Is it just me who hates Harry Potter?

[Bond]

Maybe I should write a book and call it The Tao of Harry Potter.

 

[kahnovitch]

Maybe I should write a book and call it The Tao of Harry Potter.

I think it's been done and is called "The Diary of Adrian Mole"

 

[Ysanne]

Let me start off by saying that I don't hate the books. In fact, I used to really enjoy the books on many levels. After reading book 6, however, I have lost interest in the story, as well as faith in Rowling as a writer. I would not recommend other people to read them, nor avoid them. I think they have their value as far as escapist entertainment is concerned.

I seen this posted on another forum, and I felt it made some valid and interesting points. I was just wondering what response people on this forum might have, when the question is "Why IS hp SO POPULAR?"

Disclaimer:
What I am about to say is based on years of being a part of several HP discussion communities. I have watched the fandom grow, mature and in the end, cheapened. I have no statistics or surveys or any kind of evidence. The following are simply observations.

Answer:
I think what made the HP series so popular is the quality of the first 3 books. They were an appropriate length and subject matter for children. They were full of fun ideas, and there were many stock characters, described vividly. The stories about the good triumphing over evil are easy to identify with. The plot twists were clever and immensely entertaining. Like many other HP fans, I consider The Prisoner of Azkaban the best volume of the series (in spite of the fact that book 7 is yet to be published).

In addition, the movies also have had a great impact on the books and how they are received by the public. Internet chat/discussion boards sprung up, making very little distinction between the books and the movies. As the younger readers' idolization of the actors in the movies exploded, so did their idolization of the books. I dare say that some of the second generation (post-WB films) fans saw the movies first, and then went back to skim the books. With that little bit of knowledge, they created fansites for both the actors and the books, and participated in discussions as if they really knew what they were talking about. The impact of the movies was made ever the more astounding when Rowling herself remembers what she saw in the movies more vividly than what she actually wrote (POA film). There use to be a time when this generation of "readers" were a minority, but they soon multiplied like bacteria and have now likely overtaken the more mature group of readers. Idolizing something blindly is much easier than actually reading the books and thinking about them critically.

Finally, one of the most astounding factors for the popularity of the HP series is the proliferation of fanfiction websites. People are given the liberty to borrow the characters and settings to write their own versions of HP, to the point where the line between canon and fanon has blurred beyond visibility. There are some fanfic writers who even admit that they haven't read the HP books, but they are borrowing the characters to create their own stories based on the HP universe. In this way, HP can be made to be a part of their own creation, and the bond they feel with the series is made ever closer and tighter.

Popularity of the HP books does not mean that more people are reading the books. In fact, my perception is that many of the 3rd generation fans (post Order of the Phoenix) haven't read the first 4 books page by page. It seems like some fans watch the movies, skim the books, and read only discussion boards. At one point in the early days of the HP franchise, there might have been a lot of children who started to become interested in HP because of the quality of the writing, coupled with peer-interest. In recent years, however, I can't really believe that this is still true, not after the publication of the Goblet of Fire. I don't believe that the young readers of HP nowadays have genuinely read the books.

 

[lord_asryel]

Ysanne, the question was: Is it just me who hates Harry Potter?
I think we all know the reason that HP is popular and we all know that the
6th book had something non-familiar with the previous 5 books. I am not saying this ironically. Just answer with a simple yes or no, because i didn't really understand what you wrote.

P.S. Guys do u know the HP parodies? They r called Barry Trotter...

 

[Miriamele]

lord_asryel, she did answer your question, she said "I don't hate the books." The largest part of her post was in response to Tempo's earlier question in the thread.

 

[Ysanne]

Thanks, Miriamele.

 

[Sirius83]

You know, I too have been involved in the Harry Potter fandom for quite some time, debated the fifth and sixth installments online like a beast, and ultimately seen the entire franchise take a dive down the abyss. *Waves at Ysanne*

But I'm going to address this thread in my own way. I suppose i'm going to be explaining how I hated, then loved, and now became just plain neutral about the whole thing, and in so doing hopefully answer the thread:

No, quite clearly it is not just you, the author of this thread, who hates Harry Potter. But what IS it that people hate? Is it the story, the writing, the immense commercialism, or is it something else entirely?

There was a time when I said, "Harry Potter? Don't come near me with that." To me, it was some sort of commercial crap that was being thrown out to kids. And then, the Philosopher's Stone movie came and went, and the trailer for Chamber of Secrets began airing. I was coerced after admitting that the trailer looked cool to go see the film. This led to my renting the first movie, and then ultimately purchasing and reading books 1-4 which was what was available at the time.

