# The Harry Potter Series



## mommytozachandgrace (Dec 7, 2014)

I am a 26 year old mom of two kids.  Mostly I read novels, romance, the occasional mystery and a young adult book here and there.  Fantasy or whatever you would want to call it has never been a particular interest of mine.  HOWEVER with that being said, since I was a kid I have absolutely loved the Harry Potter books.  I just finished the Goblet of Fire today as a matter of fact and it's probably the 100th time I've ever read it.  I have the first four of the series and the last one as well (I need to break down and buy the whole damn set! :grin , and all of the covers are worn from being read so much.  The books never seem to get old, though the movies were a huge disappointment for me.  I watched the first two and the last one but I was severely disappointed (as one often is when a book is converted to a movie because so much is left out) and refused to watch the rest.  

Just wondered if any here have read them and what their thoughts were on the series.


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## patskywriter (Dec 7, 2014)

I enjoyed both the books and the movie versions. And I'm looking forward for the Harry Potter updates, which start this Friday (December 12) on the "Pottermore" website


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## popsprocket (Dec 7, 2014)

I reread them a few years ago and it's amazing that they hold up so well to my now-adult sensibilities about writing.

But I will disagree with you over the movies. The first ones were a bit rubbish, very childish (yet in keeping with the books), but the middle and later movies were far superior in a number of ways. They took what was essentially a children's story and helped it grow with the audience. The books did their best to follow the audience age but remained child-centred until the end.


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## escorial (Dec 8, 2014)

have not read them yet..seen all the movies but i like the story behind her success...in a flat living on benefits and now one of the UK richest woman....is that the American dream or what..ha


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## Skodt (Dec 8, 2014)

They are mostly the reason I still read today. Or even read at all for that matter. Without them I don't know if I ever would have found the magic of books. After them I started to gobble up everything in sight. I became a huge fantasy nerd, and to this day love reading fantasy books. Overall I owe a lot to the Harry Potter series.


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## Bloggsworth (Dec 8, 2014)

In Stephen King's "_*On Writing*_", published in 2000, he has, in the back, his reading list, which includes J K Rowling's _Harry Potter _series - "_She writes rattling good stories_" (Or words to that effect). If she's good enough for King, she's good enough for me...


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## mommytozachandgrace (Dec 8, 2014)

I just think anyone with enough imagination to create a whole new world with it's own vocabulary, jargon, etc. is super talented!


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## Greimour (Dec 8, 2014)

Momentary visit to my favourite boards and I come across this interesting thread.

Most of her 'made up words' were making good use of latin and other foreign languages - but she was definitely clever in her methods. For me it was the small surprises that marveled me most. Tom Marvolo Riddle. = I am Lord Voldermort (anagram) ... genius.

There is also how the past connects to the present so well. I love that. Spanning back to the beginning 'Slytherin' with the chamber of secrets all the way to Voldermort vs Harry. Then there is the Deathly Hallows. Voldermort is definitely a descendant of Slytherin, but he is also a descendant of one of the Peverell brothers (whichever one owned the resurrection stone). That means that Harry and Riddle were distantly related somehow. The interesting thing to me was that the Gaunt family were all descendants of the Peverell's and that's why Merope Gaunt originally had that stone in his ring. I am left wondering at which point in the family tree did Slytherin's bloodline come into the equation...was Harry also a descendant but down a weaker line? 

I love the Elves in HP as well as many of the 'mythical' beings and creatures that exist. The entire hidden magical world is believable so it just works incredibly well.

As a kid I devoured books, but at some point in my teenage years I abandoned reading and writing. When Harry Potter Philosophers Stone (AKA: Sorcerers Stone) was shown on SKY Premier. I watched it and then watched a 'special' about the film. It told of the book, it's huge success and how many children had taken an interest in reading again thanks to the book. So I opened the door deep down inside myself that had long since been sealed and ventured to read a book once more. I read all the books that were released within the week and read each new release within days of it hitting the shelves. I was totally addicted. The series totally rekindled my spirit for books and writing. Something that had been doused so long ago was reignited so wonderfully. To me (and many others) she revived literature from near death. To haters: That's not a statement of fact where Rowling rescued literature. It is merely a statement of fact as to how I am concerned personally (as well as acknowledging I am not the only one that was affected this way thanks to her work).

There are as many stories in life tied to that series as there are stories within the books themselves. Like Evanna Lynch (who plays Luna Lovegood) ... was, to put it simply, a depressive and suicidal person... the books rescued her. If you want her story though you should read it yourselves rather than get it second-hand from me.

