Harry Potter

[rednax]

I was so shocked when I found this book didn't have a thread. So, this is the discussion thread for all things magical we muggles want to talk about. ;) Talk about which book was your favorite, if you like Harry Potter or not, the comparisons between the books and movies, the characters, the plot in general, and J. K. Rowling.

I am a huge Harry Potter Fan, and my favorite book is Order of the Phoenix, followed by Half-Blood Prince, then Deathly Hallows. I didn't like the fourth that much, since it deviated from the general storyline of quidditch and school.

Some of my favorite characters beside the trio were Neville, Ginny, Luna, and the twins.

The movies are generally good, and usually have a bit more comedy in them, but stray away from the storyline, more than I'd like.

I'm looking very forward to the last two movies.

I've read each book at least 2 times, most at least 3.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard (released last December) was a very good book.

I'm sorry for being so random, I'm just trying to get some discussion going. :p

[habs1009]

My favourite books are the same as you execpt I liked the fourth book.

[NecroBlade]

Something must be wrong with your poll. It has more than 2 options and a variety of responses.


I only read book 1 and don't really have interest in reading the rest. It was good, but nowhere near everyone telling me "OMG I was so hooked after just reading the first book!!!1one" :shrug:

[ABOMINATION]

I don't like these books. I flipped through one book, and wasn't impressed. Some might say 'read them all and you'll love them' but I've never felt the urge to. I prefer sticking to my Michael Chrichton, Tom Clancy, and Frank Peretti books.

[Aldin]

I read 'em. Books 1-3 were a fun youth-fantasy cycle. Everything else kinda sucked. No, that's not fair, books 4-6 were okay, but should have ether been darker or lighter. As it was, they were too dark to have the same feel as books 1-3 and they weren't dark enough to qualify as good stand alone dark fantasy. Book 7 sucked. Pacing was terrible, plot was contrived and resolution was neither interesting nor satisfying.

~Aldin, who feels like Rowling pulled a fast one on her readership

[Einar's_Strategist]

Any of you guys re-read through them after the 7th came out? I read a book a day for that series, in order, for a week straight. With the information still fresh in my mind, I saw a lot foreshadowing. My favorite is actually the fifth, because it gives a great show of the Weasly twins genius, and a silly governing group watching the house fall around their paranoid ears.

[Jandars_Hope]

I only read book 1 and don't really have interest in reading the rest. It was good, but nowhere near everyone telling me "OMG I was so hooked after just reading the first book!!!1one" :shrug:
I was never hit but the Harry Potter craze and when I borrowed the first book from a friend I wasn't bothered one way or the other. I tried to read the second book but couldn't make it past the first chapter. It just bored me to tears and I didn't feel the magic. :p

[Messenger]

Book 7 sucked. Pacing was terrible, plot was contrived and resolution was neither interesting nor satisfying.Admission #1: I did not read the books; I heard the complete series on Audio CD. But it was the unadulterated version, I heard it all.

Admission #2: I was biased against them. I didn't want to like them. Not because of the whole witch/wicca thing, but because I thought they were 'kids' books.


Conclusion #1: The series is cohesive and needs to be considered as one complete story, much the same way as Star Wars needs all three movies. Even though 'A New Hope' can sorta stand alone, it really is the first act in an unfolding inter-gallactic drama.

Conclusion #2: Aldin is wrong. The ending revelation (and I'll not reveal it for those who don't know) was a surprise on the level of Bruce Willis's discovery, in the Sixth Sense, that he was dead the whole movie (sorry for those of you who haven't seen that movie, but it's been out many years now, you should know about this). The ending satisfies anyone with a pulse. Which leads me to my last conclusion...

Conclusion #3: Aldin is a zombie. Your cover is blown, my friend.

[Aldin]

Brains!

~Aldin, gnawingly

[Jim]

Brains!

