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Hi mona amonQuote:
Originally Posted by mona amon
Just a question did toou get an idea of why the sudden shift of styke?
I am trying to understand the title and how it actually fit in the story.
I had a different conversation somewhere else about but still could not figure it out.
Thank you.
That's my feeling, too, Mona.
I would place The Quotations of Chairman Mao more with the required reading in a literature class, like Eliot's The Wasteland. It is clear why these are read--for survival, not enjoyment. Neither of these examples, in my view, are great literature.Quote:
Originally Posted by JBI
However, getting a bestseller in a free market place deserves to be acknowledged as an achievement. The most important question is how that happened, not a rant disparaging both the author and her readership that it should not have happened.
I am into the Potter series & never to review them as they are a special matter to my heart. I shall not enjoy a novel by Rowling for adults. I don't know why!
Quote:
Originally Posted by YesNo
I'm seriously getting sick of this sort of ridiculous statement.
I read The Wasteland for enjoyment. It was an incredibly enjoyable experience for me. I know a ton of others who have also read it for enjoyment.
You're wrong.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nevey
Will you read other books for adults? Or just continue on with Children' fantasy books?
I can't believe that anyone over the age of eleven would read HP , with the exception of children's book reviewers, because as far as literature is concerned, the phrase reductio ad absurdum comes to mind. The same goes for films about Batman. When I was about nine-years-old, a friend and I fantasised about being Batman and Robin, but obviously one grows out of such things: or does one? Now I see Batman is not a kid's entertainment but, with a bit of extra violence thrown in and presumably, some sex and a few computer graphics, he is suddenly 'adult' entertainment. Barnum was wrong; there isn't one born every minute, there are dozens.Quote:
Originally Posted by tonywalt
Mostly because the Harry Potter books got more graphic as they went on. People get tortured violently, expletives are used(In book 7, a character gave his brother a middle finger), very expletive references to sex. It wasn't just to pander to older readers either. Rowling planned that from the beginning. I mean, its a series about a kid who is destined to face off against a wizard Hitler who killed thousands of innocents when he was alive, including the main character's parents. Thing was going to get violent eventually.
I'm not trying to defend the quality of the books, but it was clear the series was getting to get too dark for kids later on.
I think this is because her publishers realised that some adults were reading her and asked her to raise the bar to keep the ball rolling. It's instructive to note that she hasn't ruled out yet another Potter book should the attempt at writing serious fiction fail.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr.lucifer
My neices and nephews love any entertainment that is fast, loud, explosive, and with a very formulaic plot. As for reading......Quote:
Originally Posted by Emil Miller
There is hope though, quite a few very young people here-good for them.
I can't speak for him or her, but I didn't read HP for the first time until I was 20. I read plenty of other stuff.Quote:
Originally Posted by tonywalt
Have you read Mao? He was regarded as a literary genius by the early 30s primarily for his work on Guerrilla warfare. Much of his reception and success rested on his literary and artistic prowess.Quote:
Originally Posted by YesNo
I do not know how much comes through in translation, but he wasn't exactly stupid.
As for required reading and whatnot, how much of Rowling's sales do you attribute to advertising, rather formal or informal? If advertising did not work, nobody would do it.
Case and point this book here - the propaganda of the text basically generated its sales - the book from what I gather would have remained unpublished or unread had it not been for the fuel of her advertisement.
Hao Ran would not have been the biggest author of the 70s if it weren't for state backing. Rowling not the biggest of the late 90s early 2000s if not for corporate backing. Do not get delusions that somehow this has something to do with their excellence as authors.
I would place The Quotations of Chairman Mao more with the required reading in a literature class, like Eliot's The Wasteland. It is clear why these are read--for survival, not enjoyment. Neither of these examples, in my view, are great literature.
As opposed to Laura Day's books, no doubt.:rolleyes5:
Personally, I have read The Wasteland dozens of times... and I surely wouldn't have wasted my time if I didn't gain a good deal of pleasure from the experience. Indeed, I would count The Wasteland among the few dozen books that have had the greatest impact on me.
You beat me to it with this comment, Pierre.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pierre Menard
It's an achievement, yes, but one must consider what kind of an achievement that is--if you're asserting that any piece of art that gains huge success in a free market is somehow a substantial measure of worth, I guess we can put the "good art" label on Lady Gaga, Kesha, and Justin Bieber. They've all undoubtedly had quite astounding achievements culturally, monetarily, and business-wise, but artistically? Arguable at best.Quote:
Originally Posted by YesNo
Yes, but let's keep in mind that you find any film made after WWII to be overly stimulative.Quote:
Originally Posted by Emil Miller
I don't buy into this whole "she had it all planned out" crap. I read the first book and seen some of the movies, and I honestly believe she was just making it up as she goes. There're so many things that just come out of nowhere (not to mention magic to help get out of tricky potholes she'd write herself into) and complete irrelevancies to the larger story (I believe I remember a friend of mine telling my about a plot deviation about Hermione wanting equal rights for trolls that worked at Hogwarts or something--wtf?). That isn't anything unique to long fantasy series. The Wheel of Time, A Song of Ice and Fire, hell, even Gerofe Lucas claimed to have all 6 episodes of Star Wars planned out before even making A New Hope, and I don't buy that for a second.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr.lucifer
As to evaluating the quality of children's literature, that seems like something very hard for an adult reader (or, at least, this adult reader) to do. How can I judge how good a book for children is? I'm not a child anymore. I can say what children's boom I've enjoyed, sure, but I don't know if that says anything about the quality of the book as it pertains to its genre.
It makes no difference. The bulk of potter readers were adults and the later books were marketed for young adults. This children's lit excuse makes no sense.