My husband once made his own sauce for eggrolls (we were out of soysauce) Worcestershire, ketchup, yellow mustard, and raspberry jelly! He loved it, I hated it!
Printable View
My husband once made his own sauce for eggrolls (we were out of soysauce) Worcestershire, ketchup, yellow mustard, and raspberry jelly! He loved it, I hated it!
marmite...(shudders)
Some people write well and some don't. A variety of "fantasy" has arisen in the last 20 years that is pointless, but there is a variety of "fantasy" that has its roots in ancient mythology that includes some truly great literature. I suspect that role-playing games have led to the split.Quote:
Originally Posted by Apotropaic
hmm, why role-playing?
Role playing games can go on for a very long time, and they are more about the activity than about concluding the activity. Some of the books by role players have a structure that is similar to the games with a section at the beginning setting the scene and general activity, then the action begins and the characters go through a variety of situations.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chava
I am not saying that there is a one to one corespondence between the games and the books, but there appears to be a relationship.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stock_character
I actually found Harry Potter and Lord Voldermort given as examples there :D loool
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5119836.stmQuote:
Author JK Rowling has said two characters will die in the seventh and final Harry Potter book, but she has been careful not to reveal which ones.
She told the Richard and Judy show that she had long known how the series would end, because she had written the last chapter "in something like 1990".
"One character got a reprieve, but I have to say two die that I didn't intend to die," she said.
She refused to elaborate, as "I don't want the hate mail or anything else".
Rowling said she could understand why authors might want to finish off their main characters in order to ensure they could never be resurrected.
She would not say if this would be the case with Harry.
However, she admitted she had "never been tempted to kill him off before the final because I've always planned seven books, and I want to finish on seven books".
'Arrogant'
This approach had meant she had been "lambasted" by several people, she said.
"I think they thought it was very arrogant of me to write the end of my seven books series when I didn't have a publisher and no-one had heard of me."
The author also told the Channel 4 programme she didn't expect to create a character more successful than the teenage wizard.
"I don't think I'm ever going to have anything like Harry again. You just get one like Harry."
On Sunday, Rowling attended the Queen's 80th birthday party at Buckingham Palace, and said she was "doing well" with the final book.
However, she did not confirm a publication date.
Are you kidding? I love Harry Potter, in fact the only reason I started reading in the first place was because of it! I was one of those I-hate-reading-it's-for-dorks kind of girls untill my friend convinced me to read the 3rd HP book! Now I read everything that I can! J. K Rowling rocks!
Now, I wonder which two characters are going to die. Any guesses? I think that Ginny can be the one to die and the other can be Voldemort.
I do not think I have put my opinion in this thread yet, and it comes awfully late. I strongly enjoyed Harry Potter, and probably wouldn't have picked up Chronicles or LOTR if I had not read those first. Someone said in an earlier post that the series deals with a lot of growing up issues and death, they also mentioned that there were some really nice quotations. I think so as well. I am not sure if it was the first movie only or in the first book as well, where Dumbledore found Harry at the mirror and he told him "It does not do to dwell on dreams alone and forget to live."
There is also a book out there (and a college class surprisingly) that deals with philosophy and Harry Potter. The book is called something along the lines of "Philosophy of Harry Potter: If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts" I have not checked it out though.
For someone who said that the theme is extremely adolescent, well, yes, it is a child's book. But reading it for entertainment is no crime either. I think it expands the imagination and does have the capability to start something that will blossom into habitual reading habits. But then there are those who just follow the trends, it won't make readers of them all. But don't bash it please.
The first Harry Potter book came out when I was about 8 or 9,so it is neccessary for me to read them because they are essentially the reason why I read so much today.Granted they do not have the signifigance of Faulkner or Dostoevsky,but I will read everyone that Rowling puts out.I enjoy them very much! :D
Hmmm....Harry Potter. Let's see.
I was young enough to properly appreciate the books when they first came out, and loved them (although I don't think at any point I thought of them as "my favourite books"). I was a keen reader even before I discovered Harry Potter, so I can't say that they made me fall in love with reading, but I think it's good that they've managed to turn a whole generation into book-worms!