~Aldin, gnawingly
Aldin's wedding cake?
http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs226.snc1/7324_188017846220_517231220_4459285_1795655_n.jpg

[Agent Minivann]

I only read book 1 and don't really have interest in reading the rest. It was good, but nowhere near everyone telling me "OMG I was so hooked after just reading the first book!!!1one" :shrug:
I was never hit but the Harry Potter craze and when I borrowed the first book from a friend I wasn't bothered one way or the other. I tried to read the second book but couldn't make it past the first chapter. It just bored me to tears and I didn't feel the magic. :p
That is almost exactly my experience. We saw the movies and my wife read the books. I decided to read them and couldn't get past the beginning of the second book. I think I got as far as them getting to school, but then something came up that was more important than reading them. When I had the time to read it again, I just didn't care. I thought the first movie was better than the book, and I wasn't that crazy about the movie. I still think the third movie is the best of the series, and that is mostly because it has the least Voldemort.

[sixthflagbearer]

Ennervate! ;) (if you don't know what that does, READ THE BOOKS!) I absolutely love the books. They all have something new/different in them. The one problem I see is that the first book is a little bland compared to the rest, but it is still an enjoyable read. Also, the beginnings of the second and sixth books are kind of boring, especially the sixth book's (I actually just skipped the whole first chapter after reading a few pages the first time I read it.)

Book 1: HP and The Sorcerer's stone (Philosopher's stone for you Europeans)
first book, I found it interesting, although it goes by very quickly. fun fact: they only tell you the words for 3 spells in the whole book (vs 27+ in the 4th)

Book 2: HP and The Chamber of Secrets: Begins kind of boring, but action/ mystery starts soon after that.

Book 3: HP and The Prisoner of Azkaban: Very exciting all the way through, and huge climax at the end, although there is not really a big physical fight between 'good' and 'evil'.

Book 4: HP and The Goblet of Fire: First really big book (twice the size of the 1,2 or 3rd books). Starts out very interesting, then skyrockets, then kind of goes on a roller coaster in terms of how much action, until at the very end there is the 2nd biggest climax in the series.

Book 5: HP an The Order of The Phoenix: Longest book of the series (I believe). Has the probably most hated character in the series (topping even Voldemort :shock: in my mind). Has the 3rd highest climax at the very end.

Book 6: HP and The Half-Blood Prince: Starts out extremely boring, but only for the first chapter. There is a new teacher, and Snape becomes much happier because of that. Dumbledore confides in Harry what keeps Voldemort :shock: 'alive', and at the end comes one of the saddest moments in the book.

Book 7: HP and The Deathly Hallows: Final book in the series. It wraps the whole story up well, and comes down to a descision by Harry that allows the rest of the Wizarding world to come closer to defeating Voldemort :shock:.


In my opinion the only bad movie is the 6th one. It leaves out the best parts, and if I remember right, even adds some things that are not even close to what is in the books.

[Chardar]

I didn't care for the 4th or 6th movie, but all of the others were pretty good. The 3rd and 7th are by far the best though.

All of the books were amazing, especially 4 and 5.

[Master of Disaster]

Brains!

~Aldin, gnawingly
Aldin's wedding cake?
http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs226.snc1/7324_188017846220_517231220_4459285_1795655_n.jpg

That's a wedding cake?! You gotta be kidding me....

[MrWookiee]

I could go on forever about the goodness of Harry Potter. But I won't. Instead, I'll rag on those who don't like it. You're all mentally ill.
Avada Kedavra!
;)

[Manatee]

The only book I didn't really care for was 2. It just seemed like a repeat of the basic plot structure of 1, and thus redundant. Book 5 was my favorite by far.

[SirGalahad]

I've read them all - out loud - to my children (and my wife). In fact when we went on a 2-week vacation a few years back, my wife had to drive most of the way so that I could read.

Of course when I read out loud, it's with voices and sound effects. Came out surprisingly similar to the audio books the kids got later.

The whole household can't wait to see the last movie, which (as all movies do) will probably stray some from the actual story.

[Yodaking]

I've read them all. They started out fairly good but not mind blowing or anything, so I don't really fully understand how they became such a huge deal. Then as she became a huge star it became quite obvious that she got more and more full of her self and the books got worse and worse as a result.

