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Post by Kahlessa on May 8, 2007 9:23:27 GMT -5
I’m really looking forward to the next Harry Potter book, which comes out July 21. I’m looking forward to this even more than I was looking forward to Next, because this is the seventh and final book in the series. J. K. Rowling does an excellent job of leaving readers breathless for the next one. Someone I know referred to the Harry Potter books as children’s books, and I said they are children’s books in the way Oliver Twist and Huckleberry Finn are children’s books. You can read and enjoy them as a child, but when you read them again as you get older, you get more things from them. The books work on many different levels. I could tell that J. K. Rowling had been a teacher from the 5th book, which could have be subtitled “The Attack of the Bureaucrats”. Actually, only 40% of the Harry Potter books are bought for children 15 or younger to read. The other 60% are for people 16 or older, and that’s considered adult market.
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dudleyb
New Member
Dr. I. M. Winklestein (my alter ego)
Posts: 15
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Post by dudleyb on May 9, 2007 9:47:35 GMT -5
I've been stamping out brush fires with my boss breathing down my neck. I'm having blog withdrawal! I can only spare a moment before he comes back and catches me. What a dilemma! Which one to I respond to?
I just love Harry Potter too! Dolores Umbridge is the ultimate personification of bureaucracy! She's the villain we all love to detest; and in the end she gets her just reward--and from who better than Hermione Granger! I just love Hermione!
There's only one problem with the Harry Potter series, and it's a big one. I'm deeply offended that J. K. Rowling named the Dursley's hideous offspring Dudley! His name should have been Rodney!
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dudleyb
New Member
Dr. I. M. Winklestein (my alter ego)
Posts: 15
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Post by dudleyb on May 10, 2007 16:38:57 GMT -5
Although I sort of fit the character of Ron, there's also the Doby side of me. When I've been bad I feel like I must punish myself, perhaps by ironing my hands or banging my head on the wall. Academically, I'm nothing like Ron, I'm more like Hermione. No wonder I'm messed up. Maybe my character will appear in Book 7!
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Post by The One on May 10, 2007 21:51:09 GMT -5
Hey I LOVE Harry Potter books! And yes, I'm very much looking forward to the last one. It should be a cracker!
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Post by Kahlessa on May 10, 2007 22:55:59 GMT -5
Although I sort of fit the character of Ron, there's also the Doby side of me. When I've been bad I feel like I must punish myself, perhaps by ironing my hands or banging my head on the wall. Academically, I'm nothing like Ron, I'm more like Hermione. No wonder I'm messed up. Maybe my character will appear in Book 7! I'm mostly Professor McGonagall mixed with Ginny Weasley with just a touch of Bellatrix on some days.
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Post by Lukaran on May 18, 2007 14:44:10 GMT -5
I'm mostly Professor McGonagall mixed with Ginny Weasley with just a touch of Bellatrix on some days. Even a touch of Bellatrix is too much! She's one mean witch! I hope Neville zaps her into subatomic particles in book 7. I've read all the books, but I didn't start reading them until after Goblet of Fire came out. So I read the first four one after the other, and then had to wait for the fifth to come out. Is anyone else going to the midnight release for the 7th book? I'm going to one at Borders. I went to a fun party for the 6th book there.
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Post by Kahlessa on May 22, 2007 20:32:54 GMT -5
Is anyone else going to the midnight release for the 7th book? I'm going to one at Borders. I went to a fun party for the 6th book there. Oh Noooo!!!!! You said the B-word!!!! "Borders"! Just kidding, I work at a Barnes & Noble. I'll be working the midnight release party for the 7th Harry Potter book. Two years ago, I also worked the one for the 6th book. Four years ago, when the 5th book came out, I was at the Barnes & Noble party as a civilian.
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Post by The One on May 23, 2007 3:51:25 GMT -5
What do you people think about the last of the HP books? What will be the story like? How will it be ended?
