Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

*growls*
i must love you a little less, now, because you do not love harry potter.
just kidding.
kinda.
i REALIZE that the writing is not perfect, and that they’re REALLY long, and kinda depressing and all that…but a book that can get me immersed in a world so much that i cry even the third time i’ve read it when i KNOW exactly what will happen (i’m referring to HP6) is a good book IMHO.
i dunno about that article tho. i guess i agree with you.

This all makes me wonder if the Literati of the 19th century bemoaned the Dickens-craze of the time as being terribly plebian.  All those people obsessing, waiting at the docks to know what would happen to Little Dorrit.

I admit I like the HP books. As for the movies, that’s another story. I can’t stand them. But my goddaughters are dragging me to see them this weekend.

Funny that the article quotes one “Albert Greco” about how “people want to read hits”
when just he was ALSO interviewed about the fact that the booksellers slashed their prices so much they’re not making a profit off of this final Harry:

Indeed, a price war has broken out that is slashing the retail price of J.K. Rowling’s final installment by 40 percent to 50 percent at chains, big-box stores and online retailers such as Amazon.com. They’re selling the books for little more than they paid the publisher.

Call it Harry Potter and the Vanishing Profits.

“Virtually none of these sellers stand to make big money on one of the best-selling books of our time,” said Albert Greco, a publishing industry analyst and a professor at Fordham University. “The larger retailers are selling the books at pennies above cost, mainly because they don’t want to lose an edge to others offering the same deal.”
Forbes.com

I love a good story.  This amounts to the end of a very long story and as stories go, this one was fantastic.

What always gets lost in articles like this one is that people are excited.  They’re excited about a book.  People are talking about a book for a change - not Paris Hilton (thank you baby Jesus), a video game, a movie, the latest celebrity scandal, the latest celebrity divorce, the latest celebrity anything.

A book people!  They’re excited about a book! 

And if adults want to be infantile and read a children’s book - who bloody cares?  They’re reading!  Reading, reading, reading!  God bless that boy wizard.

It’s the end of the world, nobody is reading! Do not despair, dearest reporter, because reading is alive and well at my house. I read. My children read. The dog, the parrot and even the turtle reads. True, we may not be reading the material which snobs from The NY Times, The Washington Post or Oprah consider “good for growth and culture” BUT we read. I read romance for pleasure, for crying, laughing and sighing. I have travelled the world thanks to Romance. I have killed the ex several times over (great therapy, I recommend it) thanks to Romance—blame it on JD Robb. My TBR is higher than the kitchen cabinets which I struggle to reach. And this is the same for all the bitches that I know - WE ARE READERS. We are obssessed, passionate readers. Therefore, we breed passionate readers. Good golly, Miss Molly we have saved the world! We will not slither away into an illiterate obscurity.

I’m exhausted…I have created 5 new readers, yet Oprah has not given me a medal or a new car. I deserve one.

Romance has kept many a store alive. It is the highest bestseller in fiction. Yet management continues to hang their head in shame, pushing the section to the farthest corner of the store. One day I will walk into B&N and find that Romance has been placed out on the sidewalk. So why am I not surprised that elite reviewers will ignore the genre and create biased articles that are factually wrong.

Hum, I love the bitches!

I have a friend who’ll be (or was) standing in front of the bookstore for the next HP book.  I admire her for that….the only book I’ll be snapping up in a frenzy is the next Lisa Marie Rice and then the Elizabeth Elliott one that is FINALLY AFTER 10 YEARS, coming out in 2008 (or so they say).

Otherwise, I’m too damn lazy….easier to just order from Amazon.

I like the HP movies, but the books aren’t my cup of tea…..but like many things, I can see why others love them and I rejoice that people are reading!

