  |
| Author |
|
Miyrru
Graphic Designer
Registration Date: 08.16.06
Location: Freezing cold Northern Ontario
Posts: 7178 |
|
|
I disagree JRR, they arent good literature, it isnt a fact. you cant prove it. no one can, sales dont justify it, nor do reviews or public approval. In your opinion it is good literature, but out side of your opinion, everyone is free to make theirs. i stand by that it is garbage, the first 3 were a waste of my time, and i refuse to read the last 4 or however many there are.
I just finished reading You Shall Know Our Velocity and it blew me away, it is the best fiction book ive ever read, i cant compare it to Lotr because fantasy and fiction are different, nor can i compare it to HP for the same reason. now this book is amazing and the author, Dave Eggers should be rolling in cash laughing the way Rowling does. She scored a coup, her books flew off the handle, they are excessively simple, and fail to hold my attention.YSKOV, held me for every page, had me laughing out loud, it was beautiful, i didnt want it to end. Same with Lotr, cover to cover, the greatest fanasy series of all time, now i am probably contradicting my rant, but it IS the best, it cant be ursuped by some kid wizard, it has stood the test of time and prevailed, it will keep going where as Harry Potter will soon fade from memory after all the film making has been finished, that may take a while as Rowling will bleed every pound from her creation. All of you who do love the book can keep reading them and enjoying them if they work for you, in my opinion i wont ever touch any of them again.
__________________
Click for Gallery^^
The truth had to be seen. Anything else was a story, entertaining but more embroidered fib then crude, shapeless fact. ~Dave Eggers
|
|
 07.22.2007, 12:13 PM |
   
|
Theowne
Baron
Registration Date: 02.11.07
Location: Toronto, Canada
Posts: 1290 |
|
|
(slight, minimal spoiler)
quote:
Let it be said that it is (possibly by far) the best Harry Potter book.
I agree. I haven't finished it yet, but it's very gripping and I just keep thinking "how are they going to get out of it this time" at every turn.....JKR sure knows how to keep allowing them to escape, without making us roll our eyes.
Anyways, I'll come back to this thread after I finish the book, it feels like we're going to explode into spoilers any second!
Post last edited by Theowne on 07.22.2007, 02:09 PM.
|
|
| 07.22.2007, 02:09 PM |
|
Roarkiller
Your Daddy-O
Registration Date: 06.03.03
Location: Home, resting...
Posts: 6077 |
|
|
quote:
Originally posted by Artoo Although I love LOTR, I do totally agree with your statement above. It depends greatly on our own point of view (sorry, going all Obi-Wan there... ). It's pretty much a cliché now, but as is often said, Shakespeare was the populist, mass-appeal writer of his day...
You know, Shakespeare would be the best example of this. Not many people dare refute the idea that he is one of the best authors, considering that he invented a fair percentage of words in the English language.
But when you sit down and read the original scripts, not only can you barely understand what is said, you most probably won't even see it as something worth reading (most are poetry, remember), much less can you extract what the author is trying to say.
Or we can discuss Stephen King. One of the most popular authors that never was.
__________________
I am me.
I am who I am.
I am Roarkiller.
No one else is me.
Roarkiller.net
Isakaya High RPG Site
quote:
Originally posted by fenkashi
Screw your opinions, they are not relevant ^^.
|
|
| 07.23.2007, 12:39 AM |
|
kk-on-keys
Ohmu
Registration Date: 08.06.06
Location: slumped over a computer desk, Eng-er-land
Posts: 445 |
|
|
How 'good' something is cannot be based entirely on it's popularity. That goes for any form of anything. Look at Rihanna. She's been number one for what - ten, eleven weeks now? That doesn't mean the song is any good. However, it is an accessible record.
Harry Potter, although I have never read a book in the series, is probably an accessible piece of work. That's why young children read it and adults do too.
A lot of success comes from luck, being in the right place at the right time. The first Harry Potter book probably came out at the time when the world was longing for a boy-wizard with a scar on his head.
I always preferred Lemony Snicket.
|
|
| 07.23.2007, 05:44 AM |
|
Miyrru
Graphic Designer
Registration Date: 08.16.06
Location: Freezing cold Northern Ontario
Posts: 7178 |
|
|
quote:
Originally posted by Roarkiller
quote:
Originally posted by Artoo Although I love LOTR, I do totally agree with your statement above. It depends greatly on our own point of view (sorry, going all Obi-Wan there... ). It's pretty much a cliché now, but as is often said, Shakespeare was the populist, mass-appeal writer of his day...
You know, Shakespeare would be the best example of this. Not many people dare refute the idea that he is one of the best authors, considering that he invented a fair percentage of words in the English language.
But when you sit down and read the original scripts, not only can you barely understand what is said, you most probably won't even see it as something worth reading (most are poetry, remember), much less can you extract what the author is trying to say.
