Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
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Why do you think some people hate Harry Potter, yet others really love it?
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Sarah
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Apr 07, 2012 01:03AM
Does anyone have any ideas? I can't imagine how anyone can hate Harry Potter that much, so I want to know anyone's theories.
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i LOVE HP series...it gave me more than i asked for when my chips are down..!!many people like it...and similarly many dont...i have a friend....who loves reading....but dont like anything related to magic or fantasy....my sis disnt read HP coz she doesnt like fantasy...!
but people who like fantasy and dont like HP series..they are the one who dont really understand the magic(literally) in the books...!!
and to many think that movies are better than books coz it is soooo BIG(for us its not enough:P) to read..!
Well, I believe that some people just don't fancy fantasy. Whenever I recommend the series, people often reply by saying that they're not into the magic and things of that sort. To each his own, but they're seriously missing out.
cause they are too stupid to realise the awesomeness of it lol. jk. nah its probably cause they aren't into fantasy or are too old or young for certain books in the series
I've never felt as if anyone is too old to read any Harry Potter book. It could just be me, but that's my stance on it.
What would we do without opinion?
I think that anyone who actually reads the ENTIRE series would love it. They just have to give it a try, I know someone who says that she HATES the Harry Potter series but she's never even opened one of the books. Some people just may not like it, even if they have tried. Their loss!
Nothing, ever, will be universally loved or hated."If we all loved the same things, just think of the shortage of haggis there'd be." -No idea who said this originally, but it seemed appropriate.
I believe that the Harry Potter haters haven't actually read the books, and if they claim they read them, they really skimmed every page.
It depends on whether the person read the series or not. Some people may not like HP because they say that everything is about Harry. But personally, I love the series. I don't care who the story is mostly about. It was a great series! Fantastic! Whoever dislike HP deserves a slap in the face. Apparently, they haven't opened their eyes and picked up one of the books to even understand it. Who wouldn't like HP??! Maybe they just didn't read it because of long pages or chapters. That could be why they disliked it.
Casey wrote: "Every good book has fans and haters. That's how you know if it's good."That sounds really wise.
Lucinda, my cousin hates Harry Potter, and he can say he's read them because he skimmed them! You are totally right on that.
Cache' wrote: "It depends on whether the person read the series or not. Some people may not like HP because they say that everything is about Harry. But personally, I love the series. I don't care who the story i..."*sigh*
can you honestly not see how ridiculous that statement is? someone doesn't like something that you do, so they deserve to be slapped??
Well, I neither love nor hate the series, so maybe I can sort of see both sides of the argument.Why people love it boils down to lots of action, a new kind of world to explore, an interesting plot, the good old good vs. evil battle, and exciting characters.
Why people wouldn't love it... Well, personally I have some problems with this book that I could see making people essentially hate the series. My first qualm with the book is how poorly the magic system is explained and presented, something that I pay attention to because I've read countless of much better fantasy books with very interesting and well-explained systems. In HP, at most they wave wands and say some very (English-based) magic words and things happen without much effort. This bothered be from the beginning - is the magic in the wand? Or in the words? Why does it matter how you flick your wand? Why was this never explained more? Why are there non-wizard people? How do you know if someone is or isn't a wizard? All those and many other questions were left unanswered, which, frankly, bothered me all the way through the stories.
Second, wizarding world versus muggle world. Sometimes, the separation causes some problems that aren't addressed. For instance, wizards have ways of curing basically any illness, it seems - they can grow back your bones and whatnot - and yet they leave all muggles without this care? How are we supposed to consider them good guys when their "protection" of muggles is generally keeping them completely in the dark? Wizards could change the world for so much better, and yet they don't, because... they need to hide, I suppose. But why do they need to hide? Because the muggles would be afraid of them? (Can't blame them, pretty much all wizards consider themselves above muggles.) The treatment of muggles, right down to the usage of that word, is overall questionable and something that made me outright uncomfortable at times. There are absolutely no muggle characters outside of the Dursleys in the books, and we all know how they're portrayed, so overall it starts to reek like the world is separated into wizards and lesser beings.
Also, I never liked Harry the character much, so that's one issue as well.
Ultimately it boils down to questions of preferences. As someone mentioned, some people don't like fantasy elements in stories, some people do. Some people don't like straightforward good vs. evil, some people do (and don't like it when the conflict isn't there, even). Some people, such as myself, don't like magical realism that much (while we may like other genres of fantasy, like I do), and some people do.
I don't think it's any great wonder that it divides opinions. It's a speedy, action-rich series with lots of plot but fairly little philosophical or world-building content. Some people like it, some people don't.