Boy, was I proven wrong. I hated the commercialism, but I simply loved the story. The writing wasn't the best around, but what struck me the most was how well the Potter Universe or "Potterverse" fit together, and the depiction of the characters. In fact, I just plain loved the way how they all interacted. I especially loved reading of Harry's relationships with Hermione, Sirius, Hagrid, and Dumbledore. For me, the pinnacle of the series was in the third installment; The Prisoner of Azkaban. I thoroughly enjoyed Goblet of Fire and even Order of the Phoenix, despite the fact that Goblet's narrative was more convoluted than Azkaban, and Phoenix had lost some of the mysterious edge of the early books.

Then came The Half-Blood Prince. HBP was a travesty. It made the characters very two dimensional. It threw Harry's beautiful friendship with Hermione clear out the window. Harry didn't seem nearly as affected by Sirius's death as he should have been. Dumbledore was killed off in a pathetic and almost casual manner. The writting was beyond shoddy. Harry's romantic fling with Ginny was poorly developed and even more poorly executed. The characters of Neville and Luna had been thrown aside despite the fact they had been promoted to the forefront in Phoenix. And perhaps worst of all, JK Rowling ended it making it seem as though book 7 will be about this Horcrux quest which completely upsets the pattern she set forth for each of the other 6 books.

So where do I stand now? I'm waiting for book 7 just so I have the satisfaction of finishing something I started. I have gotten over my hatred for the series after finishing book 6, but I cannot say I love it by any means. The first five books are a good read and the third and fourth movies are a joy to watch. But at the end of they day I'm left neutral since this story that had the makings of a classic has become nothing more than a rather large fad.

I can completely understand why people may hate the series...but at the same time I say, if you hate the commercialism, then you don't really hate Harry Potter; you just hate the sensationalism that surrounds it but not the subject matter itself. You have to read or at least see the subject matter for yourself before you can either love it or hate it.

 

[laulnewek34]

You know, I too have been involved in the Harry Potter fandom for quite some time, debated the fifth and sixth installments online like a beast, and ultimately seen the entire franchise take a dive down the abyss. *Waves at Ysanne*

But I'm going to address this thread in my own way. I suppose i'm going to be explaining how I hated, then loved, and now became just plain neutral about the whole thing, and in so doing hopefully answer the thread:

No, quite clearly it is not just you, the author of this thread, who hates Harry Potter. But what IS it that people hate? Is it the story, the writing, the immense commercialism, or is it something else entirely?

There was a time when I said, "Harry Potter? Don't come near me with that." To me, it was some sort of commercial crap that was being thrown out to kids. And then, the Philosopher's Stone movie came and went, and the trailer for Chamber of Secrets began airing. I was coerced after admitting that the trailer looked cool to go see the film. This led to my renting the first movie, and then ultimately purchasing and reading books 1-4 which was what was available at the time.

Boy, was I proven wrong. I hated the commercialism, but I simply loved the story. The writing wasn't the best around, but what struck me the most was how well the Potter Universe or "Potterverse" fit together, and the depiction of the characters. In fact, I just plain loved the way how they all interacted. I especially loved reading of Harry's relationships with Hermione, Sirius, Hagrid, and Dumbledore. For me, the pinnacle of the series was in the third installment; The Prisoner of Azkaban. I thoroughly enjoyed Goblet of Fire and even Order of the Phoenix, despite the fact that Goblet's narrative was more convoluted than Azkaban, and Phoenix had lost some of the mysterious edge of the early books.

Then came The Half-Blood Prince. HBP was a travesty. It made the characters very two dimensional. It threw Harry's beautiful friendship with Hermione clear out the window. Harry didn't seem nearly as affected by Sirius's death as he should have been. Dumbledore was killed off in a pathetic and almost casual manner. The writting was beyond shoddy. Harry's romantic fling with Ginny was poorly developed and even more poorly executed. The characters of Neville and Luna had been thrown aside despite the fact they had been promoted to the forefront in Phoenix. And perhaps worst of all, JK Rowling ended it making it seem as though book 7 will be about this Horcrux quest which completely upsets the pattern she set forth for each of the other 6 books.

So where do I stand now? I'm waiting for book 7 just so I have the satisfaction of finishing something I started. I have gotten over my hatred for the series after finishing book 6, but I cannot say I love it by any means. The first five books are a good read and the third and fourth movies are a joy to watch. But at the end of they day I'm left neutral since this story that had the makings of a classic has become nothing more than a rather large fad.