Or we can discuss Stephen King. One of the most popular authors that never was.
I refute that he was great, he was an absolute pile!
i refuse to read anything else form him, Julius Caesar was okay, so was 12th night, but other than that, he is a terrible author. good for him for inventing words, anyone can do that. No big deal, im not sure why he is so popular, but he shouldnt be. if i want to read a play(which i never want to do again, and will avoid at all costs) i want it in straight 20th century english, i want to understand it with out the need for coles notes. I think he was a drunk that wrote down a bunch of words in his stupor, i see no deeper meaning in his work.
now i may be overly ranting, but i really dont like harry potter, and i want to beat shakespeare to death with a shovel. im okay with most of the other authors out there.
__________________
Click for Gallery^^
The truth had to be seen. Anything else was a story, entertaining but more embroidered fib then crude, shapeless fact. ~Dave Eggers
Post last edited by Miyrru on 07.23.2007, 05:36 PM.
|
|
| 07.23.2007, 05:35 PM |
|
Theowne
Baron
Registration Date: 02.11.07
Location: Toronto, Canada
Posts: 1290 |
|
|
Then again, we can't really blame Shakespeare for not writing in 20th century english 
|
|
| 07.23.2007, 08:01 PM |
|
Miyrru
Graphic Designer
Registration Date: 08.16.06
Location: Freezing cold Northern Ontario
Posts: 7178 |
|
|
i can, i will and i do, lol, just kidding, i dont want to sound like a complete idiot.
he wrote how people of his era did, no today it is a rather rough translation. it might have been good back then, but something is definitly lost in the translation.
__________________
Click for Gallery^^
The truth had to be seen. Anything else was a story, entertaining but more embroidered fib then crude, shapeless fact. ~Dave Eggers
|
|
| 07.23.2007, 08:13 PM |
|
Loscil
Baron
Registration Date: 08.06.06
Location: The Sun Bear's Den
Posts: 4394 |
|
|
Ok.
Im sorry. what i said did cause confusion and was probably wrong in context.
I meant that in general people, who dont have an anti potter disposition from the beginning on, such as SanFan does (which is okay btw), agree that the books are good.
Its not just the maniacs that say it.
And although reviews are not everything, the reviews are also good.
ANd I do find that what pulls me through the book is not the legacy, or the hype, but the actual story. and the writing.
maybe thats just me.
I did think that this last book was amazing. Full stop.
Thats me.
Lets make some people finish it so that we can talk about it.
|
|
| 07.24.2007, 01:18 PM |
|
Miyrru
Graphic Designer
Registration Date: 08.16.06
Location: Freezing cold Northern Ontario
Posts: 7178 |
|
|
you got me inthe wrong context, i read the first 3 books, started in on the fourth and thought the series hit a snag, i was still waiting for something big to happen, or it to get interesting. i gave them a chance, its just that they suck, and i couldnt continue as i was bored silly reading them. we all have our own preferences. But you just cant say that the book is great and that it is a fact. it can be perceived to be good by a large number of people, that still doesnt really mean anything.
__________________
Click for Gallery^^
The truth had to be seen. Anything else was a story, entertaining but more embroidered fib then crude, shapeless fact. ~Dave Eggers
|
|
| 07.24.2007, 05:37 PM |
|
foreignfilmfreak
Miyazaki's Best Friend
Registration Date: 10.02.06
Location: Japan
Posts: 7589 |
|
|
I might read it...in a few years. I remember I used to hate Lemony Snicket's books, and it took two years to make me read them. Then people started stealing them from me..
|
|
| 07.24.2007, 06:00 PM |
|
Ray15
Totoro
Registration Date: 04.08.07
Location: Florida
Posts: 707 |
|
|
I got pulled over at a hatty potter movie two dayys ago, it was because it was uber boring.
I liked the first four, the 5th was pretty boring until the end
__________________
Thanks for the Sig #1 Sanfan
|
|
| 07.24.2007, 10:01 PM |
  |
OnYourMark
Warawara
Registration Date: 08.16.06
Location: Hawaii, USA
Posts: 236 |
|
|
did any of you get those misprinted HP books?
__________________
"Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" -Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775.
|
|
| 07.25.2007, 05:02 PM |
|
Farren
Baron
Registration Date: 07.18.07
Location: Tasmania, Australia
Posts: 2163 |
|
|
the movies aren't that good but the books are ok nothing to crave home about though
__________________
pigeons funk the impossible
|
|
| 07.25.2007, 08:53 PM |
|
arren18
Administrator
Registration Date: 08.15.06
Location: Edinburgh
Posts: 10681 |
|
|
Love it. The books are brilliant. Mostly, the films are pretty impressive, if nothing to rave about. I just got the final book, at long last. It made me very happy.