MamaZ, does your parrot read like my Cockatoo reads the phonebook (tearing out one sheet at time as she finishes ;) )

I can tell if something is good if she tears out every page.  It sucks if she leaves it shut and just chews the edges ;)

I was in a tiny town in vt and the one store was going to stay open to sell HP all night. The idea of all sorts of people all over the world reading the same book at the same time is kind of dizzying and awesome. Old ladies, little kids, businessmen in India. Just wild. Never mind the story. That’s One With Everything is the part I love. A loss of biodiversity? So? How about a wild phenomenon that’s almost as big as its hype?

My husband started to write a story once about how the entire world happened to be awake at the same time and everyone had the same thought and whoomp, something huge happened——didn’t get that far in the story, I guess. Harry Potter is as close as I’ve seen it come.

“Part of why sites like ours exist is that we, the people behind them, were tired of shelling out $9 to find we’d taken a risk on a book that sucked wind. “

Amen sister.

That is exactly why I love you bitches(well, that and the fact that you’re wildly entertaining….). You all are directly responsible for my recent Border’s/Amazon/EC addiction. Damn you.

Reading is alive and well, despite what the poo-poo naysayers what us to believe.

p.s. Not a Potter fan, either. But where the hell will I be tonight at midnight????? Borders. I’ll be the stunning brunette in the romance section.  Joey Hill has a new book out, no?

Oops. Not tonight. Tomorrow.

Yep,
sites like SB’s, BAM’s, Miss Giggles etc help me make wise book choices.  OK, they help me buy more bang for the buck I guess.

I lub you guys! (low blood sugar, off to find lunch!).

BUT HAVEN’T YOU HEARD?  HP IS SRS BIZNISS!

If people think 1)cutting the profit on the HP book will hurt the retailers or 2)once HP is finished reading is dead, have never been to a bookstore on the night of a HP release.

Do you know the beauty of a bookstore filled with people?  And the people weren’t just waiting around for the midnight hour, they were browsing and getting armloads of books.  I can’t imagine the Borders I was at (for book 5)didn’t make money that night and I can’t believe people (young and old) who manage to get thru the complete 90 Million pages will simply retire from reading.

OK, I’m not a Harry Potter fan. But a lot of my friends are and they’re very excited about it. Some are planning on dressing in costume and waiting in a bookstore for midnight, when they’ll finally get their hands on their copy. Yes, it’s a children’s book, but they find more in them.

But think - millions of people are reading real books. These books are long and they do involve some serious concentration. And having read Harry Potter, won’t some of them go on to other books?

On the marketing comments - I’m depressed that publishing houses seem to put so much of their weight behind marketing books that are going to sell like crazy regardless of what they do. Whereas, if they put more of their resources behind new authors, midlist authors, or those who could use a little push to find their audience. It seems to be such a winner-take-all situation that non-blockbuster books get left in the dust.

And Jepad - it was Little Nell

I am a fan of Harry Potter.  My brother (who is now 19) went ape-shit over them starting at around the 3rd book.  One of his eyes moved slightly slower than the other, and the only way to train it to keep up was to practice, practice, practice, but the practicing gave him massive headaches and he was never interested in a book enough to put up with it.  Until Harry Potter.  He’d read each of them so much that by the time he got to high school his eyes were good enough to keep up in advanced classes, and last summer he started asking around for non-HP book recommendations.

So yeah, I likes HP, both for his sake and the fact that I love the place Rowling has created and her writing style, to boot.  I do, however, work in a bookstore and I can tell you straight-up that I am bloody sick of the hype.  My God.  When we received our shipment, all of the boxes were wrapped in black, and we all had to sign non-disclosure agreements and basically swear on the lives of our future children not to touch them.  I can’t wait to read this last book, but mostly I can wait for this whole thing to be done.

Move over 42.  HP is the new answer to the universe.  Why is the world going to hell in a handbasket?  Why is my inbox full of junkmail?  Why are adults infantile and children annoying?  Why does nobody buy books anymore (except books about dog training)?  Who can you blame for the decline of book review sections in the print media?  Harry Potter. Harry Potter.  HARRY POTTER.  It makes my head hurt. 