I can completely understand why people may hate the series...but at the same time I say, if you hate the commercialism, then you don't really hate Harry Potter; you just hate the sensationalism that surrounds it but not the subject matter itself. You have to read or at least see the subject matter for yourself before you can either love it or hate it.

My opinion is quite dissimilar, and it is of course an opinion. You certainly know that sometimes books could be possibly praised just by sheer immense popularity? Well, Harry Potter's author, J. K. Rowling aims the target to everyone, especially grown-ups and young adults, (the compliment about the augmentation upon children's reading rate is not at all positively nor negative, in fact, Harry Potter did not affect at all; it's a little exaggeration) who will first stereotype (right now I'm talking about teens, who have tendency of wanting to adopt the 21th century's absurd "cool stuffs") and will not read like once you did, and begin to read it to find it somewhat appealing. Many say that the "new world" Harry Potter created is the focus and the main exciting part of the story. (Such as entering to another world by bumping in to a non-existing pillar of some old British train station) What you have found facy from the book is the storyline and relation between humans in special background (love, is that J. K. Rowling has well described; I praise her for that). It is absolutely grand and somewhat makes the book into a higher level than a little childish(not in a bad way) fairie tale that contains lack of attention toward logic. Logic, which brings things to order, is amiss. THere are lots of illogic things. The magic itself is not necessarily illogical, flying car is not necessarily illogical, wearing weird clothes and going to old crap castle that supposedly consist of ballet room, soldiers rooms, and even torture cells. Nevertheless there are things that even people who were forced to read the books could find nothing interesting, and abide by that, the new "world" that J.K. Rowling assemblaged do not knit into normal society.

I liked the books, I could also say I loved the books. At first I was too, like you, abhorred the book behemently. But like you, I fell into the story and the complexity (which, even now as I recal was fine work of art) roused from puzzle pieces that Rowling gave me. But the more I read, (I'm a thick book lover, so I did not give up reading HP until I was done) the more I became concerned with the logic. When I was watching the movie, which had a scene when a sponge was flying about when rubbing the plate, I wondered: "Why couldn't Miss Weasley(?) lift up the oily dirts with magic instead of scrubbing it, after all, she has MAGIC!" The author never went beyond with detail on the nature of magic. And the sports "Quidditch(?)" is also poor work of art; logically, even with super computers on the broom stick and also on the bat, it's pratically impossible to hit a flying ball that fast with accuracy enough to make it into a hole that's only 3 feet wide in radius. And unlike a "magic enhanced game," the sports does not involve any magic except for some balls and brooms. When one really distressing fact is that the author intentionally states many "Mugglogy Textbooks" which describes that they, mighty group of magicians, do not know anything about muggles, they don't even know how to put stamps (And they send letters almost very frequently in a rate equavalent of us e-mailing to each other) correctly. And also, there is flying car. . . A single car consists of bloody much materials. Many of them being electroplated alloys obtained from high-temperature producing factory facilities, and with super computers with precise billions of cogwheels working together as the stick of the automobile cranks up to activate the rudimental process of alter of gears, man! it necessitates GIGANTIC number of pieces to just make a door. And HP have cars, were they made from wizards who have no idea how to stamp a letter, and are incapable of find transporation of letters even though they have all this crazy 4 dimensional portals to transport themselves and stupidly relying on owls, who are not even fast flyers, on sending letters. . . HP's story, yetagain mentioned, is ok; however, I do wish that author had more consideration before starting the novel out and also considering those who do not favor fairie SF's.

 

[laulnewek34]

Consider this, and don't be misconstrued, I do not require 10 brains to know that J K Rowling made "Science Fiction/ Fantasy," it's just that because she wrote the stories in modernistic way and that it brings attention mostly to higher level, the series do not fit into real "Science Fiction/Fantasy," rather, it fits into just "Science Fiction."
And I do wish to remind whoever the read of this particular commentary be that even this mighty Ol' HP that has no match for now will no more rise than any classical novels and thereby forgotten within a decade like other more famous books; and I do wish to remind one final time that SF's are just source of entertainment, they don't even exist and will not interfere in your daily basis but rendering in your brain for couple of minutes in imageries.(Meaning that SF is trivial)

 

[laulnewek34]

Let me start off by saying that I don't hate the books. In fact, I used to really enjoy the books on many levels. After reading book 6, however, I have lost interest in the story, as well as faith in Rowling as a writer. I would not recommend other people to read them, nor avoid them. I think they have their value as far as escapist entertainment is concerned.



