The books from the perspective of a HP newbie

Television, Movies Games and Books Harry Potter
#1

So after playing catch-up with the books, I’ve finally gotten through all seven. I have some thoughts on the series in general since I was so turned off by all the hype and hysteria that I only just now read all 7 books in less than two months. This will be spoilery in case anyone is like me from two months ago and still hasn’t read the books!

  • The first two movies I think stayed extremely true to the books. So much so that reading the books after seeing the two movies felt boring and repetitive, almost as if I was reading the novelization of the books as opposed to the other way around. Definitely not the case for 3, 4, and 5 though!

  • I can see why people like the third book the best now – none of the twists of the other books were as satisfying and uniquely awesome. And if I remember correctly, this was the last book until 7 that didn’t end on a major downer. The book did provide a lot more background on Sirius and the older generation’s past, while I liked the way they handled the time loop better in the movie – the second go-round made a lot more sense when you saw it in front of you.

  • I’m honestly surprised how relatively spoiler-free I was able to stay for 5, 6, and 7 having not seen the movies (where applicable) before reading the books. It’s a good thing that the anti-hype feelings I had also extended to anything spoilery for the series as well – kinda like an anti-Muggle charm! :slight_smile: I saw the phrase “Dumbledore dies” somewhere on the net before, but somehow I figured that would be the spoiler for 7, not 6. So I was still incredibly surprised when it happened, especially in such a non-satisfying way! And I had seen a Weasley family tree on the Internet at one point so I knew about Harry and Ginny as well as Ron and Hermione becoming items. But the former was so heavily implied since the first book that I didn’t really consider it that big a spoiler and the latter never really happened until the epilogue.

  • OMG would it have sucked to read book 6 and then have a multiple year wait for book 7! After the really lame death scene plus Harry breaking up with Ginny at a funeral (of all places!), 7 really was the chaser (no Quiddich puns intended) for 6! Then again, I’d probably say the same thing if I didn’t watch BSG as it aired and could watch season 4.5 right after 4.0 with no delay.

  • You guys were right, Snape did redeem himself and there was a very good reason Harry had to go back to the Dursleys each summer.

  • I really love Luna as a character, though somehow I saw her as more awesomely and comically eccentric in the books than how she was portrayed in the movies.

  • All in all, I have to admit that I see what some of the fuss was about and that it is a very engrossing story line that you don’t fully appreciate from just watching the movies. I can see how kids would really get into the story and would gladly pay $30 for a fresh hardcover book to get their next fix, especially for the last book in the series as I haven’t felt so emotionally let down by a book as I did by book 6 in quite a while.

That being said, I still can’t blame myself for staying clear of the hysteria given how the obsession for a scifi/fantasy book really did jump the mainstream shark each time one of the new books came out. Call me a purist or a Mudblood hater, but some part of me really does like to see the obsessive magic of scifi and fantasy stay amongst the eclectic Luna-types of society and not become too mainstream.

#2

I waited till the 7th book came out to read 'em. My wife’s a huge fan, so I actually went to midnight release parties for both HBP and DH. I was planning to wait till all the movies came out, but gave in for fear of too many spoilers. So I started the series the morning after the last one and was able to burn through 'em in a couple of weeks.

I agree that Luna in the books is more interesting than in the movies, though they seem to have displace Tonks in preference to her, but it’s still not as good. She so kind and understanding beneath her lovable quirkiness. And You were better able to see how much her friends just loved her :slight_smile:

One thing I appreciate about the series is how it managed to stay true to its vision even as it exploded in popularity. Its worst sellout sin was for some of the latter books to reach War and Peace like lengths. It seems unusual for niche works to stay brilliant when they go mainstream, but I think is necessary for them to maintain and to become a true phenomenon (witness Eragon).

#3

I held out for a long time thinking the books were just childish fairytale novels but after watching “Order of the Phoenix” I could tell there was a darker element to the stories than I thought and that I might like them. I read them all in like a month. :slight_smile:

Not life, but good life, is to be chiefly valued. – Socrates

#4

I am SO glad that you have finally read the whole series and that you came away from it with mostly positive feelings. (Dumbledore’s death lame? Really? Heartbreaking, yes. Self-sacrificial, yes. But lame?) And as far as “keeping the obsessive magic of scifi and fantasy…amongst the eclectic Luna-types of society,” I have to disagree, because I think a phenomenon like HP is what opens more individuals up to sci-fi and fantasy in general, makes them open to it and before they know it they are, gasp, fans of the genres themselves. All because they were obsessive fans of a “little series” about a boy wizard. That is what fuels the sci-fi and fantasy “machine” and gives the fans a bit more respect and power so that maybe SOMEDAY sci-fi won’t be a dirty word and the one tv network dedicated to our programming won’t try to distance itself from us.

