oaki
Armadillo Pup
Posts: 9
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Post by oaki on May 30, 2011 9:08:31 GMT -5
I can't believe no one has made a topic of this yet! All Potterhead Armadillos, feel free to join in. Favourite book, character, discussing character development (my favourite, Snape) and other things! Attachments:
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invision
Armadillo Pup
Random Axe of Kindness
Posts: 47
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Post by invision on May 30, 2011 11:00:54 GMT -5
I like the Harry Potter series quite a lot, but I feel like book five and onwards, Rowling was all, "HOLY SHIT, THIS SERIES HAS TO HAVE A FUCKING POINT INSTEAD OF JUST A BUNCH OF RANDOM UNCONNECTED EVENTS", and suddenly made the series turn a 180 and try to be dark and edgy and make everything actually ... connected.
The Horcrux thing, for example, seemed stupid as fuck the way it was introduced. It seemed like she pulled it out of her ass to finish the last few books, and not something that was planned the whole way through the series.
I really wish that Rowling had taken the lead with the Chamber of Secrets and kind of launched the series from there, as far as approach. It all wrapped up, had plenty of danger, was fairly dark, and really showed the history of the school and the characters.
Instead, we got a bunch of barely-connected few books after that, and then Rowling seemed to have suddenly remembered that the series needed continuation, so we got something ... entertaining, but fairly 'meh' overall.
James
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Post by Lizzie on May 30, 2011 11:02:44 GMT -5
There is already a Harry Potter thread in the Fandoms category, but perhaps this one can be strictly a discussion on the book series? I'll ask the other mods whenever they get online...
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Post by Lizzie on May 30, 2011 11:09:12 GMT -5
invision: If you go back and read the earlier books, knowing what we now know, there are clues, at least ones that I can see, pointing towards what happens in the later books. Also, Rowling had no idea where this book series was going to go and how huge it would be, and with a story this intricate, I can forgive her for some of the issues the series may have. That being said, I actually think the Horcruxes are worked into the series rather well. Dumbledore doesn't feel Harry is ready for the information and Harry feels ultimately betrayed by that. It shapes Harry's character immensely. I also think working in Riddle's diary from Chamber of Secrets was a great way to add continuity to the Horcrux explanation.
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alyoshka
Young Armadillo
Vous etes un chanteur des pommes.
Posts: 94
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Post by alyoshka on May 31, 2011 19:19:31 GMT -5
I only read two Harry Potter books. oh well :/ felt like I missed out on a lot from what I hear.
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Post by brosephargh on May 31, 2011 19:20:47 GMT -5
I only read two Harry Potter books. oh well :/ felt like I missed out on a lot from what I hear. You certainly have. Check out the Harry Potter thread under "fandoms" for proof  |
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Post by onlyaworkingtitle on May 31, 2011 19:52:31 GMT -5
I only read two Harry Potter books. oh well :/ felt like I missed out on a lot from what I hear. I disagree on the missing out. I ploughed on, despite utter lack of enthusiasm, until the only character that seemed remotely interesting died in book 5. I didn't bother with the last two, and have never felt like I "missed out" on anything. |
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Post by Tori on May 31, 2011 19:59:05 GMT -5
For me, Harry Potter was such an integral part of my childhood that I often have a hard time criticizing it at all! I know it's narrow-minded, and a little sad, considering I'm an English major and am supposed to criticize everything....but, without those books I wouldn't be an English major at all! The books are not perfect, of course, but they are still some of the most intelligent and well thought out young adult literature I've ever encountered. What I particularly love is that Rowling never speaks "down" to her audience. Her writing doesn't patronize, it doesn't say "Oh, many things happened but you are children so I will explain it to you in this simple way". I think that's part of the reason why adults can read them and find just as much enjoyment in them as an eight year old. I'm re-reading the whole series currently, this will be the eighth time I've read Sorcerer's Stone, and I'm still as enthralled by it as I ever was. Whether we can place Harry Potter on par with Hamlet or Odysseus, I am not sure. But I am confident that fifty years from now people will still be talking about the Boy Who Lived.  |
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Post by onlyaworkingtitle on May 31, 2011 20:20:58 GMT -5