Disclaimer:
What I am about to say is based on years of being a part of several HP discussion communities. I have watched the fandom grow, mature and in the end, cheapened. I have no statistics or surveys or any kind of evidence. The following are simply observations.

Answer:
I think what made the HP series so popular is the quality of the first 3 books. They were an appropriate length and subject matter for children. They were full of fun ideas, and there were many stock characters, described vividly. The stories about the good triumphing over evil are easy to identify with. The plot twists were clever and immensely entertaining. Like many other HP fans, I consider The Prisoner of Azkaban the best volume of the series (in spite of the fact that book 7 is yet to be published).

In addition, the movies also have had a great impact on the books and how they are received by the public. Internet chat/discussion boards sprung up, making very little distinction between the books and the movies. As the younger readers' idolization of the actors in the movies exploded, so did their idolization of the books. I dare say that some of the second generation (post-WB films) fans saw the movies first, and then went back to skim the books. With that little bit of knowledge, they created fansites for both the actors and the books, and participated in discussions as if they really knew what they were talking about. The impact of the movies was made ever the more astounding when Rowling herself remembers what she saw in the movies more vividly than what she actually wrote (POA film). There use to be a time when this generation of "readers" were a minority, but they soon multiplied like bacteria and have now likely overtaken the more mature group of readers. Idolizing something blindly is much easier than actually reading the books and thinking about them critically.

Finally, one of the most astounding factors for the popularity of the HP series is the proliferation of fanfiction websites. People are given the liberty to borrow the characters and settings to write their own versions of HP, to the point where the line between canon and fanon has blurred beyond visibility. There are some fanfic writers who even admit that they haven't read the HP books, but they are borrowing the characters to create their own stories based on the HP universe. In this way, HP can be made to be a part of their own creation, and the bond they feel with the series is made ever closer and tighter.

Popularity of the HP books does not mean that more people are reading the books. In fact, my perception is that many of the 3rd generation fans (post Order of the Phoenix) haven't read the first 4 books page by page. It seems like some fans watch the movies, skim the books, and read only discussion boards. At one point in the early days of the HP franchise, there might have been a lot of children who started to become interested in HP because of the quality of the writing, coupled with peer-interest. In recent years, however, I can't really believe that this is still true, not after the publication of the Goblet of Fire. I don't believe that the young readers of HP nowadays have genuinely read the books.

I agree with you, I am in middle ground; I favor HP's ongoing love affair yet not the whole thing. And I don't recomment anyone reading it unless they could swallow the whole "illogic parts."



Unlike you, Ysanne, I have surveyed. And I have survied kids, young adults and especially adults which I have put teachers as targets.
And the result was these:

kids(age 6~12/ 23 kids surveyed): 15 kids like HP, and they like the movies, not books (May be kids are not accustomed with thick books. . .)
8 kids do not like HP. 5 of them actually read the books but they were not into it. (And they were thick book eaters)

young adults (age 13~16/ 34 surveyed including my friends and my friends' friends): 2 teenagers said yes (girls. . .) and they read HP 1,2, and 3. They like the actually Harry Potter guy, and not the book or its story. 32 teenagers answered absolute "no!" (about 13 actually read the series, 4 of them being Asians, 5 of them being almost perfect honor enrolling students) They all, in chorus, said that HP is too illogical for a serious book (hereby I have chance to tell that the opinion above wasn't just mine. . .)

adults(age 18~56(?))/ 8 surveyed including my Language Art teacher, World history teacher, and a librarian with few parents and neighboring lady): All 8 adults said "not quite" . . . LA teacher said that the author is being overated even though her skill is not as half as good as any New York times best sellers and her story not being original (I don't quite agree on this but I do agree on the part that Rowling skill in writing isn't all that amusing, Paolini's style is more ature and in certain point, very explanatory). And World History teacher lays out sarcasm that Holly Wood's Movies brought more attention than the novels. And a librarian said that he could not find any book that is more bothersome than HP, one of them being "The Eye of Argon," by Jim Theis (1970) that doesn't even come out when you type it on Amazon.com. . .