#5

So last night I was reading with my older kid (she reading Order of the Pheonix, me reading my book). For school, she’s required to read 20 min a day. So last night she stop in the middle of reading time, and said “I wonder how much this book weighs.”
I told her to go stand on the scale in the bathroom holding the book, and then stand on it again without the book, and then to the subtraction.
The result: Harry Potter: The Order of the Pheonix weighs 3 and 1/2 pounds. THREE AND A HALF POUNDS!! Heavy, man, heavy.

#6

I’m glad you enjoyed it! I don’t know if there’s a religion today that can match HP’s conversion rate.

Also a former skeptic. Now the biggest fan in the house.

#7

Alright, so lame probably isn’t the best word to describe it. What I was trying to convey is that reading Dumbledore’s death scene without knowing the full context of why it happened the way it did (which you wouldn’t get until reading the next book), one might think it was a cop-out way for Rowling to kill off such an important character. Yes after getting the full context it makes a lot more sense and is a lot more fitting end for Dumbledore and more satisfying to the reader because you get to see him come back one last time in Deathly Hallows. I’m just saying that before Deathly Hallows was released, surely some fans must have thought it was a crappy way for Rowling to have killed Dumbledore off because they didn’t know the full context of why it happened.

#8

I still haven’t read ‘Deathly Hallows’ but Dumbledore’s death didn’t bother me as much as Sirius’ in ‘Order of the Phoenix’. JK was setting up Harry to be alone. Sure he had Hermione and Ron and the D.A. but like Luke (and other heroes of mythology) the burden of responsiblity rests on the hero.

Anyway, I was really ticked that JK killed Sirius. I was like, “Come on! Back to the Dursley’s again?!?” hehe I was hoping for Harry to get some serious training from…ahem…Sirius. Oh no, I pun it again. Alright I’ll stop. By the time she killed Dumbledore I was like, “Whatever. That old git was more trouble than he was worth. Never really taking action against the Dark Lord when he had a resource to do it.” Harry was always running into Voldemort. How 'bout? Hey Harry here is a portkey (or something). Next time you see Voldie, hit this and I’ll appear poof. Instead, Oh Harry you’ve faced the Dark Lord again. Curious. strokes beard

#9

In that vein. Why didn’t anyone get a gun? Think about it. Way faster than a spell. They shoulda got the muggle minister to call up the SAS and be like “Sup gotta kill some wizards” rat-tat-tat =P

#10

SOOOO glad I didn’t have a mouthful of coffee when I read that, 'cause it would be all over my laptop right now. :smiley:

#11

Can you say “expelliarmus”?

#12

The thing that bugged me about that spell is that it takes longer to say than, e.g., “crucio.”

“Expelliar…”
“Crucio!”
“Gaaaak!”

#13

Again, thankful that I didn’t have any liquid in my mouth…you people are on a roll today with the funny.

#14

[i]Dr. Evil: All right guard, begin the unnecessarily slow-moving dipping mechanism.

guard starts dipping mechanism

Dr. Evil: Close the tank!

Scott Evil: Wait, aren’t you even going to watch them? They could get away!

Dr. Evil: No no no, I’m going to leave them alone and not actually witness them dying, I’m just gonna assume it all went to plan. What?

Scott Evil: I have a gun, in my room, you give me five seconds, I’ll get it, I’ll come back down here, BOOM, I’ll blow their brains out!

Dr. Evil: Scott, you just don’t get it, do ya? You don’t. [/i]

#15

Can you say Exepll-BAM-BAM

No you can’t cause you just got double tapped

#16

Most adult wizards seem quite capable of simply casting a spell without having to say anything, and a simple reactive shielding charm would render bullets useless.

#17

Range man. Wizard duels are like. Right up close, you got a dude with an assault rifle or a sniper rifle a good distance away? No way is the wizard beating him

#18

There are some interesting fanfics out there where the wizarding world meets up with modern Muggle military types.

#19

Some of those spells are pretty quick and you’re completely dependent upon the luck of the draw. Be a bit slow and, well, who knows. Sides, it’s easier to cook up an anti-bullet spell than craft a spell-penetrating bullet.

#20

Imperius curse + nuclear warhead = Slim Picken’s impersonations :smiley: