HARRY POTTER SPOILERZ!!!

[Hydrogen]

Well, she writes *for* fourteen year olds (actually younger, I'd say), so what do you expect?

 

Her target audience is 5th and 6th grade.

[Cantousent]

If only I knew how to post pictures, I'd post pictures of me as Dumbledore at the Henderson District Public Libraries event on Friday night.

 

It was great. I was mobbed by youngsters all wanting a picture with me and asking me questions about magic and telling me how much they wanted to be my student. One little girl of about nine years old came and jumped up and down in front of me, she was so excited. She demanded that I teach her magic and I said, "young lady, you must first enroll at Hogwarts before you may learn magic."

 

At ten seconds to 12am, I called for attention and said, "the countdown will now begin." The whole crowd roared each of the last ten seconds before we started handing out the books. The books were $20 pre-order or $25 walk-in. There were cheaper books to be found, I know, but the other events were entirely free and there was no obligation to buy the book at all. The library has TONS of copies of these books, so many of the children came only to try their hand at Quidditch, take a bite to eat at the Leaky Cauldron, or (my favorite) take a picture of or with Dumbledore. The library managed to have all of the food donated, so the stop at the leaky cauldron cost nothing.

 

JKR isn't really that great of an author, but the series is awesome if for no other reason than it has had a profound effect on the reading habits of children.

 

I volunteer quite a bit at HDPL, but this is the most gratifying experience I've had there. It was well worth driving in from California.

 

...And this book is definitely darker than all the others combined.

[Gorth]

...

On the other hand, I'm more of a fan by being forced to address some of these claims about her.

 

Still, the dialogue does suck.  I don't mind Hagrid having an accent, but does it have to be so... over the top?  Dammit.

 

At any rate, some folks hate the Harry Potter series because it's popular, the enemy of elites everywhere.

 

Some folks hate it because they expected something more adult than the series was ever meant to be.

 

Finally, some folks hate it because they honestly don't like the writing.

 

Still, the dialogue does suck.  I don't mind Hagrid having an accent, but does it have to be so... over the top?  Dammit.

She uses repetitive dialogue too ?

[Cantousent]

hahaha, Gorth, you swine! I wrote it above and then decided it made more sense at the end. I must have "copied" that part rather than "moved" it.

[Gorth]

hahaha, Gorth, you swine!  I wrote it above and then decided it made more sense at the end.  I must have "copied" that part rather than "moved" it.

I suspected as much, a cut-n-paste experiment gone wrong

[Musopticon?]

I had the choice wether to buy this book or use the money to buy Nile albums. Guess which vice did I follow.

[><FISH'>]

You bought the harry potter book then stashed away the change for Nile albums.

[WinterSun]

Ah the eternal conundrum:Nile or Harry Potter?

Since I don't read kid's books I bought Nile and the new book by China Mieville.Infinitely more satisfying

[Archmonarch]

Well, having had nothing else to read, I just finished perhaps a half-hour ago reading my sister's copy that she bought yesterday afternoon.

 

As Eldar says, this book is much darker than the others. Perhaps even too dark, considering the audience for which it is intended. The pacing, in my opinion, seems somewhat better, despite that most (if not all) of the "revelations" were obvious from their introduction as plot devices. I must admit that the dialogue is still quite questionable. Also, the ending, especially Harry's new attittude, seems almost forced and unrealistic.

 

Overall, it was fairly intriguing, if only to see how she would continue the saga.

[Cantousent]

I'm not dissatisfied with the book, but I do admit that Harry's attitude considering what happened is ridiculous. I simply don't believe he would have had those thoughts. If nothing else, his life, as well as the lives of all of his friends, are in extreme danger. He shouldn't have the attitude that the summer will be any refuge for him, especially considering the fact that at least one major threat to his life came during a summer break.

[SteveThaiBinh]

I just finished reading this on the train (long journey) and I am so glad I didn't pay for it.

 

It's a shame - the second and especially the third books in the series were really good, aimed at kids of course, but well written enough that anyone could enjoy them. But a few days ago when reading the new one became a possibility, I found I couldn't recall any of the events of book five, and had to get my sister to remind me. As for book six, did you find a plot? I didn't. It was like an episode of a soap opera, with each relationship being advanced slightly but nothing actually happening. They're going to have real trouble getting a feature film out of it.

 

I'm now at the same stage with JK Rowling that I am with Robert Jordan - I'm going to keep reading the books, because I want to find out what happens, but I'm enjoying it a lot less than before. At least I know other people who read Harry Potter, so I don't have to fork out my own money. :D

[Cantousent]

Comedy. Yeah, I think the series is going on fumes created by the middle books. The first part of the series was great, but I'm disappointed in the turn. At first I was impressed that she managed to make the overall tone dark. Then, however, I realized that darker is not necessarily better. I also get the impression that she's killing off characters just to flex muscle. She seems to think it adds weight to the series to show a willingness to kill important characters. I agree, it's admirable to take such an extreme step. Nevertheless, it's not a step to take "just 'cause." I'm still enjoying the book, but it's just a shame that the dark tone has come at the expense of the aspects that were so appealing about the first four books.

 

My take is that she's spent too much time listening to the vocal minority trying to trivialize her work. That's a shame, because there's no way she can appeal to everyone and, heaven knows, the so-called "elites," most of whom have a rather shallow experience in classical literature, aren't a good benchmark by which to judge any work.

[Azarkon]

All of the HP books were "darker" than what you'd expect from stereotypical children's literature in terms of the events. All of them carried that strain of fear of death and loss inherent in older fairy tales before they were Disney-ized. The big difference between HP 1 and HP 6, however, is the details and attitudes with respect to what's happening.

 

For instance, in HP 1 Dumbledore was a wise old wizard who seemed omniscient, omnipotent, and certainly invincible. He was more of a symbol there than a man, and so was Voldemort.

 

In HP 6, Dumbledore is still a wise old wizard, but he's no longer omniscient (unless JKR pulls a fast one again), no longer omnipotent, and apparently no longer invincible. Instead, he's fraught with psychological and physical weakness. So is Voldemort, who is less a symbol of evil as he is the caricature of an obessive and disturbed serial killer.

 

The differences that come over Harry are even more poignant. And if you look at the increasing degree of political awareness and inter-personal intrigue, you'll see exactly what I mean.

 

The books have been becoming more *real* with each passing novel. This is intentional, and therein lies the idea that they're getting "darker." Through increasing the details that allow for realism, JKR is making the "magical" HP books into something more akin to fiction and horror. That in itself is frightening, though I reckon that it's exactly what she *wanted* to do.

 

It may come into question, however, whether JKR is prepared to really enter into the realm of adult fiction, and whether her writing style, as well as her marketers, are capable of making that transition that she so needs to make the HP series a "coming of age" tale in both style and content.

[Cantousent]

I have wondered whether or not some of the more extreme changes in the books were planned in advance, or even well in advance, by JKR. I'm still not unhappy with the latest book, but I agree with Steve that it's become centered on the characters more than the events. In retrospect, this was always the case, but it's even more pronounced in the latest book than in previous novels.

 

JKR is a monumentally important author. I wish her well, but I doubt if I'd be as interested in the series if I picked up book six as I was in starting the series from the very beginning. That's probably not uncommon, but I had hoped for better. Nevertheless, the latest offering is solid, if not exceptional, and I'm looking forward to the end of the series. Moreover, I'm willing to take a look at future attempts beyond the Harry Potter series.