If I had any gripes about the books, it would be the endings. Honestly, I was a Harry +Ginny hopeful fan...but truthfully...I feared constantly that Rowling would cave to fan pressure and change the ending of her books. I have always been typical for predicting endings and I knew deaths would be plentiful in the final book - I was really strugging to predict the ending. But one ending I knew definitely shouldn't happen and if it did it would be purely be a fan-service. Unfortunatley, that's exactly how it ended.  >.>

I refused to accept it for a long time... but then I seen a chat show where J.K admitted that the ending was written to make the fans happy rather than how she intended. From that point, I let it go. Rowlings admittance appeased me. ^_^


~Kev.


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## Ariel (Dec 10, 2014)

Ron + Hermione?  I'm not so big on that ending either.  I also wasn't huge on Ginny + Harry.  I think I was just fine without all the romances, to be honest.


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## John Galt (Dec 11, 2014)

Greimour said:


> Momentary visit to my favourite boards and I come across this interesting thread.
> 
> Most of her 'made up words' were making good use of latin and other foreign languages - but she was definitely clever in her methods. For me it was the small surprises that marveled me most. Tom Marvolo Riddle. = I am Lord Voldermort (anagram) ... genius.
> 
> ...



A "dumbledore" is a "village idiot" or "buzzing insect". I was planning on using dumbledore as an insult in my current WIP, but JK kind of killed that hope by word association with dumbledore.

I too love the house elves (Dobby is on my profile). Not so keen on some of the other creatures, except the dementors which I loved. 

In the first book, I thought Dumbledore was going to die (from the Kill The Mentor trope), so I thought it was awesome that she subverted that.


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## SwitchBack (Jan 5, 2015)

Personally, I could never get past chapter 1 of the first book. The writing style was too simple for me. I mean, except for Pet Sematary & The Mist Stephen King wasn't worth reading either so if he found the books good... bah. 

Did the writing style improve after the 1st book or was it all the same? If someone can give some thoughts, maybe I'll pick them up again.


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## Bloggsworth (Jan 5, 2015)

SwitchBack said:


> Personally, I could never get past chapter 1 of the first book. The writing style was too simple for me. I mean, except for Pet Sematary & The Mist Stephen King wasn't worth reading either so if he found the books good... bah.
> 
> Did the writing style improve after the 1st book or was it all the same? If someone can give some thoughts, maybe I'll pick them up again.



Rowling wrote books to be read by children - How long have you been masquerading as a child?


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## HeightenedState (Jan 22, 2015)

I remember the Harry Potter series is one of the reasons why I found my love for reading again. I lost it once when I was seven until I found HP to rekindle that. 

Ironically, I started reading the series when I first saw the movie.


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## Peter Baine (Feb 2, 2015)

I have to say I think Rowling is brilliant. I mean, _really __amazing! _If you read the books from start to finish--never mind the addictive trance of wanting to know what happens next you get into--the depth of the story, of the characters ... You'd swear the woman damn well LIVED there for seven years, came back, and wrote it all down. Her imagination is unprecedented. Not since JRR Tolkien have I seen this happen. 

In my opinion, the movies were great--right up to The Goblet of fire. All down hill from there. But here's something interesting: It's not their fault. There is way too much detail, too much that had to be cut (What happened to the scene in the Half-blood Prince? The with where the Prime Minister recaps all his dealings with the Minister of Magic?) and too much to be cramped in to make it a good movie. And even if--some how--they managed it, I'm pretty sure no living person would stay seated for about 10 to twelve hours, would they?

Nah ... I commend the directors, as well as the actors. They really did give it a good try. Did a pretty good job actually, considering how much they had to work with. 

But I'll always be thankful to Rowling. Writers like her come once every few generations.


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## Doja (Feb 4, 2015)

SwitchBack said:


> Personally, I could never get past chapter 1 of the first book. The writing style was too simple for me. I mean, except for Pet Sematary & The Mist Stephen King wasn't worth reading either so if he found the books good... bah.
> 
> Did the writing style improve after the 1st book or was it all the same? If someone can give some thoughts, maybe I'll pick them up again.



Her writing style did improve as the books progressed.  But to stop after one chapter?  I could understand if you finished the book and were not "feeling it" but one chapter does not do the series justice.


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## Nee (Feb 4, 2015)

Doja said:


> Her writing style did improve as the books progressed.