An-chan wrote: "Well, I neither love nor hate the series, so maybe I can sort of see both sides of the argument.Why people love it boils down to lots of action, a new kind of world to explore, an interesting p..."
You dont know some of the answers to your questions because the author lets you think about it. The author makes you use your imagination and leaves it up to you to try and find your answers on your own.
If you read the first book carefully Hagrid says that the wizards are better left alone because if the muggle world knew about wizards, then all muggles would be running to them so that they could take help from wizards. So to prevent all that the wizards are better left alone and like their own privacy and prefer to keep their existence a secret.
I agree with some people when they say that some harry potter haters have barely read the book and only skimmed through the pages and then hate it. But i think we have no right to go against the people who have read the book and still hate the series (though i must admit that i have no clue how they still hate the series). Its our decision whether we like or hate the series and we cant simply go against people's decision.We may also hate some book or the other and the people who like the very same book also must be thinking the same thing that we think about harry potter haters. So, we shouldn't really bother if people hate the H.p. series.
Well it's the literally equivelant to marmaite, oen might say. One either completley loves the take on this enchanting story, ot tire of it completley due to media attention, either way a strong impression is made.
Gargi wrote: You dont know some of the answers to your questions because the author lets you think about it. The author makes you use your imagination and leaves it up to you to try and find your answers on your own.If you read the first book carefully Hagrid says that the wizards are better left alone because if the muggle world knew about wizards, then all muggles would be running to them so that they could take help from wizards. So to prevent all that the wizards are better left alone and like their own privacy and prefer to keep their existence a secret.
Of course some questions are okay to leave unresolved, but my personal rule of thumb is that if it bothers me while I read, at least some cursory gesture towards an answer should be provided. Of course, that's purely a matter of opinion, as some people will never wonder at the magic system at all. For me, it was a problem that it wasn't explained more, and it bothered me while reading, therefore sucking out some of the enjoyment I could have gotten otherwise.
Also, essentially, that is exactly my problem about the muggles. What Hagrid is saying there ultimately boils down to "well, they'd want our help all the time, so it's better for us if we just don't tell them we have the answers". So, to avoid being heaped by requests for help, they leave all the muggles to die of cancer, to lose all their loved ones entirely when they die (instead of preserving pieces of them in enchanted paintings), suffer from slow transport of goods and people, and to be left dealing with natural disasters and such that the wizards foresaw. While I see the benefit of that to the wizards, I really disagree with that kind of thinking, and, frankly, coming from the Good Guys, it really bothers me. It's kind of like a rich country not letting a poor country know they have money, because then the poorer people would be asking for help - and heaven forbid the rich people from actually providing any.
It just rubs me the wrong way how wizards treat muggles. Often it looks like racism of some sort (or magism? I wonder what it would be called), where muggles are essentially disregarded entirely for the sake of wizards and considered lesser beings somehow (case in point, the term 'muggle', which strictly speaking should be worse than 'mudblood' because those are still magical). So that's really the issue I take with it.
For someone who's actually had to deal with racial/other prejudice in their lives, I can really see how they'd end up hating the whole series for its portrayal of the muggle vs. wizard thing, if that makes sense. That's essentially the point I was making, more or less.
Kirby wrote: "Cache' wrote: "It depends on whether the person read the series or not. Some people may not like HP because they say that everything is about Harry. But personally, I love the series. I don't care ..."
Geez, they're just stating their opinion. They are not being LITERAL. Just saying that they think people who don't like Harry Potter are crazy. It's not REDICULOUS. It is just an exaggeration and we don't need to hate because of it. Gosh.
Geez, they're just stating their opinion. They are not being LITERAL. Just saying that they think people who don't like Harry Potter are crazy. It's not REDICULOUS. It is just an exaggeration and we don't need to hate because of it. Gosh.
I'm a lover for Harry Potter but when I meet people who aren't into it or don't fancy it, it can be because the films put them off thus showing that a books popularity can be a negative for many readers. Similar to Twilight. But I agree that if you sit down and read them you may not love them but i'd be very surprised if a person didnt at least like them.
go harry potter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
An-chan wrote: "Gargi wrote: You dont know some of the answers to your questions because the author lets you think about it. The author makes you use your imagination and leaves it up to you to try and find your a..."but as you see the muggles aren't doing bad at all. They are doing quite well without magic. And if wizards keep on saving people from cancer and all the diseases people will never die. Death is not something you can avoid some day or the other, it comes, so the muggles are just facing it earlier than wizards. But i have to agree that in a way your right about the muggles left alone to deal with situations which the wizards can easily solve. But that's the way rowling wanted her book to be( and i prefer Rowling's way even though it's mean to keep them in the shadows about wizards)
I liked the books when they first came out but as they went on I grew to like them less and less. I own all the books and movies but if I am honest with the books I could take them or leave them. I'm glad that they helped young people to enjoy reading but apart from that I am just not that bothered. An-Chan has some interesting points about some things being ignored and I must admit on my re-reads these are things that have bugged me as well. I think a good author should leave some questions for the readers to decide themselves but not when they could be considered major things within that universe. When reading the books I tend to get the opinion that the wizarding world views the muggle one as that of children who aren't ready to know everything which, to my mind, is highly insulting.