On the bright side, if Harry Potter’s taking the flak, at least it means romance has a day off.

ps
Now that I think about it, Harry Potter is the reason my inbox is full of junkmail.  But, as Kate R points out, it’s a cultural phenomenon, and I like them.  Which is why, despite feeling like books 6 and 7 were less, you know, books and more very, very, very long prologues, I too will be in Border’s at midnight tomorrow.

Not only does he bemoan the decline in reading, but bemoands the decline in reading what he perceives as appropriately intellectual novels. Some people can never be happy.

I would like to address, what I see as one possible problem, which he sort of touches on: having high school students reading the ‘classics’.  These are books with complex sociological and political undertones and I’m sorry but the majority of teenagers simply don’t have the life experience to understand. Slogging through Ulysses when you’re 16 could turn many people against literature because you’re left with the impression that it’s all so obscure and dull. You can’t identify with any of the characters.

Which leads me to wonder if all those people who read “Middlesex” and “The Road”, did they actually understand it?  Did they GET the book?  One can read “great literature” and completely miss the depth and complexity.  It reminds me of Otto reading Nietzche in A Fish Called Wanda.  He read it…didn’t understand a thing.

To illustrate this, I read one of the Oprah suggested books, “Stones from the River”, which I thought was excellent.  One of the interesting aspects was that the narrator was this blond, blue-eyed dwarf living in Nazi Germany.  Now, when my mother and I discussed this, we immediately saw the narrator’s condition as a metaphor for the German state at the time.  However, Oprah, when this book discussion occured, completely missed the point and instead seemed to think this was a book about the difficulties of being a little person.

It’s hard to know if this is a result of poor education in literary analysis or that not everyone is savvy enough to pick up on these things. And, of course, not everyone picks up on the same stuff, which makes book discussions so fascinating.

However, I think it’s perfectly acceptable for people to want reads that are purely for pleasure and for others to mix some pleasure reading with literature.

In the same way, sometimes I like to watch some nice little Indie film and other times I like a brainless blockbuster. I wonder if film critics bemoan people watching the ‘wrong’ movies.

And Jepad - it was Little Nell

My apologies.  Same concept, wrong book.  I should get my anecdotes straight.

And Jepad - it was Little Nell

My apologies.  Same concept, wrong book.  I should get my anecdotes straight.

This whole “Harry Potter is the End of Fiction” argument reminds me of “The Computer is the End of Print Novels” argument about 8 years ago.

My response to both?  Psh.  Whatever.  I’m going to keep reading what I feel like reading, and those reactionary freaks can just suck it.

Mildly bitter, but as a librarian there are times when I just get sick of “The world is coming to an END because of books” discussions.

The Potterdämmerung! It is nigh!

Heh.

I’m not a HP fan - haven’t seen any of the films and only made it half way through the first book. Because I was a snobby little thing who thought ‘I read Kiss the Girls at 10! This is a kid’s book! Pah!’. I know the more recent books are written for an older audience than the first one(s), but I’m still resisting. I will read them eventually, but not just yet - something in me takes a perverse pleasure in not reading what “everyone” is.

That, and the fact that online HP fen scare the bejesus out of me.

Speaking from the other end of the “end of Fiction” I listened to a segment on Morning Edition on NPR this morning that focused on booksellers and publishers raving about the way that Harry Potter as a series book has opened the way for so many more series, especially in the fantasy YA genre.  Any librarian or bookseller is going to have tons of suggestions for what your 13 year old can read now that Harry Potter is over

“And when their parents do pick up a novel, it’s often one that leaves a lot to be desired.”

I think that’s the real issue for him. People are out there reading, they’re just not reading the books he wants them to.

Listen if it was not Harry Potter people would probably pick on Lemony Snicket and A Series of Unfortunate Events.

He forgot about those books since they are not as high profile as Harry Potter.

figures51 = yep, people make up figures all the time. I just wonder why people think that proves the intelligence of their opinion.

Yet another talking head talking out his ass.

It’s hard to know if this is a result of poor education in literary analysis or that not everyone is savvy enough to pick up on these things. And, of course, not everyone picks up on the same stuff, which makes book discussions so fascinating.

Honestly, I think that no two people can read or see the same thing in a book.  How many authors have written something to have it critqued and metaphors applied where there were none? 

Or bigazz symbols totally overlooked? 

Reading is like eating, it’s an individual experience.  I’m not going to diss someone if they don’t pick up on what I got out of a book.  I’m also not going to be browbeaten if I don’t find universal truth in a book I liken to emotional sludge.

Reading is like eating, it’s an individual experience.  I’m not going to diss someone if they don’t pick up on what I got out of a book.  I’m also not going to be browbeaten if I don’t find universal truth in a book I liken to emotional sludge.

True, and I think that reading like eating adheres to the same patterns.  Some people like their burgers and fries and tossing them into a top tier restaurant with tuna carpaccio and roasted endive doesn’t mean they’ll find it satisfying.  Food critics might turn up their nose at TGIFridays, but it has mass appeal.

I would argue that mass appeal rarely falls into step with what critics love. It seems that this isn’t just about books, but nearly every walk of life.  I know, gross generalization on my part…

Exactly—- Look, sometimes you have to admit that your taste have become honed to the point they’re not with the majority any longer.

At that point, you can either claim superiority and look down your nose at the ignorant phlebians, OR celebrate that you now have another dimension in your life.

That you can eat at Krystal one day and Elizabeth’s the next—-IOW, you appreciate, value and respect not only the food from both places, but the people who enjoy them.

Critics who do not respect the masses and their tastes will find themselves very lonely at suppertime.

I’m a lurker here. I rarely post, but for this topic I will come out and open my mouth.

I can’t say that I’m a huge fan of the books. I don’t like the grammatical errors all that well. I would much rather watch the movies.

“Part of why sites like ours exist is that we, the people behind them, were tired of shelling out $9 to find we’d taken a risk on a book that sucked wind.”

This is why I love this site! Straight out honesty without the bullsh**.

I think that out of all of my pet peeves, number one is having anyone, for any reason, tell me that what I read is “trash” and you should read “this” instead. Disagree with my choices, fine, tell me you don’t care for that particular style, author, category, topic, no problem, I’m ok with that. It just drives me nuts when others somehow feel they have the right to pass judgement on my preferances. My ex was particularily fond of doing that, telling me what he thought I should read and going so far as to tell me not to put any of “those books” on the bookshelves. With so much discussion about how literacy rates are falling and so many people just don’t read for pleasure, isn’t it a great thing that whatever they may be reading, people of all ages are finding the joy that can be had from books? To read or not to read Harry Potter, isn’t it great that we have the choice?

Neither of my kids read any of the HP books—my son would rather read Halo novels and my daughter is too girlie to like HP. I read the first one and it was okay, but I couldn’t quite figure out what the fuss was all about.

But people get cuaght up in the hype all the time, over things far dumber, lamer, and more poorly done than anyone can reasonably claim HP is. Think of the Spice Girls, Britney Spears and Pokemon. Am I getting a bit tired of hearing grown, intelligent people debate whether or not Harry will die in the last book? Yeah, kinda. But I’m not going to diss someone just because they’re getting as excited about book 7 as I get when a new Guy Gavriel Kay novel comes out (and if you want a good cry, sometimes over a hundred pages, Shaina, try some Guy).

Elitism sucks. Truth is, my kids have learned more big words from reading Calvin & Hobbes than they ever have in school, or likely ever will from highbrow literary fiction. It’s heartening that the latest big deal is about a book—and not one written by Paris Hilton, either. Just wish it was one I could get into.

I now read HP for the same reason that some people watch soap operas. I’ve become immersed in the Harry Potter universe and have gotten attached to the characters to the point where I feel that I know them, so I want to see what happens to them.