Her lame attempts to inject modern day political commentary into children's fantasy books was a disastrous idea. The whole elf liberation bit should have been edited out by an editor somewhere along the process. They (her editors) did her a disservice by letting her drone on an on in several of her books. They could have cut a few hundred pages out of a few of them easily.

The last book was really awful. I only read it the one time and just did not like it at all. So many things just didn't work. For me it also appeared that she got pissed off that so many fans figured out where the story was heading so he changed it just to prove them wrong. By changing it it became worse though.

I really think that if she had written and published the first 5-6 books of the series with little fanfare, then they blew up into the huge phenomenon that they have become, they would have been much better stories. All the instant fame went to her head and all the pressure to deliver lead to trying to do too much IMO.

[Kepler]

I've read them all. They started out fairly good but not mind blowing or anything, so I don't really fully understand how they became such a huge deal. Then as she became a huge star it became quite obvious that she got more and more full of her self and the books got worse and worse as a result.

Her lame attempts to inject modern day political commentary into children's fantasy books was a disastrous idea. The whole elf liberation bit should have been edited out by an editor somewhere along the process. They (her editors) did her a disservice by letting her drone on an on in several of her books. They could have cut a few hundred pages out of a few of them easily.

The last book was really awful. I only read it the one time and just did not like it at all. So many things just didn't work. For me it also appeared that she got pissed off that so many fans figured out where the story was heading so he changed it just to prove them wrong. By changing it it became worse though.

I really think that if she had written and published the first 5-6 books of the series with little fanfare, then they blew up into the huge phenomenon that they have become, they would have been much better stories. All the instant fame went to her head and all the pressure to deliver lead to trying to do too much IMO.

I agree with much of this. Liked the HP books but didn't love them (won't ever reread tham). Didn't like the 7th book at all.

My 9 yo old son loves these books and had read and reread them many times over the last few months.

[Aldin]

Brains!

~Aldin, gnawingly
Aldin's wedding cake?
http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs226.snc1/7324_188017846220_517231220_4459285_1795655_n.jpg

That's a wedding cake?! You gotta be kidding me....

Nah, it was cool. We had to use baseball bats instead of chainsaws in the actual wedding, but the wedding party wasn't really composed of the undead so it all worked out in the end.

~Aldin, totally lying... or is he?

[BassistofDoom]

Well I hate Harry Potter. I never cared much for the books, but I thought they were alright. I just hate the character himself. He's just a dweeb. By the way, the next thing contains spoilers. Note the spoiler thing. Can't believe I read the whole 7th book just WAITING for him to die and he didn't. Well he did, but then he came back to life, the jerk.
EDIT: There. I added spoilers. :thumbsup:

[Aldin]

Nice spoiler, BoD.

~Aldin, who supposes pretty much anyone who wants to read it has read it at this point anyway

[Shockma Ranyk]

Uhh...

*Marvels in horror at the amount of HP hate in this thread*

Tarantallegra!


Okay, seriously now. I liked books and movies 2, 4, and 6 better than 1, 3, 5, and 7. Except book 5 was awesome.

[Lord Pyre]

Heh, my girlfriend love HP. I never did. The books were fun reads, I ended up reading all of them but the last one. They weren't spectacular, though. Harry himself did nothing but annoy me, and the same plot basically happened throughout most of the books. I heard what happens in the last book, how they kill basically every minor character, and some weird looophole ends it all. Just sounded stupid to me, so I lost interest. Too big a book to read just because. :p

[Chardris1287]

I really like the HP books. I've noticed that as the seiries goes on, and the character ages, the books become darker. Each story becomes more sinister, more people start to die. It's apparant in the movies as well. if you were to watch the first movie, so full of colors that stand out, and the final movie (or part 1 of the final movie) everything is gloomy, grey, and depressing. you will notice a complete change of atmosphere. I believe this change started in the 4th book

[Kaiser Cat]

What? No "I don't like it because it is devil worship" option?" :p

[I Hate Atlaga]

I really like the HP books. I've noticed that as the seiries goes on, and the character ages, the books become darker. Each story becomes more sinister, more people start to die. It's apparant in the movies as well. if you were to watch the first movie, so full of colors that stand out, and the final movie (or part 1 of the final movie) everything is gloomy, grey, and depressing. you will notice a complete change of atmosphere. I believe this change started in the 4th book

Totally true. It also corresponds with the length of the books doubling from book 4 on. I loved them, and read them all in about a week. . .