She wrote to fit the age and reading level of the kids she was writing for.


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## JamesR (Feb 6, 2015)

I read the first book and then the fourth. I have to say that while Rowling is nowhere near being a "great" author in the artistic, academic, and professional sense, she still is a good author in the same way I would say Stephen King is--they are "common people" authors who, while ignoring the standards of conventional writing and often writing solely for specific genres, give the people what they want and bring more people into the world of reading and writing. The fact of the matter is that Rowling inspired an entire generation of children of all colors, creeds, and nationalities to read, and I highly respect that. And while it spits at the face of conventional standards, I kind of enjoyed the two books I read. They are strangely addictive, and for the age group, simple to follow. Again, similar to Stephen King--there is nothing exceptional about them that I'd say is "fine art," nor would I place any of these authors in the same category as the greats like Poe or Tolstoy, but they are contemporary figures who've contributed a lot to writing and have inspired & brought a lot of people into our world.

My only criticism with Rowling's writing style--and this may be due to my limited reading of her work--is that I find her sentence structuring and grammar to be horribly awkward, confusing, and it just doesn't flow well. She has a tendency to use a lot of ramble-on's, misplace her commas, and simply just phrase and structure her sentences awkwardly. I'm more a fan of Richard Matheson's dry horror style of writing with short and concise sentences, clear communication, and quality over quantity of words. But maybe that's just me. Rowling's style just comes off as overly casual to me. But hey, perhaps this is why it's so addicting to read.


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## Ariel (Feb 7, 2015)

The things I find consistently impressive in this series are the lessons taught.  There's always something more to learn--about human nature; about morality and the ambiguity that can arise because humans aren't all good or bad; about faith, trust, and friendship; and about love and hate.  I love that some characters that are originally presented as villains turn out to be good while some who are good turn out to be bad.  There's lessons on betrayal and the consequences of how people are treated. The whole series is rich with things to learn and (in the books) they aren't always presented in a way that clubs the reader over the head.  Yes, it's written in an easy, accessible way but I would place it amongst the classics for children because it achieves what many classic children stories aim towards--teaching what it is to be human.

It is frustrating that so many adults look at this series as they would an adult series--Tolstoy, Poe, and the like wrote for _adults._  The Harry Potter series was written for children.  While some things can be compared (grammar, spelling, storytelling) the basic precepts for what would define each as classics cannot.


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## MamaStrong (Feb 7, 2015)

Never read them. Seen one of the movies, forgot which one, and nearly fell asleep. If the library has them for free, I may try to give them a read. Just wasn't interested.


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## JustRob (Feb 7, 2015)

I've seen the films on TV but had no reason to read the books, maybe because I'm there and doing it for real, so to speak. I was educated at a school like that, out in the country away from reality and the city where I was born and raised. We had our special train to take us there but our school was better, having its very own station with seven platforms at that time. We wore long flowing robes of ancient origin and learned the Latin, although the only spell that I ever encountered was one spent in detention for not learning it well enough. 

My parents were hoping to send me to a grammar school but then the mysterious letter came which said that I'd been chosen to go and live in this other place, one that they didn't fully comprehend, just like the reason for my having been chosen at all. We ate our meals in the enormous hall hung with paintings and panelled with wood under bronze chandeliers and learned the history of that magical place from hundreds of years ago. When I left, in the years to come I would wonder why other people didn't think like me, but then I realised that they were different, hadn't been there to find out what the world could be if only people were prepared to let the magic happen.

In the dormitory in the evening our master read us _The Hobbit _and then _Lord of The Rings _so we fell asleep thinking of another world where friendship and opposition were quite distinct and easily identified compared to the grey world in which we live.

Now I am old and I take on the task of going to a young person's home and telling them that they are special, can go there too if they're brave and willing and many have good reason to agree, like the boy who was forced to live in a garden shed who was found by another like me and many others whose stories need not be told. Yes, there really is a magic place but it's the simple magic of care for the children of humanity regardless of who they are without a single muggle to be turned away in sight.

Any day now a little girl may be invited to join this community because I singled her out as special. We both wait on tenterhooks for the magic to happen and I hope that it does for her sake.

I've no idea how well the Harry Potter books are written because I'm busy witnessing a reality far more compelling, but then not everyone is fortunate enough to live in my world.


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## Nee (Feb 7, 2015)

*Try Robert Galbraith’s (JKR) the Cuckoo’s Calling & Silkworm. These are modern who-done-its, set in London and written for adults. *


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