 

[thefalcon]

Harry Potter is awful.
I hate it.
First of all, It's retarded. Second, it's stupid. Third, J K Rowling killed off my favorite character in book five.
I hope that J K Rowling really screws up the last book. It would serve her right. I hope that right now, over in England, she's pacing around in her house, thinking, " OH MY GOD! HOW AM I GOING TO FINISH IT? HOW? HOW CAN I KEEP THESE BLOODTHIRSTY FANS AWAY FROM ME? HOW CAN I PULL IT OFF?"
I hope she's losing sleep over it. I hope her computer crashes when she's writing the last chapter of book 7. I hope she get's so much mail from anxious fans that she can'[t carry it all. I hope that she realizes that she's evil.
I'm not even mentioning the movies.....abominations, every last one of them.
Curse you, J K Rowling. Curse you.

 

[laulnewek34]

Curse you, J K Rowling. Curse you.

You're just like one of my friend; if you don't like HP, go read some other books. And I'm only quoting because I don't want people to think I'm openly opposing them.

 

[Rob B]

Harry Potter is awful.
I hate it.
First of all, It's retarded. Second, it's stupid. Third, J K Rowling killed off my favorite character in book five.
I hope that J K Rowling really screws up the last book. It would serve her right. I hope that right now, over in England, she's pacing around in her house, thinking, " OH MY GOD! HOW AM I GOING TO FINISH IT? HOW? HOW CAN I KEEP THESE BLOODTHIRSTY FANS AWAY FROM ME? HOW CAN I PULL IT OFF?"
I hope she's losing sleep over it. I hope her computer crashes when she's writing the last chapter of book 7. I hope she get's so much mail from anxious fans that she can'[t carry it all. I hope that she realizes that she's evil.
I'm not even mentioning the movies.....abominations, every last one of them.
Curse you, J K Rowling. Curse you.

Strike 1 issued to thefalcon
While we enjoy debate and discussion here, personal attacks on members and authors is NOT premitted.

Forum Guidelines

While members may hold strong opinions on writer's work, personal attacks on an author's person will not be tolerated. If you dislike a book or an author's writing, please back up why you dislike it. Brief comments such as "Goodkind Sucks!" will not be acceptable and will be removed.

 

[Boll Weevil]

Laulnewek,

If you dislike HP so much, why the unhealthy obsession?

 

[Silver Serpent]

If you hate it so much why read the books!?Get over it-it's just one series of books,written by one person.It is possible to avoid.

 

[laulnewek34]

If you hate it so much why read the books!?Get over it-it's just one series of books,written by one person.It is possible to avoid.

That is a good word of advice right there

 

[Silver Serpent]

Thank you
(said sarcastically if appropriate-it's hard to tell on the computer )

 

[laulnewek34]

Strike 1 issued to thefalcon
While we enjoy debate and discussion here, personal attacks on members and authors is NOT premitted.

Forum Guidelines

If I happened to recall it, thefalcon clearly reasoned why he or she (as the state law enforces me to say) abhors the author; I don't know why the strike 1 was issued.

 

[sic's mom]

Even after all these years the passion (for or against) that people have for these books amazes me.
We were living in Japan when Rowling started this series so I wasn't aware of them till we got back and all the hoopla over Goblet of Fire was going on. I thought I would see what is was all about. Thought maybe my oldest would like to read it. So I read the first three books in about three days and really liked them. Then read Goblet and really like it also. This was all before the movies came out. Now I sort of liked Pheonix but was a little disappointed with Half-Blood Prince. And I will read the last one when it comes out just to see how she decides to end the story. I will say for the most part I have liked the series, although I do see the flaws in the thing. What gets me are the people that really hate it but still read all the books. I guess you should know what you are complaining about, but if I don't like a story I am not going to waste my time on it. My time is to valuable to me to waste it on something I am not going to enjoy.

 

[laulnewek34]

Even after all these years the passion (for or against) that people have for these books amazes me.
We were living in Japan when Rowling started this series so I wasn't aware of them till we got back and all the hoopla over Goblet of Fire was going on. I thought I would see what is was all about. Thought maybe my oldest would like to read it. So I read the first three books in about three days and really liked them. Then read Goblet and really like it also. This was all before the movies came out. Now I sort of liked Pheonix but was a little disappointed with Half-Blood Prince. And I will read the last one when it comes out just to see how she decides to end the story. I will say for the most part I have liked the series, although I do see the flaws in the thing. What gets me are the people that really hate it but still read all the books. I guess you should know what you are complaining about, but if I don't like a story I am not going to waste my time on it. My time is to valuable to me to waste it on something I am not going to enjoy.

I find it very interesting. . .