(I’ll confess, in sixth grade I had the BIGGEST crush on Harry (and I know that I’m not the only one), and I’d say that THAT is a testament to J.K. Rowling’s talent.)

As for the shift in the series, Rowling has said that she’s following her own grand vision for the series, whether it loses readers or draws them in. I give her kudos for that, and despite the bumps along the way, I’ve (literally) bought into her vision, so I’m excited to see where it leads…wherever it leads.

The article’s comments on the epidemic which is YA novels being read by adults and the cultural infantilism which it spawns reminded me directly of part of the the brouhaha about AtMOL winning the Golden Heart. It seems that the belief that YA = Trashy and Mind-Numbing is pretty wide-spread.

Speaking as a person who was a “slow” reader until 3rd grade I can honestly say that I don’t really care what other people think of the books I read. I’m just happy that books are out there to be read.

Another thing is that my cousin who is a librarian and used to teach 6th grade Language Arts is just happy that she can interest the kids in something other than TV and video games. She is really the one who introduced me to some of my favorite romance authors and YA books as a genre.

Personally just because I read “Gone With the Wind” in 8th grade doesn’t mean that I can’t enjoy a Harry Potter or Meg Cabot along with my “Canterbury Tales” and Sheakspeare.

I meant Shakespeare.

See even well read people can’t always spell right.

I’ve always found the HP books pedantic and very simplistic in both its storyline and character development. Flat and two-dimensional and I honestly didn’t care what happened to them.

My ex bought me the first three books going on about how great they were. I felt that they were okay but by about book 4, you could sort of guess where it was going.

Book 5 I was forced to read as I had to explain things to the ex (and is it a wonder he’s an ex) and it was about there that I realized I really didn’t like the series.

I found that there were a lot of similarities in her plot with regards to genocide (of Muggles) that reminded me to much of Hitler’s extermination of Jews. Even to the fact that Voldemort was part Muggle, as Hitler was 1/8th Jewish I believe.

It was when my mind made that mental connection that I donated the books to the local library.

someone else might as well benefit from my dissatisfaction.

“...Slogging through Ulysses when you’re 16 could turn many people against literature because you’re left with the impression that it’s all so obscure and dull….”

Amen jepad. I taught 8th grade for a time and my main objective as it related to reading was to get kids to be READERS first. You can’t jump into the classics from the start. You won’t get them and WORSE - you’ll be turned off reading. But still so many (teachers - and parents who want to think that the teachers are doing their job) will force it down their throats without any foundation.

I didn’t get Jane Eyre until I was 26 and WOW what a difference it made from when I was 12.

As for HP my owl will be delivering it Saturday. I’ve seen the movie twice to hold me over. This is by far the best movie of the 5 IMO. Flat out that kid can act.

And to Kris who said you read 1 and didn’t see the fuss… get to 3. If you get to 3 and you’re still not impressed than okay. But 3 turned it for me. And in my life I’ve never been in love with story telling as much as I am when I read these books.

This *is* storytelling.

He doesn’t explain why it matters.

Literacy is imortant, that’s a given. But presumably humanity has, for the greater part of history, muddled along fine without reading much fiction.

If stories are important, they can be told by Granny, or on film, or at the theatre. What dreadful thing happens if no child reads Pullman?

(And why do the HP-is-dreadful critics universally adore Pullman? Did no-one else think he totally wimped out in the third book?)

Something that seems to be recurring in the convo… or just something that’s snagged my mind… is how these “great” books are read and then at subsequent readings during different stages of one’s life they offer up something more, and they are understood more deeply.

Harry Potter seems to lend itself to Kate R’s idea of universal experience, no matter what the stage in life. I’d imagine that the only re-read value is in re-living the adventure and the memories had reading it the first time.

Maybe that’s a class seperation in books- ones which can be re-read for growth, and those which can be re-read for reliving.

I’m with Aimee.