(I moved this part to another area to avoid spoiling anything for those who have not read the 6th book yet. - admin)
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Post by Kickup on May 24, 2007 0:51:31 GMT -5
Will you folks tell me if you think the HP books are better than the movies? I might even try reading one some day. The first contact I had with all this was movie #1 and was really turned off by all the evil grown ups the kids had to put up with, and then all the dark magic (like tree roots coming out of the basement and grabbing kids by the legs (3rd movie?) plus other really gross stuff gag, oooh, yikes! Wree! [squirms out of seat]. Even the "nice" grown ups were mean and grumpy. I'm not the religious type, not in the traditional sense at all, but these movies really got to me how all that dark stuff was supposed to be normal. I didn't see any redeeming, hidden meaning in the first movie. Maybe the book is better? I'm trying to get on board here, but I'm really digging my heels in. Can someone rescue me and my lagging literary scope? I'm the only hold-out I know.
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Post by Kahlessa on May 24, 2007 6:23:30 GMT -5
Will you folks tell me if you think the HP books are better than the movies? I might even try reading one some day. The first contact I had with all this was movie #1 and was really turned off by all the evil grown ups the kids had to put up with, and then all the dark magic (like tree roots coming out of the basement and grabbing kids by the legs (3rd movie?) plus other really gross stuff gag, oooh, yikes! Wree! [squirms out of seat]. Even the "nice" grown ups were mean and grumpy. I'm not the religious type, not in the traditional sense at all, but these movies really got to me how all that dark stuff was supposed to be normal. I didn't see any redeeming, hidden meaning in the first movie. Maybe the book is better? I'm trying to get on board here, but I'm really digging my heels in. Can someone rescue me and my lagging literary scope? I'm the only hold-out I know. Yes, the books are better than the movies, and as they’ve gone on, they get more complex and so do the characters. I’m working on an editorial about being an adult Harry Potter fan. On of the things I love about the books is how the adults are portrayed. In much of children’s literature, the adults, if not evil, are incompetent or inconsequential. But there are very admirable adults in the Harry Potter books, especially Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. The adults have their flaws too, but they are not fatal ones. I think the books do a wonderful job of showing how complex human beings are and how human relationships are not simple or easy. I would describe the entire series as epic. There are some dark moments, especially in the later books. But this is a struggle between good and evil, and there are going to be casualties along the way.
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Post by The One on May 24, 2007 21:11:05 GMT -5
Well the point is Kickup, Harry Potter books are not normal... More precisely, they are not about a normal world. So you have to read them having that in mind. So if you look at them that way, they are really interesting. But then again, when it comes to fiction, a book that is wonderful to one person may be a pain for another. So, I don't know, maybe it's not your type of a book...
As for your other question, HP books are way better than the movies. And it's obvious too. Books have far too many details to be included in the movies. The books are very very interesting than the movies though. Character development in particular is very good...
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Post by Kahlessa on May 24, 2007 22:01:07 GMT -5
As for your other question, HP books are way better than the movies. And it's obvious too. Books have far too many details to be included in the movies. The books are very very interesting than the movies though. Character development in particular is very good... I was talking with a customer, an adult Harry Potter fan. She said she liked the books “because they’re real” which seems an odd thing to say about a fantasy series. But I know what she means. Even though the magic isn’t real, the characters are. J. K. Rowling writes some of the best characters I’ve ever seen. (I confess that as much as I love Michael Crichton’s books, characterization is not his strongest point. But no one mixes real science into a story better.)
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Post by The One on May 25, 2007 3:01:39 GMT -5
(I confess that as much as I love Michael Crichton’s books, characterization is not his strongest point. But no one mixes real science into a story better.) Quite right Kahlessa. It may not be his strongest point, but as you said it doesn't matter much when you read his books. He gets a grip of you right from the beginning...
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Post by Kahlessa on May 25, 2007 6:28:07 GMT -5
[ Quite right Kahlessa. It may not be his strongest point, but as you said it doesn't matter much when you read his books. He gets a grip of you right from the beginning... When I pick up a new Crichton book, I don't plan on getting much done until I'm finished. Fortunately, his books read very quickly for me; I finished Next in a day and a half. Crichton is great with plots and pacing. There are plenty of other authors I read for characterization. Crichton has so much science to explain, that if he took the space to develop the characters, it would mess up the pace.
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Post by Kickup on May 26, 2007 0:46:01 GMT -5
Thanks, you two. I see why the mass appeal. Even though HP is fantasy, a reader can identify with the strong characters as regular family or friends thrust into a surreal world? Do i have that yet? But all the kids have these "abilities," right? Well, I will just have to bite the bullet, hold my nose and jump in.
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