Gargi, makes the point above that if wizards saved people from cancer and disease then no-one would die. This is wrong - old age is not a disease so people would still die from that. Accidents still occur be they natural such as Tsunamis or earthquakes, or more manmade such as acts of terrorism or just car accidents. The death rate might decrease but people would still die. Every day we see adverts on the television about young children dying in third world countries and we are asked to help - I do not see how the wizarding world (if it existed) should not be held to the same standard. The fact that they do not help out with diseases and things just adds to my opinion that they consider themselves to be superior. Even characters who are shown as being fair minded, such as Hermione, care more about the welfare of those in the Wizarding World than muggles.
The books are relatively well written (there are definitely worse books out there) but they do have issues. I still hold to the opinion that Harry ought to have died in a blaze of glory killing Voldemort, not miraculously survive thanks to a plot point that was only introduced in that book. Rowling does so well with introducing things in earlier books (Sirius in book one with his motorbike is a prime example) that this just felt tacked on so that her lead could survive.
Personally I LOVE IT. I am a huge HP 'nerd'.I don't have hardly any bad things to say about the book series. It's amazing. The movies do have some flaws, mostly just parts that they'd left out.
I understand that not all people like magic, and things like that. I love supernatural kind of stuff like that.. I see it as a beter world than our own, and it truly provides me with a place I can escape to, and this is how i see series such as Harry Potter.
An-chan wrote: "Well, I neither love nor hate the series, so maybe I can sort of see both sides of the argument.Why people love it boils down to lots of action, a new kind of world to explore, an interesting plo..."
Oh, I like your answer. :)
Btw, as far as I know the spells are supposed to be in Latin, or at least something like Latin.
As for me, I guess I like the series because I started reading it as a kid and had not much experience with other fantasy stories. I attempted to read Lord of the Rings at 16 or something and failed miserabely (probably because it was a translated version). I'll try reading it again someday (there are so many books on my to-read list already). Harry Potter was an easy read and there was at least one character worth the reader's sympathy enough to continue reading in most cases. Or at least in my case.
I didn't mind Harry so much and could understand when he got all whiney and angsty since he hit puberty and things like that, even if it was annoying to read.
I'm kind of glad the series is finished already since, oh boy, my father actually bought the books, not me, as he is a bigger fan than I am (the translated books mostly come at a price of € 30 each and that's quite a lot, in my opinion). Oh well. (What a lazy excuse, haha.)
I guess for me the obvious flaws in the series are only there if you actually want to see them. The magic seems so artificial and I never heard a good excuse why the witches never mingle with the muggle-folk. I mean, the Weasleys even managed to put magic in a car, which proves that magic works with muggle things. Also, what only irks me since I joined Pottermore and I actually forgot: Why is Ravenclaw's animal an eagle? In my mind it was always a raven. That would make more sense, hence the name and the fact that you associate ravens with witches anyway.
I guess a better ending to the HP series would have been for me if the wizard world would mingle with the muggle world and everyone would be living happily ever after but then again, that wasn't what the main plot was about. Even though that would make an interesting stand-alone plot as well, let's just hope Rowling picks up something else to write about. Not because there's so much about Harry Potter already, but because imho it would be good for her too.
(At this point I want to excuse myself for not reading all of what I just wrote because meh, I'm lazy.)
Carina wrote: The books are relatively well written (there are definitely worse books out there) but they do have issues. I still hold to the opinion that Harry ought to have died in a blaze of glory killing Voldemort, not miraculously survive thanks to a plot point that was only introduced in that book. Rowling does so well with introducing things in earlier books (Sirius in book one with his motorbike is a prime example) that this just felt tacked on so that her lead could survive. "I'm torn on whether Harry should have lived or died. I didn't care for the epilogue. However, she's been building up the concept of Horcruxes since book 2 at least with Riddle's diary, perhaps even earlier. Harry's scar has hurt in the presence of Voldemort since book 1. Also, we learned when happens when Harry battled Voldemort directly in number 4.
Most people I know who dislike the series have never given it a chance. Others I think just want to be haters because it is so popular.And also people expect it to be perfect with no mistakes and using none of there own imagination, when that doesnt happen they turn agenst it.