But as far as the omg length goes - this is a pretty common thing, I think. Happened to Anne Rice. Happened to half a dozen authors I can think of. You get to a certain sell point and people are afraid to edit you, no matter how desperately you need it. Writing an 870 page book isn’t an achievement.

At least this cultural phenom is about a book - but as we await HP world in Orlando does anyone else recall when she claimed she wouldn’t merchandise her work? Yea.

I think alot of the literaties (I’m making my own words up now wee!) want people to stretch their minds.  To BECOME more intellectuals.  To embrace THEIR idea of culture. 

Well shit, I want you to all embrace my idea of culture to, therefor verifying that I am the right and only path on high!

I’m seconding someone else up there… people are READING.  People are indulging in discourse about these books.  People are making correlations between HP and older works (Homer and Tolkien to name just a FEW) and having discussions on what exactly makes literature literature.

I’d say that Harry Potter, whether or not you like the books themselves, has done EXACTLY what the industry needed.  It needed sensational.  It needed hope.  It needed excitement and an entire younger generation in a feeding FRENZY to get at some books.

You can’t say the same for other literary works.  You simply CAN NOT.  They have their place but it is not the flash that made the cannon explode.  Those works may be perused and considered at a later date for these kids.  In the meantime people are reading.  Who gives a flying monkey turd WHAT they are reading as long as they are slowly and surely getting excited about reading??

On a side note I have my copy set aside.  I won’t gobble it up in a day though.  I’ll take my time for this ending.

So many comments and ideas to respond to, I don’t know where to start.

1.  I love Harry Potter.  Love it.  Not just for myself but for the way it has so many people of all ages excited about a *book*.  Kids who couldn’t normally be bothered to pull themselves away from tv or video games think nothing of picking up an 800 page opus because they must have the latest installment.  And that’s just freakin’ fantastic.

2.  It is possible that I feel that way because, as a librarian, I feel that *anything* that compels people to read is worthwhile.  Especially kids.  What does it matter if Goosebumps and Sweet Valley High aren’t great works of literature?  If they’ll get a kid to sit down with a book and read it, they’re worth the paper they’re printed on.  Because if they don’t *read*, what’s the point in having “great” literature?  It’s not worth anything of no one will take it off the shelf and read it.

3.  And I think that’s where I disagree with the the author of that article.  As Kelly said, it’s not that people aren’t reading.  It’s that they’re not reading what he thinks they should be.  But who is he to dictate what is “acceptable” to read and what isn’t?  What matters and what doesn’t?  Any book that speaks to someone, that either takes them out of their world or makes them realize that they’re not alone in theirs, serves a purpose.  Personally?  I am not a fan of “literary fiction.”  Gah, it bores me to tears.  But give me the latest Nora Roberts (which I have next to me here in my office and really want to pick up and read more but I’m supposed to be working) or Janet Evanovich and I’m there.  I love romance.  I love mysteries and thrillers.  I like comedy and paranormal.  And quite frankly, no one has the right to comment on my reading choices or intimate that there is anything *wrong* with those choices because the books I read do what *I* need them to do.

4.  I’m done ranting now.  But people who get on their literary high-horse just annoy the snot out of me. 

5.  And all of the above is why, if you *don’t* like Harry Potter, it’s perfectly fine.  Everyone has different preferences and needs when it comes to books.  One size does not fit all.  And the glory of this world is that these days, there is truly something for everyone out there.  GO AUTHORS!!!!!!

I adore the Harry Potter series and will be keeping a vigil at my mailbox(metaphorically speaking)until Book 7 shows up. Albert Greco is dead wrong about folks only wanting to read books from tired-and-true authors.

I love finding first novels by new writers that are lovely surprises and telling all the world how great they are. It’s like making a new friend(especially if your old buddy seems to be repeating him/herself over and over again). This year alone,I’ve read some great first novels,such as Free Food For Millionaires by Min Jin Lee(who I was lucky enough to meet in person) and Keeping The House by Ellen Baker. Sure,I want to enjoy my usual favorites but a lifelong reader is always on the lookout for the new.