For me, Harry Potter was such an integral part of my childhood that I often have a hard time criticizing it at all! I know it's narrow-minded, and a little sad, considering I'm an English major and am supposed to criticize everything....but, without those books I wouldn't be an English major at all! Oh yeah, I can definitely respect that. That, for me, is the Song of the Lioness Quartet, by Tamora Pierce, which I've reread dozens of times and still love every letter of. I mean, it's no Paradise Lost or The Handmaid's Tale, but it's the reason I began devouring books, the reason I became the person I now identify as. My issue with Harry Potter, ultimately, is that there are people who, when I say that I don't think it's all they crack it up to be, will literally bitch me out. And the existence of those people makes me angry, and that anger bleeds over to the topic we were discussing (HP), which means I have a lot of unreasonable pent-up rage at the series. But that's neither here nor there. |
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Post by brosephargh on May 31, 2011 20:31:15 GMT -5
For me, Harry Potter was such an integral part of my childhood that I often have a hard time criticizing it at all! I know it's narrow-minded, and a little sad, considering I'm an English major and am supposed to criticize everything....but, without those books I wouldn't be an English major at all! Oh yeah, I can definitely respect that. That, for me, is the Song of the Lioness Quartet, by Tamora Pierce, which I've reread dozens of times and still love every letter of. I mean, it's no Paradise Lost or The Handmaid's Tale, but it's the reason I began devouring books, the reason I became the person I now identify as. My issue with Harry Potter, ultimately, is that there are people who, when I say that I don't think it's all they crack it up to be, will literally bitch me out. And the existence of those people makes me angry, and that anger bleeds over to the topic we were discussing (HP), which means I have a lot of unreasonable pent-up rage at the series. But that's neither here nor there. Well my opinion here (sorry to butt in), is that you shouldn't let something's fanbase ruin the series for you. If I let that happen, I would never watch Glee or read plenty of book series. Though, may I say, I ADORE the Song of the Lioness Quartet! It was beautiful when I read it in middle school, and I'd love to reread it soon! |
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Post by onlyaworkingtitle on May 31, 2011 20:40:31 GMT -5
Oh yeah, I can definitely respect that. That, for me, is the Song of the Lioness Quartet, by Tamora Pierce, which I've reread dozens of times and still love every letter of. I mean, it's no Paradise Lost or The Handmaid's Tale, but it's the reason I began devouring books, the reason I became the person I now identify as. My issue with Harry Potter, ultimately, is that there are people who, when I say that I don't think it's all they crack it up to be, will literally bitch me out. And the existence of those people makes me angry, and that anger bleeds over to the topic we were discussing (HP), which means I have a lot of unreasonable pent-up rage at the series. But that's neither here nor there. Well my opinion here (sorry to butt in), is that you shouldn't let something's fanbase ruin the series for you. If I let that happen, I would never watch Glee or read plenty of book series. Though, may I say, I ADORE the Song of the Lioness Quartet! It was beautiful when I read it in middle school, and I'd love to reread it soon! Oh no, Harry Potter was ruined for me long before people started giving me a hard time for disliking it -- something about the remarkably uninteresting characters (Sirius exempt) and thoroughly unremarkable writing (which failed to redeem the dull characters) made my opinion of it lower than that of most of my peers. But that's just me -- I am, by far, the minority. And you really should reread the Song of the Lioness Quartet (if only so we can discuss it at length in some non-HP thread)! I love it dearly, as well as the various sequels. The latest series set in that realm, Beka Cooper takes place a couple centuries before the Song and is quite different from the others. Good times, good times. |
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Post by cyanea on Jun 1, 2011 1:27:12 GMT -5
I enjoyed the books.
What drove me crazy was the introduction of the Elder Wand in the final book and the sudden realization that Dumbledore's death was all planned so that Malfoy couldn't get the wand blah blah blah blah. I mean, I know Dumbledore was incredibly intelligent but it seemed like, to me, the reintroduction of Snape as a hero was kind of a cop out on the part of Rowling. I think it would've been much more interesting had he STAYED a villain, but one that we cannot help but feel compassion for. Plus, Xanatos Gambits are never good plot material.
Also:
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oaki
Armadillo Pup
Posts: 9
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Post by oaki on Jun 1, 2011 8:43:13 GMT -5
I have to subscribe to other posts here, Harry Potter represents a huge part of my childhood too, yet I never bullied someone for not liking it. De gustibus non est disputandum!
For me, Snape had the best character development, because: someone told me a while ago that you can't make a great character without killing it in the end. It's simply the most appropriate ending for it. I know a lot of people disagree with this but this is how I see it.
I agree with the fact that the Horcrux thing was a little forced, but I just got used to it being a part of the story so now it's not such a big deal anymore.
P.S. The video is hilarious.
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