Also, as I mentioned in another thread just moments ago, I've never really managed to get into Lord of the Rings. It just shows that things can work both ways.
quote:
Originally posted by kk-on-keys
I have never read a Harry Potter book in my life
However today I went to my local bookshop
Read the last chapter
Smiled at the shop assistant who looked at me with an expression of horror
And happily skipped back out the shop
I am shocked.  I expected better of you.
quote:
Originally posted by kk-on-keys
Look at Rihanna. She's been number one for what - ten, eleven weeks now?
A perfect example of something crap yet hugely popular.
__________________
|
|
| 07.29.2007, 03:12 PM |
|
Orphic Okapi
Baron
Registration Date: 04.08.07
Location: Saskatchewan
Posts: 1335 |
|
|
I think both of the extremes--the fanatics and the haters--are at fault. People who say the Harry Potter books are awful are just being stupid. Ask any literary critic who's read them and they'll tell you the books are good, even if they're not great literature. On the other hand, people who claim they're the greatest books ever written obviously haven't read too much.
I enjoy the series, and I think the books are definitely worth reading. But they're not going to change the world or anything.
__________________
 I like tea!
|
|
| 08.01.2007, 03:31 PM |
|
arren18
Administrator
Registration Date: 08.15.06
Location: Edinburgh
Posts: 10681 |
|
|
Finished it last night. WHOA. That was a mindfork-and-a-half.
__________________
|
|
| 08.02.2007, 06:31 AM |
|
Spungwa
Tanuki
Registration Date: 09.21.06
Location: UK
Posts: 55 |
|
|
Well i finshed the last book on Friday, and have to say i throughly enjoyed it, the first half of the book was quite slow, it was all building up to the last half of the book.
As for comparing Harry Potter to LOTR (which i also love) i would say from a story point of view it is just as good. Doesn't have all the descriptive narrative and back story history that LOTR is littered with, but then it doesnt need to. It is based in a world we know. Ok so the wizarding world is a slightly distorted version of our world, but it still easy to relate their world to ours. School is school whether you call chemistry chemistry or potions.
People always say it is predictable, well then im obviously quite dumb because i have never guessed the complete plot, parts yes, but not everything. The ends are usually a bit rubbish as they end up with a complete recap of everything that you should have already worked out by that point, but then this is probably good for the kids.
Well my 2 pennies worth, back to finishing all the discworld books for me, 3 to go  then i need to find something new to read........
Spungwa
|
|
| 08.06.2007, 06:52 AM |
|
Artoo
Warawara
Registration Date: 07.19.07
Location: UK
Posts: 160 |
|
|
quote:
Originally posted by Orphic Okapi
I enjoy the series, and I think the books are definitely worth reading. But they're not going to change the world or anything.
I think they have already changed the world, in a small way - I think they've made a generation more literate than they would have been. Perhaps more evolution than revolution, but a change nonetheless.
__________________
Let us go forth together in search of the treasure of Lapis Lazuli! Have no fear. Space is deformed on the night of the new moon.
|
|
| 08.07.2007, 06:23 PM |
|
Roarkiller
Your Daddy-O
Registration Date: 06.03.03
Location: Home, resting...
Posts: 6077 |
|
|
The brother bought it, I saw it lying around, I finished it in less than 12 hours.
And that's considered slow for my standards.
While I don't deny that the final book introduced enough new twists and ideas for it to be interesting, the general flow was exactly as I had predicted, and a couple of the twists are so lame it's embarrasing.
And I still manage to see mistakes along the way, the Gryffindor sword being the most obvious.
Like Orphic said, only idiots will call the series rubbish, and only fanatics will call it fantastic. Above all, I think we have to remind ourselves that the books are targeted at kids. It's a CHILDREN'S NOVEL people.
__________________
I am me.
I am who I am.
I am Roarkiller.
No one else is me.
Roarkiller.net
Isakaya High RPG Site
quote:
Originally posted by fenkashi
Screw your opinions, they are not relevant ^^.
|
|
| 08.08.2007, 04:57 AM |
|
Cloud
Ohmu
Registration Date: 07.15.06
Location: Beijing
Posts: 350 |
|
|
I totally agree with the Okapi!
I dont hate Potter or J.K.Rowling (I really think she deserved it!) but I hate these hysterical Fans who wear witchoutfits and sleep three days in front of a bookshop just for a book... 
I hate the merchandising-machine around the books and the hype of the Pottermania
__________________
I luv the susuwatari^^
Post last edited by Cloud on 08.08.2007, 05:17 AM.
|
|
| 08.08.2007, 05:16 AM |
|
|
|
|
|
Online Ghibli
Ghibli Tavern is powered by WoltLab, hosted by Teragon Networks
|
|
