Harry Potter Sucks Part 2
Even though many of you have tried to sway my opinion of the Harry Potter series, the credibility of the author, and the depth of the books. I still strongly believe that the books lack depth and the literary substance. I also know that ya'll do not take my opinion seriously because I have never read any of them myself, which I understand totally. So in order to gain some credibility for myself this week I am going to try to get my hand on a Harry Potter book, most likely one of the later ones because it sounds like they are more mature and "deep". I will let ya'll know when I get back what I think. I may even call one of you if you are lucky enough. It will most likely be you Maggie, since you left the most hateful comment and the smallest one too...showing me that you maybe too filled with hate to even comment on my opinion.
Right now, I am going to try to respond to some of your arguments left on my comment page. Since, I have never read any of the books my opinion is different from a lot of people because they have read them. Try to look at it from my point of view as someone who sees a bunch of hype. I'm sure many of you can relate because we have all witnessed how the masses seem crazy. For example, recent crazes such as Star Wars (both old and new), Beenie Babies, Ferbies, Tickle Me Elmos, Brittany Spears, Backstreet Boys, Reality TV and Napoleon Dynamite strongly resemble the same craze as Harry Potter. All of these things that society has crazed over usually had nothing to do with the quality of the product, music, tv, or movie. I am witnessing the same thing with Harry Potter.
What I see is an author pumping out a lot of books in a short amount of time. Right there that turns me off because of the fact the author is not showing much dedication to her writings. A good book to me is when you can see the authors research and creativeness that goes into to the book itself. Steinbeck did it by researching his surroundings in California. Another good comparison will be The Da Vinci Code, which also cause A LOT of hype. But to me this hype was different, I heard all over of people who said while reading the book their faith and beliefs were challenged and also that people learned about art and art history from the book, I mean the actual facts about the artwork that Brown laced into the nonfiction. Dan Brown worked with a art historian while writing the book. I'm not hearing the same questions from people who read the Harry Potter series. In fact I don't think I've heard any questions. However, its very hard for a fantasy writer to research because its fantasy, there is very little fact involved if any. So I guess I will make a comparison to another fantasy series that more closely relates to the Harry Potter series. J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series shows unbelievable cleverness and creativeness that I see lacking in the Harry Potter series. First off, before I read any of the books I heard about the brilliantness that was put into Tolkien's series. I heard he created his own language that can be written and spoken. And also his imagery and symbolism in his books was an inspiration that many authors looked to after his writings. Tolkien unlike Rowling spent over 30 years in creating his series. The Hobbit came out in the mid-1930s while the Lord of the Rings Series was published in the mid-50s. The time spent creating his series shows in his work. Its hard for me to believe that the Harry Potter series can have the same depth that Tolkien shows in his writings. I believe if Rowling would have spent a little more time on her work it would be so much greater, especially for you the readers. Imagine if she wouldve spent another year in developing her characters, plot, and settings for her books. I'm sure ya'll would be even more impressed and intrigued than ya'll are now. The hastiness that the books are being pumped out is just such a major turn off for me. Another thing is test of time that books have yet to be up against. The books have touched one generation of people. But can and will they touch another. I know they are being read by both the young and the old of this time--which is a huge accomplishment. But will they hold up to a generation in another era? I can't answer this and neither can you but its a good thing to think about. I also can't respond to your arguement on symbolism until I read the books. So I won't. But, interpretation, especially literary, is so biased and can be seen in so many different lights. Every reader has a different feel for the each book. For example, while Spencer spoke of Harry being compared to Christ and a Christian theme, Caitlin and Jen spoke of a WWII theme. Both are very different.
Also, the plot make-up of the books, which I gathered from viewing the movies, is very shallow and unappealling to me. I have no interest in seeing the third movie. I know movies are bad ways to get a view on a literary work but the movies do follow the plot of the book while lacking in the development of the characters and setting.
So thats it for now. I'm sure there are holes in my argument, but oh well, I'm not perfect and I'm definetely not good at debating. I don't have the time to type all of my thoughts and views on the series. It would be better as a face to face discussion rather than typing. Just point out the holes in my argument. I won't cry. At least not as much as I did last night. Thanks Maggie.
I will try to read at least one of the books while I'm at the beach.
posted by Brian @ 7:56 AM
3 Comments:
At least you are willing to try to read the books, but, again, until you have read them I think your argument has no merit. And no, you cannot expect the movies to show you the value of the books. It's just not the same. Also, I have to point out that the series does get darker and more mature as it goes on, so the early books can be seen as much "fluffier" than the later ones, although, to me, they are still quite enjoyable reads. Jen says, " tell him if he wants to look for really well-crafted writing and he's only going to read one of the books, read the fifth one, and not to look for the depth in her writing by watching someone else's interpretation of the first two books, which are children's books."
I don't know how well this randomly picking a book out of the series is going to work, because I think you will have missed some things not having read the other books. I really think the series needs to be taken as a whole. But I'll take what I can get.
Lastly, complain about the hype all you want, but shunning something just because it's popular seems very shallow to me. These books have gotten countless children to become readers, and getting a kid to sit and read a 700 page book is no easy feat. I know adults who can't do that. Depth or no depth, JK Rowling would eternally have my respect for this accomplishment alone. as for her writing the books so quickly, she thought about this story--thought out the entire HP world--for many years before she was published. The details that she can relate, some of which don't even make it into the books, but which she still knows because she knows the background of her characters and their motivations through and through--it's simply incredible. She created this world, and she knows it backwards and forwards, and that is why she can turn out the books so quickly.
I concur with Caitlin here. I recommend the 3rd and 4th book, but you do kinda need the background from the 1st and 2nd. I dont think a comparison between Rowling and Tolkien is really fair. They wrote in different times, to different audiences. A good work should be timeless, i know, but like you said, we won't know that about Harry Potter until many years from now. Mainly, Tolkien wasn't written for children, dispite the fact that children can read it. HP was written for children. That's part of what makes you appreciate Rowling is how the story and depth has grown with the readers. As readers could handle more, she dished it out. The 5th book is the odd duck of the 6 so far, in my opinion. It was good and all, but very angry. I find it hard that you'd like it for a random read w/o any background. Try The Prisoner of Azkaban or The Goblet of Fire.
The Goblet of Fire (4) is my favorite(except maybe for 6, but I haven't decided yet), so I would recommend that one too. Again, though, I really don't know how well reading one without the background of the others is going to work.
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