[Gladitor]

Harry Potter.

Can we have a poll about who likes the Character Harry Potter? Because I have noticed that through the entire 5 book he treats his friends like crap.

Has anyone noticed that the least talked about house is ravenclaw? That kinda pisses me off because that's my house.

I've read every book 2 times, my whole family, (minus mom and dad), loves em.

About a month ago my mom bought my family 2 day park hopper passes to harry potter world! :woot: I bought a wand 31 dollars for anyone who cared. And a ravenclaw scarf. 35 dollars.

Why do they call it harry potter world? More people are involved in the series than only harry potter.

[bumper15]

Why do they call it harry potter world? More people are involved in the series than only harry potter.

He's the chosen one, and the series is also called Harry Potter and the... It would also sell more than Ron Weasley world. I however am a fan of them just calling it Hogwarts.

[killercactus]

It's absolutely amazing I've missed this thread for this long.

I'll preface by saying that I've read every Potter book at least 3 times. I've probably read Goblet of Fire and Deathly Hallows 6+ times.

Harry Potter.

Can we have a poll about who likes the Character Harry Potter? Because I have noticed that through the entire 5 book he treats his friends like crap.

You're right, he treats everyone like crap for this whole book. However, this is done on purpose by JKR, and is meant to reflect the fact that now that Voldemort :shock: is back, his connection to Harry's mind (i.e., the piece of his soul residing in his head) is causing Harry to experience more rage and behave more aggressively. Once Voldything starts to be afraid of the connection at the end of OotP and in HBP, Harry's OK again.


Has anyone noticed that the least talked about house is ravenclaw? That kinda pisses me off because that's my house.

Yeah... Hufflepuff doesn't really get any love either, but it's only because the main characters are mostly Gryffindors and Slytherins. I do think it's kind of cool that had the "trio" not been sorted into Gryffindor due to their bravery, they probably would've each been sorted into different houses (Harry to Slytherin due to Voldything's soul and resourcefulness, Ron to Hufflepuff because he's just very loyal, and Hermoine to Ravenclaw because she's super smart and logical).



Why do they call it harry potter world? More people are involved in the series than only harry potter.

Because the books are called "Harry Potter and ...."

[Gladitor]

Why do they call it harry potter world? More people are involved in the series than only harry potter.

He's the chosen one, and the series is also called Harry Potter and the... It would also sell more than Ron Weasley world. I however am a fan of them just calling it Hogwarts.

[Ace_of_Spades]

I really like the Harry Potter series too. I do find some of the books boring, namely the first and sixth. Not that I have anything against it, but I have noticed that the only holiday celebrated is Christmas and it shows up in every movie (I think). My favorite characters are definately Fred and George. Their pranks are always funny (especially near the end of book five with Umbridge as headmaster).

The last movie is coming out tomorrow at midnight, does anyone else plan on watching it?

[JaclynR]

i remember i was looking forward to every new HP book
i didn't go to sleep before i finished one :)
even though i was already a grown up when the last ones came out i still enjoyed every word :)
kind of miss reading them for the 1st time

[Strange_Love]

My first experience with Harry Potter was with my grandmother. She volunteered at the local Library and brought it home to me and said that everyone was talking about it. She started reading it to me. (I was 8) That was how it began. She only got threw the third chapter before I had to go home but I made my dad go buy the book with me so that we could start reading it together. My dad read them to me while I was younger and then as I got older we would read them separately and discuss. My favorite book was by far Half Blood Prince. I balled my eyes out. My least favorite was the fourth. I have watched all the movies but I pick them apart.

[killercactus]

I guess I should link this here in case anyone wants to help out:

Harry Potter Custom Heroscape Project (http://www.heroscapers.com/community/showthread.php?t=44969)