Is it just me who hates Harry Potter?

[The Fool]

i read them when they come out, sure but i really do hate the books. they are both beyond the point of being insanely elitist and always so damn obvious and the plot/happenings really dont make up for the abysmal writing...

i have to force myself to continue reading, and

Spoiler

when she killed Sirius

- theres pretty much the entire point for reading gone for me.

anyone else?

 

[kahnovitch]

I can't stand HP. Never read it, never intend to.
Avoided the films like the plague.

 

[The Fool]

im not against them for the principal, i just dont get her success when she doesnt write half as well as other authors ive encountered...and the ideas are hardly original.

 

[Monty Mike]

Harry Potter sucks

(explanation on page 2)

 

[Phoric]

I happen to love the books. We've recently moved and my copy of The Philosopher's Stone got tucked away on me into a box it shouldn't have gotten into, but now that I;ve found it, I'm only a couple chapters of what I'm reading at the moment away from rereading the Potter books all over again. A Reread of them is long overdue.

I'm not that sure how Harry Potter can suck. Rowling turned a generation of kids onto reading with her books, and as far as I see it, thats bloody amazing.

And thats part of it as well, the writing really isn't terrible. Yeah, she may not write them as in depth of full of intrigues as some of the other authers she's sharing this forum with, but you have to keep in mind. At the end of the day, these are childrens (or YA, but its the same diff almost)books. That's who they were originally meant for, thats who they're being written for, and really, she's doing a great job of writing great books for them. Myself and everyone else thats a bit older then that and happens to love them, we're just lucky enough she wrote 'um.

 

[Nimea]

Well well, how taste varies.

I for one really love the Harry Potter books (but still have to re-read the fifth book and take a closer look at what I did not like too much the first time). I think her writing is good, her plots smart and her humor very good. And there seem to be a lot of people feeling the same. As do others feel like you, The Fool. Fair enough.

I am just really interested in your comment about elitism. Could you explain that a little more?

Kahn, how does it happen you hate HP so much? You never read one of the books (or watched the movies) . . . so? And why then care so much about it to express your hate here in the Rowling forum? Yeah, really curious here.

Oh, and monty, would you mind to elaborate why "Harry Potter sucks"?



(Nimea, to the rescue of the honour of HP. Just kidding. Now, go on with writing why you don't like it. )

 

[Evil Agent]

When I read them, I like them. I get addicted. Like candy.
When I'm done them, they seem to fade into mediocrity in my memory.

So, I like them..but they're not amazing.

 

[Jacquin]

Please remember that we do not tolerate personal attacks on Sffworld. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and however much you disagree it doesn't change that fact.

Thanks

J

 

[Starson]

Jacquin is right. Everyone is entitled to his/her opinion. But I must have assumed wrong in that everyone is allowed to state that opinion. One must not callously point out the obvious errors in others' logic nor regard with contempt the blatant flaws with their posts.

My apologies.

 

[Eventine]

I'm not going to let you ruin book 5 for those who've avioded spoilers so far

Alas you were too late...

 

[AuntiePam]

I liked the first four. I thought they were charming and fairly original, and the writing was sufficient to the story.

But the fifth one was IMHO a bit of a mess. I'll admit I didn't finish it, got about 200 pages in, I think.

It read more like a rough draft than a finished piece of work, and she used way too many adverbs in the dialogue. That's lazy writing.

It felt like she didn't care. The book was a best seller before it was even published. That can't be a good thing for a writer. Maybe her publisher was telling her to hurry up. ?

 

[kahnovitch]

Kahn, how does it happen you hate HP so much? You never read one of the books (or watched the movies) . . . so? And why then care so much about it to express your hate here in the Rowling forum? Yeah, really curious here.

Quite simple really.

I saw a thread that asks "Is it just me who hates Harry Potter?" and expressed the opinion that I too, hate Harry Potter, hence my prescence in this thread.

If the thread had been titled "Harry Potter is bloody great!", I wouldn't have bothered posting, as I don't feel that way about the series.

 

[Nimea]

Yeah, quite obvious, Kahn. Still, why do you hate it? Any reason for that? Because if you feel like stating the fact that you hate it, why not tell us the why?

A simple statement of hate is easier to attack than an explanation why you can't stand something...

Apropos: it is not your opinion or that you express it, Starson - it is the how. Hint: personal attack. Okay?

 

[Rocket Sheep]

I hate the passives and the languidness of the writing, altho I don't blame JKR unless she told her editor, "touch that and I'll walk!" You'd think the richest woman in England could afford decent help.

And in the movies I hated the red herrings... which weren't in the books. Cheap tension. I felt cheated. The initial introduction of the wolf/godparent thing was an example of that.

Overall, I think it is a great story that has captured young imaginations and I'm stunned that a witches/English boarding school story could be so successful.

