Why no Harry Potter, eh?

[sweettalkeress.livejournal.com]

So I looked at ONTD's "Ten of the most Epidemically Overrated Books," and was incensed to find that books like On the Road and The Great Gatsby made the list but the Harry Potter series didn't (though at least the Twilight series did). I mean really, Harry Potter is the epitome of an overrated book series, given that there are people seriously making the point that it's so deep and meaningful and needs to be read in AP English classes. Never mind that it's a children's book series!

Well, these were the people who said that a bunch of authors besides Rowling disliked the idea of fanfiction without bothering to consider WHY they might feel that way (specifically, that Rowling is the only one who's all that fandom savvy because she's modern in a way that the others aren't). Maybe they just think Rowling is their darling author too, and you can't say anything bad about her.

Comments

[darth-eldritch.livejournal.com]

They certainly are fun to read, and the first four books were fun to read for me until I hit OOTP where Harry was screaming at everyone, being a total self centered brat, even taking it out on poor Hedwig. I had to put it down, because that kind of abuse was almost triggering to me. So I didn't finish the series until a couple of years later.

With that the flaws became very clear. I was a little bothered by how Snape and Slytherin were treated, now I got really irked over it. And it got worst. The part where Harry "dies" and is in the train station and the crying child was ignored, was almost too much. And so many examples.

Now if Rowling had portrayed all of this as an impartial writer, allowing for readers to draw their own conclusions, the story would have been absolutely fantastically great in spite of the poor writing style.

But Rowling is so biased. She assumes that we are going to condemn Draco for some of his actions, or think it's hunkey dorey that Snape is so beholden to Dumbledore. It's like these things aren't up for questioning. It's almost as if Rowling is oblivious to it, or doesn't care.

The effects of her bias cancel out any Zeitgeist effect that she may have evoked, at least for me.

It's true the books can be complete fun if they are taken at face value without any deeper reading. And the story does have a lot of atmosphere, for instance the Legos HP vidieo games is fun because of that atmosphere. Highly recommend if you're inclined to play video games.

Length is cool! Thank you for thoughtful response! Cool on the band Gringotts Girls!

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

The effects of her bias cancel out any Zeitgeist effect that she may have evoked, at least for me.

No, really? To me, the obvious bias and double standards - which are somehow quite clear in the books as well as in the interviews - that crying child, and Harry's uncritical worship of Dumbledore - ugh! Well, those things are exactly what I see reflected in the Zeitgeist. I hope I'm not being really arrogant here, but I think some of the people who read these books uncritically are also uncritical of our own culture. And the books reflect aspects of our culture really, really well. Aspects that ought to be criticized.

And yes, I just hated the way Snape and Slytherin were treated in the last book.

The Gringotts Grrls - we were up at our parents' place, weeding the driveway, when my sister said, "The Goblins control the whole Wizard monetary system. Why are there no bands about Goblins?" She came up with two songs that day!

[darth-eldritch.livejournal.com]

I certainly do agree with that view, you are right about the uncritical judgement.

I'm looking at it from the in-story perspective, if that makes sense.

That is so awesome, and great inspiration!

[charlottehywd.livejournal.com]

I hope I'm not being really arrogant here, but I think some of the people who read these books uncritically are also uncritical of our own culture. And the books reflect aspects of our culture really, really well. Aspects that ought to be criticized.

I can definitely see that.

[aikaterini.livejournal.com]

/They certainly are fun to read, and the first four books were fun to read for me until I hit OOTP where Harry was screaming at everyone, being a total self centered brat, even taking it out on poor Hedwig./

Same here. :(

That's why OotP is my least favorite HP book.

[darth-eldritch.livejournal.com]

It took me a couple of years before I could start reading them again. Harry's behavior and the evident okayness with it in the book turned me off that much.