I think that has too happend with the Twilight series.
It depends on people's taste. I adore the harry potter books but there are other popular series i despise, Hush Hush for example
Emily wrote: "Most people I know who dislike the series have never given it a chance. Others I think just want to be haters because it is so popular.And also people expect it to be perfect with no mistakes and..."
You're right. Many people have just read a few chapters and have decided whether the series is good or not (even though the few chapters are really good).
But also like Bee said it depends on people's taste....
I hate all of the books except for #3.
The one person I know who hates HP has never read it or watched the movies, doesn't like fantasy, and doesn't like reading popular books. People like that are impossible to argue with because they know nothing about the series, and they can't really give you a reason that they hate it, but they just keep stubbornly arguing until the whole thing turns pointless.
it seems like a main issue here is the fact that that the magical folk don't help out the muggles. Honestly though, the muggles far outnumber the wizards and the people who would be qualified to help the muggles would be the healers and what I got from the series was that in Britain there was only one magical hospital. Even if there is at least one magical hospital, there are probably only three main hospitals coinciding with the three main wizarding schools (just my thought). There aren't enough healers to help all of the muggles and still cure the wizards in the hospital. Plus, now muggles know about wizards and once again they vastly outnumber them. Realistically speaking in this scenario they'd probably think that wizards are to powerful and try to eradicate them. It's not worth it and it's not like muggles are helpless without wizards, we have our own medicine.
Jasmine wrote: "it seems like a main issue here is the fact that that the magical folk don't help out the muggles. Honestly though, the muggles far outnumber the wizards and the people who would be qualified to he..."Nice answer...I totally agree with you.
Jasmine wrote: "it seems like a main issue here is the fact that that the magical folk don't help out the muggles..."True, Jasmine. To all those who think this is a point worth contesting, do you have any idea of the history of witchcraft in the Western World?
The last witch in England to be hanged - Alice Molland - came from just up the road from me. This was in 1685, so it was not all that long ago that muggles were burning witches.
And if you know anything of the history of Rowling's world, you will know that due to this enforced separation some 300 years ago, it led to the wizarding world separating itself from the mundane world.
For anyone to find the undercurrents of 'racism' to be an issue with wizards verses muggles... Hello! The whole backdrop to the story, the whole point of Voldemort, the driving force behind the death-eaters is precisely the argument about pure blood or not. So very clever of you to have picked it up from the minuscule and subtle clues that were so rarely seen...
Sorry, in the face of such dumbness, my sarcasm circuit has blown a fuse.
I think they don't hate the book, they just hate the fanbase going all crazy.And I allways love Harry Potter
An-chan wrote: "Gargi wrote: You dont know some of the answers to your questions because the author lets you think about it. The author makes you use your imagination and leaves it up to you to try and find your a..."I may not agree with all your examples but I had many similar problems while reading the series. On the topic of your muggles vs wizards thing I think the main reason was more because it would be like trying to share a pack of skittles with an entire city of starving people. Think about the population ratio based on age groups: with wizards in britain there are no more than 5 to 10 per house so even to highball it we're talking about 40 kids in say, grade 10 TOTAL. Compare that to all the others around the UK.
Yes it's selfish but it's not like a bunch of rich people sharing the wealth because money is pretty fast to distribute while magic would require physical presence and a lot of time spent.
Anyway, that's just my reason for being fine with that one. My problems lie with all the bloated powers and abilities paired with arbitrary limitations that seem to exist just because (they're not as obvious as a lot of other books but they're still there) and the derivation from so much lore and mythology - while it's fun to amalgamate these things I think it's stretching things when your werewolf is named after two different words for "wolf" BEFORE he's bitten. etc.
I ADORE HP and will reread it every few years for the rest of my life, but I grew up with it so I forgive its flaws for the same reason I love The Princess Bride film and always will. This doesn't make me blind to their flaws and I find it disconcerting that so many people can love something so blindly.
People should have the strength to love something despite it's flaws, not in willful ignorance of them.
Feven wrote: "People Hate it because it involves magic and goes against their religion. Others who cherish Harry Potter (me!) know that it is just a children's series, It does good, it doesn't hurt anyone."I'm religious, almost all of my friends are to and we love Harry Potter. Not sure where you're getting your information from.
Feven wrote: "Sorry Jasmine, I didn't mean it like that, I'm a christian. But some people take religion to an EXTREME level. Like the KKK"It's alright I know what you mean at my school we had to hide our harry potter books in book covers. I just wanted to point out that not all religious people were like that.
Personally, I believe it all has to do with fantasy. Some people cannot stand it, such as highly god-loving, [no that was not an insult.] people. I, however, love the series, and have since I was only two years old. Cheers!
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