Actually, I'm writing the sixth book in the series. The one where Harry is found by the authorities as a ghastly skeletal thirty year old still trapped in the cupboard under the stairs and they discover that he has been in a deep psychosis for the last twenty years where he imagines he is a special magical boy.

The kids tell me the old, "get back in the cupboard, it did wonders for Harry Potter," line is getting a bit stale, tho. So I don't know what I'm going to do for research.

Starson, state your opinion. The topic is Harry Potter, not the other posters.

 

[kahnovitch]

I took an instant dislike to the HP stuff.
It's hard to explain other than a kind of a gut instinct repulsion.

There's something about the series that makes me feel I've seen it all before and that the Harry Potter franchise was insidiously designed in a board room of executives, the likes of who brought us the Spice Girls, New Kids on the Block (and every other boy/girl-band since),Power Rangers, and other types of deliberately mass-marketed, specific-audience-targeted rubbish.

Does that make any sense?

I feel it has no soul and is a construct of a corporate, money-making machine.

 

[Evil Agent]

That's a pretty good answer, Kahn. The only believable one, considering you haven't read it. I understand what you mean about gut feelings, and instinctual liking/disliking a certain thing...

I felt like that a bit at first, but decided to give the book a try. I'm not at all saying you SHOULD try it, Kahn, but I'd bet that if you did read it you'd probably find a certain level of enjoyment in it.

That said, I also think you'd be fine never reading it.

 

[juzzza]

Well, with a six year-old ninja turtle lovin' son and a three year-old daughter who loves everything her brother loves, I was gonna end up going to the cinema to catch the HP movies.

My feelings are, that it's harmless fun. I haven't bothered with the books so I can't comment on the quality, but I guess I was just pleased to answer questions from my kids on Trolls and Werewolves!!! Call it nostalgia if you like, but I was sick of power rangers and spongebob squarepants and feel much more comfortable seeing my boy play with wizards and giants and goblins

As for JKR, as an aspiring (means failed lol) writer, I love her success story, it is every writer's dream!!! Sketching out ideas in a cafe and turning those ideas into a multi million pound global franchise... Bring it on.

It's perfectly fine for Kahn to have absolutely no interest in HP, why should he have any? He's an adult! Plus, the rebel or antidisistablishment warrior in his nature, tends to resist mass-market, spoon-fed franchises. I just look forward to when little Kahn ankle biters are begging daddy to buy him the new Juzzza Action Toy, with super loveable-rogue action arm MWOAH HA HA HAAAAAAA!!!

 

[Starson]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. It is inconceivable for anyone to state that they hate a series of books without having ever read any. And I'm very sorry if any of you disagree. Kahn, in his first post, stated this very thing. But in later posts, he pointed out that it was mainly his dislike for the hype and frenzy associated with the books and NOT the books themselves, which is very understandable, as I felt the very same way...until I broke down and read them. Now he wasn't being quite clear in his first post, now was he?

As for my comments to the Fool, how was it a personal attack? I stated that there must have been something redeeming in the works for him to keep coming back to them. JKR has obviously been successful enough to keep the Fool's interest, right? Again, why read ALL FIVE if, as you state, you hate them, if there isn't something in them you like?

(On topic and non-personal. Delete this post and increase my feeling of being one of this forum's "red-headed step-children" even more. )

 

[kater]

I believe you have stated your opinion quite clearly now Starson, so I suggest everyone moves on from the deconstruction of other people's posts and remains within the guidelines set out by this forum and clearly stated in this thread yesterday by Jacquin.
Kater

 

[fluffy bunny]

I'm sure this thread's already been discussed somewhere but anyway...

I liked the first four. I thought they were charming and fairly original, and the writing was sufficient to the story.

But the fifth one was IMHO a bit of a mess. I'll admit I didn't finish it, got about 200 pages in, I think.

It read more like a rough draft than a finished piece of work, and she used way too many adverbs in the dialogue. That's lazy writing.

It felt like she didn't care. The book was a best seller before it was even published. That can't be a good thing for a writer. Maybe her publisher was telling her to hurry up. ?

I'm in agreement there. You may want to keep going through book 5 (boring as it may seem to be)- it gets going after 270 odd pages. Hopefully book 6 will 'trim the fat' this time.

I found the books (1-4 anyway) to be good in a light candyflossy way (not every film's a thinking masterpiece- there are some decent no brainers). I wouldn't say they're memorable, but they are fun to read thanks to the way they're paced (somewhat remeniscent to a comic).

beyond the point of being insanely elitist and always so damn obvious and the plot/happenings really dont make up for the abysmal writing...

I never got this arguement. If you aren't even remotely enjoying a book don't read it. There are plenty of others out there to be getting on with.

i just dont get her success

Have you looked through the music charts recently

ideas are hardly original.

Very few stories are.

I'm not that sure how Harry Potter can suck. Rowling turned a generation of kids onto reading with her books, and as far as I see it, thats bloody amazing.

Agreed. It's ensnared a number of people I know (not just children) who don't normally read.