But as for me - by the time the last book came out, I had lost interest. I think they are good books for children, and I can see why they're so popular, even though I'm a little sick of the hype. But personally, I'm just not interested in them any more. I feel like I've outgrown them, and now it feels a little strange going back to them.
A series of books that both children and adults can appreciate, that I much prefer, is "His Dark Materials". I would choose Northern Lights over Harry Potter any day...
this sooooo needed to be said!Quote:
Originally Posted by Levenbreech Vor
hehe, i think all the arguments in favour of the HP books have alreay been given...
i tend to agree with the idea that any book that will make people read is good... if you keep in mind that it's written for little kids and lots of kids don't read any books at all, that's certainly an improvement... i mean even if it's not a particularly good book, that's better than reading none... what's important in this context isn't so much what the brats can learn in terms of ideas, style etc but their basic literacy... i.e. lots of them have trouble even stringin two letters together... so they need to practice this and they are more likely to practice it reading easy-to-read books that cater to their childish interests....
but yep. I'm extremely disappointed in the sequels... i would of thunk (there's literacy for you :) ) that the style and characters would develop, especially as her original readers grew older, so they would have been able to grasp more complex ideas now etc...
gotta rush, will rant some more later :)
Why do adults read Harry Potter, and is this a form of infantile escapism?
Because the Harry Potter books are fairly well written with good, although young characters, and the theme od good versus evil is ageless. Like all fiction there is an element of escapism.Quote:
Originally Posted by Medea86
Need there be any reason other than entertainment? :) They surely entertain me!
Why do adults eat sweets? :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Medea86
In my case: My daughter likes the series, and kept talking about them so I read them too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Medea86
I don't know, really. I'm certainly childish enough ;) ...and also very curious. Besides, I am always short on reading matter, and tend to read just about anything within reach :lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by Medea86
/Claes
I'm a big fan of childrens books. i find that sometimes a lot more thought is put in to them and therefore they can be more enjoyable.
As For Harry Potter... they are what i call ageless books. They are books written with children in mind but have contexts that an adult would understand where a child wouldn't.this means that as you get older you realise things in the books that you didnt notice before because you're now that little bit older and wiser.:D
Also the Harry Potter books come in both adult and children editions. The only difference is the cover so it is actually being sold to everybody no matter what age you are. They are not the only books that are sold this way. Philip Pulmans 'His dark materials' trilogy, and Trudi Canavans 'Black Magicians' triliogy were both also sold in adult and childrens editions. In the bookshops i supervise you would find them in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy section.:)
The Harry Potter books are the only fantasy books I read. I prefer more serious stuff like Jane Austen, etc. But it's very entertaining and I love the world JK. Rowling has created. Some very colourful characters too. Especially Lucius Malfoy, Lupin and Snape. Sirius is also a favourite of mine. I've even roleplayed on a HP forum for a while. haha. I'm 20 though I hardly think of myself as an adult. I guess, in a way, Harry Potter makes me feel like a kid again.
I worked the night that Half blood Prince was released and most of the people outside the shop waiting for midnight were adults, and they were all airport staff members. only a few were looking for it for their kids, the rest wanted it for themselves. I was the first person in work to hold a copy of it in my hands. got real excited.:D
yes it is :) but then, you could say that all reading is a kind of escapism because you escape to a different world. Whether that world is "serious" or "childish" doesn't make that much of a difference :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Medea86
Most good childrens books are anything but "happy-clappy", so you can't escape from conflicts or evil by reading them any more than you escape by reading "serious" literature. Many of the problems are the same/ of the same kind but simplified a bit, only the setting is different.
What's your opinion Medea?
Adults read Harry Potter because they realize that the 'infantile escapism' it offers provides better bang for your buck than the unamusing intellectual masturbation inherent in certain other 'literary' works.
