when you toss fanfic into the blender, with people arguing themselves blue in the face over such and such bit being canon or not, and whether JKR is writing a balanced portrayal of Slytherians or blatantly playing favorites (patently obvious villians in a children's book? Who'da thunk?)
I don't get it. I don't get the phenomenon. I don't get the books. I don't get the fanfics. I just don't get it. It's a series of childrens books on the order of The Hardy Boys or (and I'm being generous) The Wizard of Earthsea, not the freaking Holy Bible. Why are people so wrapped up in this series?
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no subject
Date: 2004-07-13 01:24 pm (UTC)"the fact that they seem to be [...] less edited as the series goes on doesn't help either"
...it's amazing how you can decide that without having read them. (Larger? Certainly, so I'll allow the "bloated" comment as one that could be made without reading. Less edited? Hard to form that opinion without doing so.)
no subject
Date: 2004-07-13 01:26 pm (UTC)I either adore LeGuin or want to use her books as pillows.
I really loved "The Dispossessed" and "Vaster Than Empires" and I think she wrote "The Word For World Is Forest"?
But I like her better in space than with magick.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-13 01:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-13 02:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-13 01:30 pm (UTC)