This is not The Haters Club You're Looking For discussion
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I hate Harry F Potter
Protected you child from it??? dude WTF? kids like it for a reason… are you trying to say that you didn’t allowed your kid to read a book just cuz you think is crap??? Cuz if you did… man that’s bull shit!@
Yeah, I don't know if I'd have become a librarian without all my devotion to The Baby-Sitter's Club and Sweet Valley High.
Plus, Harry Potter rulez.
Plus, Harry Potter rulez.
Alright Alfonso, I have no problem with Harry Potter (I’ve read all the books), but it is a parent's right to censor anything that comes into his or her house with little or no provocation. I will brazenly look through my kids’ rooms, obtain a copy of books/textbooks they are reading, read a diary if I think something fishy is going on, whatever – because I’m the bloody parent; my wife and I were put in charge of the household (by God, fate, whatever you want to call it) for a reason.
I know I would read my kids' diary, but DAMN was I upset when my mom did! The thing is, some kids don't keep journals, so their thoughts are able to be "read" by the parents and it's not fair that the prolific children are penalized that way!
Besides, I think it was more painful for my mom to read my diary than for me to discover that she had.
Besides, I think it was more painful for my mom to read my diary than for me to discover that she had.
I was basically going to write exactly what Bun Wat wrote, but probably less eloquently. So just...yeah what she said.
I'm still afraid my mom might find my journals one day. Maybe I should have a ceremonial burning.The one where I admitted to masturbating is the worst!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't read it, Mom!
Plus, all the religious stuff is pretty embarrassing, too. It's ok to love Jesus, but it's not ok to be a bitch about it--which I was.Burn!
I like harry potter...I don't know about all this kid crap, I was smart enough not to have any... morons.
Nah, she's not. I didn't think you'd even read the HP books, KD?
The quidditch wasn't my favorite part, either. :)I don't think she's a hack, as she managed to pull off a seven story plot arc. AND she finished it when she said she would instead of milking the series for all she could get out of it.
So, it wasn't to your taste, KD. That's another story.
I, like, hate Harry Potter. I think he must be related the miserable old Mr. Potter in "It's a Wonderful Life," so he can't be any good. I, like, hate Mr. Potter, too.But I don't really, like, hate Harry Potter or JKR. I've never read the books -- probably won't either. Saw one movie. Mildly entertaining is my assessment of that.
Larry, you think that Harry Potter wants to ruin Bedford Falls with usurious loans, shoddy rental housing, and bars on Main Street?
I like Harry Potter. I am not convinced that it's a masterful work of art, but it did have enough to keep me intrigued--especially by books 5, 6 and 7. I cried at the end of 5 and 7, and at the end of 5, I had a power cry. It was powerful. I've got to give her credit for that.
At least she finished it, and didn't die, like stinkin' ROBERT JORDAN! May he rest in peace.
Do you think she'll write anything else?
Yeah, I think she will, but it won't be easy on her. Can you imagine trying to follow that kind of phenomenal success? The comparisons are going to be brutal.I HOPE she doesn't go the Harper Lee route, and just give up.
My name is now Lori -- and I'm not making fun of anyone other than myself.
Maybe I was thinking of Mr. Potter's nephew Henry Potter. Sorry for the mix-up.
Pay no attention to Larry, I have no idea why he's so confused, and to think, the nerve of some people, to include me, MOI, in his delusions!
Ah - movement - that's to all you guys for your comments. I waited until today to summarise and respond. To quote'Stop whining, anythihg makes kids pick up books is good.'
(Your spelling - not mine) Frankly I would prefer if they read the sides of the cereal packets in the morning! JR is so derivative,so repetitive. No, I probably wouldn't have minded if she had sold a few thousand, published 3 and disappeared into the obscurity which she richly deserves. She stops children discovering other and BETTER writers, she her (f--) machine steamrollers everything else into obscurity. Its like Blair and Bush - the media report only what they say - there is no dissent, no variety, no debate and discussion. The press, the movie industry and her publisher want you to see only HP and fire their whole marketing budget at you!
We hate it when you don't have an avatar, though.
I typed Paul into google and here is the first image:
I typed Paul into google and here is the first image:
I love the Paul picture.But I have a couple of comments.
1) It's not like Harry Potter started out as some huge conglomerate. No, the first book came out in a modest way, and grew in popularity through word of mouth. Kids told other kids about it, librarians spread the word, and each book got more and more people discovering the series and enjoying the books.
2) Paul, there is nothing new under the sun. Everything is derivative. Tolkien borrowed heavily from Norse mythology. Lewis's books were full of Greek mythology and Christian allegory. I've heard that all fiction can be boiled down into seven basic plots.
All an author can do is give a new spin to it, and in my opinion, Rowling did that very well. If you don't care for her style, that's fine. But it doesn't mean she's bad.