LOL. Fairytale regency romances vs. coming-of-age fiction incoporating themes like terrorism, loss and puberty (and a fairly realistic and relevent portrayal to boot); perhaps I just take the seriousness of the word serious rather seriously. :crash:Quote:
The Harry Potter books are the only fantasy books I read. I prefer more serious stuff like Jane Austen, etc.
The books are well-written, the story is enjoyable and the world Rowling has created is just so neat (can't think of the word I want so I am going to have to settle for 'so neat') and I cannot wait until the last one comes out because I want to know who killed Dumbledore.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Medea86
I would like you to know that I use a very mature form of escapism that I have been working on for decades and intend to continue as long as I am able. I can only say that I have always preferred desert over the main course. What can I say? Vegetables suck. :lol:
It is an addictive read and it is best when read after a really heavy book, for it is entertaining and light:D
J.K. Rowling created a world. A whole new world. A complete new world that you would've thought it absolutely existed since Muggles started living; since Muggles discovered fire (to which the wizarding folks maybe used their wands instead); since there were good and evil.
I'm not sure why anyone would incoherently swear against the book that it would cause such ruckus in their minds as if the Queen of England was sentenced to prison. Harry Potter is just an ordinary boy who wants to live. Plots, ideas, twists, death and fluff - they all come to the book, just like how every other book is. Let's give Harry a chance. He needs us. Lord Voldemort never spared him, anyways. :p
Oh, this is just saying if we like it? Where are the theory threads...?
I'm an avid Harry Potter reader. But because of the gap between the movies and books I must admit that my interest has somewhat faded, but I still love Harry. And compared to Eragon...that author just stole the best bits and pieces of other stories and threw them together...Eragon=Aragorn, urgals=orcs and so on. I read them, and found myself cracking up at the end of Eldest. Oh, and when he was proclaiming his love to whats-her-bucket, the elf. But this is Harry Potter. I love him.
*toddles off to find theory-discussing threads*
i have read Harry Potter and Eragon, Eldest and i think that Eragon was a better book and i dont think it copied lord of the rings it may have had similar enimies and his name sounds the same as aragon but it had alot of origionality such as the completely different style and concept of magic.
Overall, it was the book that inspired a sudden burst of reading when I was younger. So, the books are wonderful~! You should continue reading them. How far are you into the series now?
I'd just like to modify a statement I made about two years ago.
Eragon is to Harry Potter what refuse is to biryani.
I was just re-reading some crap I posted and I came across this. It's funny because I said I wanted to know who killed Dumbledore but I don't think that's what I meant.... I think I meant that I wanted to know what the deal is with Snape and which side he is on....:blush:Quote:
Originally Posted by Shalot
Oh well.
Good comments, Niamh and Pensive!
I think that, even if the books are "intended" to a young audience, they contain elements deeper than the usual "child-book" has. They´re very dark, dealing with death, good x evil, and its plot is very well built.
To me, there´s a lot of prejudice in some comments and reviews about HP. People who didn´t read the books and say "it´s childish thing", or "it´s pure marketing", or things like that.
It may be the opposite of people who say Ulisses is good literature, even if they couldn´t get to the end of it.
PS: I did, and I think it´s very good. As good as HP, when it comes to the pleasure of reading and good craft.
That's exactly what it is. It's all about infantile escapism. Also, the books are written very well. They aren't really targeting children or adolescence.
I'd imagine the most common reason would be curiosity.
I've read all of the Potter series published to date and have ordered Deathly Hallow or delivery this summer. I read them because I see so much of the young people I have been privileged to teach. The characters are very real. I discussed Book 5 at great length with my physical therapist who was really bothered by Harry's antagonistic attitude until I asked her how her 15 year old daughter acted when things didn't go the way she thought they should.
why not? they're fun to read!
if harry or ron dies i will cry!
For me, I got hooked when I was younger. They are great, easy stories that don't require much...its a fun book splurge!!! I think they are great. Sure not the greatest pieces of works, but great regardless. I wouldn't put them up against Shakespeare, Fitzgerald, Homer, Wilde, Voltaire and countless other writers but they are still decent books.
I think Lupin dies.
Lupin! No! When Sirius died I cried for hours!