Are these the seven basic plots?1. Gluttony
2. Pride
3. Sloth
4. Lust
5. Greed
6. Envy
7. Wrath
Yes. Very good, Amanda!
I'm thinking #3 would make for the least interesting story...
But it would be easy to keep up with it.
I think sloths are very interesting creatures. I mean, just because they're a little on the slow side ....
And another thing. What about the weird looking guy whose job it was to push Mr. Potter's wheelchair around in that movie. He never even had a line to speak! Potter just says, "Push me there!" and the guy had to do it.Oh wait .. we were talking about the witch boy, weren't we. Sorry. My mistake.
Rowling actually does have a new book coming out (or maybe it's already out) called The Tales of Beedle the Bard.
What if Harry Potter had never been published!?! Oooooh!!!!
Yeah, good point, Bunny! Yeah, no limits on the number of books kids can read...Actually, Paul, Rowling has been the gateway for many kids to get them interested in reading. Kids who wouldn't otherwise pick up a book at all have gotten turned on to reading with these books. And once they've finished the Rowling books, they want to read more, because they had FUN!
And it's not because of some vast industrial conspiracy. Kids really don't care what the publishing industry says, they care what their FRIENDS are reading.
Publishers keep trying to tell us what the next hot book is, and failing, by the way. The Magician by Michael Scott, for example, speaking of derivative...
Edit: I meant The Alchemyst. The Magician is the sequel.
And even if the publishers are talking about Harry Potter, any librarian can tell you about other books besides those that are fun to read. Such as the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan, or the Septimus Heap books by Angie Sage, Magyk and Flyte, and so on. Or the Alex Rider spy series by Anthony Horowitz, if you want something besides fantasy.
Bookstores sell plenty of other books. Nothing is stopping you, or any kid, from reading something else if HP isn't your cup of tea.
I really don't understand what you're complaining about, Paul.
No Bunny, it's true. I was at the local public library the other day. There was a kid reading "The High King" at one of the nearby tables. And then in marches Rowling. She took the book from him, threw it across the room, back handed the kid a few times, and shoved "The Chamber of Secrets" in his sobbing face yelling "READ IT, READ IT". Then she sat there while he read two chapters through a haze of tears.
I prefer to think of it as "Adult Time Out".
Rusty, why are you a brown silhouette? Unacceptable!
I have no idea what you're talking about, chiquita.
for those of you who do not like posts without avatars - here is me in a boring business photo. I'm getting a bit bored with waht I started here - I still hate HFP and will continue to do so. But I really LIKE you guys - your so active - and (mostly) intelligent and perceptive. So I'm gonna look for something in HC with a bit more intellectual content - bit more highbrow - to sink my teeth into. If I don't find it I'll start something new. Now - let's have a look.....
Looking for highbrow, huh? Well.....bonne chance.
damn, late to the party as always. i just have a few points i'd like to add though:1) harry potter doesn't get good until about halfway through the third installment (this holds true for both the movies and the books, btw). but once sirius kicks it, i seriously couldn't put them down.
2) reading YA lit as a young person doesn't cause you to only read YA forever for the rest of your life. i was OBSESSED with christopher pike when i was 13, but i also devoured everything from dean koontz and stephen king to watership down to true crime to brave new world, etc (although, to be fair, there does tend to be a bit of a blood and guts theme to my literary preferences, so maybe that could be blamed on my love of THE LAST VAMPIRE series).
3) everybody is copying someone else. this is best illustrated in a few of my favorite directors: quentin tarantino copies takashi miike, takashi miike copies alfred hitchcock (ok, and maybe a little dario argento too), hitchcock copied fritz lang. i'm sure fritz lang copied something, but there you go. they're all great, and they're all great becuase they're standing on the backs of someone else who's great.
4) there are far worse YA series than harry potter. have you been in a barnes & noble lately? i'd say 90% of it is crap, so any kid who likes reading isn't going to be chained to potter, no matter how much they worship JKR. they're going to read it, and then hunt down everything else they can find even remotely related to the subject (thus, opening the doors to terry pratchett and LOTR and all that, which then lead to other genres, and so on a so forth).
You start out reading Harry Potter, and before you know it you’re in a back alley somewhere, behind a dumpster, right eye twitching, body trembling, reading Terry Brooks’ “Shannara” series. I’ve seen it happen.
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This is not The Haters Club You're Looking For
Books mentioned in this topic
The 39 Steps (other topics)The Tales of Beedle the Bard (other topics)
If somebody has done this thread to death before then I apologise AND
this is a thing I really need to get out of my system. Thank God I protected my son from this - as well as from M- Doofs and B King and Pizza Hut!
Can you all make my day and get REALLY venal about JR and her crap, rippped-off 'industry in itself'
God Bless Narnia and the Shire!!