Well, maybe I’m in the minority, but I love the Harry Potter books, mostly because to me they fit the lines of a true teen (for the most part).  Anyone out there know a perfect 16 year old who doesn’t whine?  I didn’t think so.  :) 

I’m also afraid to step outside of my comfort zone when it comes to books.  I want to know that the book I’m going to read will at least be decent if not excellent. 

Just my two little cents.  :D

Move over 42.  HP is the new answer to the universe.

Douglas Adams is rolling over in his grave…as are Shakespeare, Tolkien, Lewis, Gaiman (if he was dead), and so many others.

Yes, I know it’s hard to come up with something entirely original these days, but still…

That being said, I read the first three books, got quarter way through the fourth, wanted to throw it against the wall and stopped reading for the sake of my blood pressure.

Then I discovered Jim Dale and the audio versions.  The man does a spot on Hermione and I can tune out the obligatory scenes at the Dursleys’, Quidditch matches, and LONG-WINDED expositions.

But I still can’t get into the movies. The kid who plays HP?  Eew!  Get some sun!  And acting lessons while you’re at it.  As an actor, you can write off the expense.

Come on - aren’t we all elitist about some things??  I know whenever I go into Blockbuster I’m amazed at all the crap in there.  And didn’t I bitch and moan when a great show like Sports Night was canceled, but Full House was in its 22nd season or something.  The more people that flock to schlock, the more schlock that gets created.  I’m thinking that’s probably what the book snobs are crying about (not that HP is schlock, just a general statement)

That said, there are SO MANY books and so little time, it does seems like there should be plenty for everyone whatever their tastes.  So I’ll continue to kvetch about lack of good new movies, but enjoy my trashy books and my bookclub books and my faith books and my news magaines and ...

BTW, how come everyone is saying “at least people/kids are reading…”
when the phrase “at least women are reading” made everyone have kittens last week?

Please, keep blogging! There are so many insightful, funny literary blogs out there - people who take the time to give their well-thought-out, truthful opinions on what they’ve read, from any genre. Not like newspaper reviews, which are cliquish and dull.

Oh, and Marianne, Pullman TOTALLY wimped out on the third book.

The rumour is that one character gets killed. I’m just hoping it’s Ron because the boy is a complete twat.

I am truly ambivalent about HP. Of course I’ll devour Book 7, but I really don’t like the school-houses, old Brit education system subtext that gets captured so well in the series. I was part of that system and it SUCKED! I’m glad the continental Europeans don’t “get” HP ... at least there’s hope somewhere in this world.

This may make me sound childish, but really, why would I want to spend my time slogging through something I don’t enjoy? It’s not as though I’m sitting in a hole never learning anything new or thinking new thoughts—I’m living in Japan for heaven’s sake, and I’m heading to Australia in another year and a half. I don’t need my books to educate me.

What’s wrong with books people enjoy? Why is that bad?

“. . . Anita, The Gleaming Orificeâ„¢!” Oh, this is why I love this blog, ladies. Although frankly, it oughta say, “orifices,” the way it’s been going.
You’re right that Anita’s gotten kinda bad for a couple books. But in my worthless opinion, it’s looking up again as Hamilton sloooowly begins to focus on personal growth that is NOT tied to sexual adventure/mantitty.
I guess she’s saving all that for the next Merry Gentry book!

oh thank God. I was wondering of something was wrong with me. I would like to read the whole series just to close that chapter but I felt that there was something wrong with it after book 4… I never stopped to analyze what it was but it wasn’t as enjoyable for me. But being a geeky librarian that I am, I will be buying that boxed set as soon as its released here.

Am I the only one who read all the books and retained NOTHING?

I remember in pretty good detail up to book 3, and I vaguely recollect book 4. I know I read books 5 and 6… I remember finishing them… but I can’t remember a damn thing. No new characters, or plot twists, or revealed lengthy exposition. My mind is a black whole from Order of Pheonix onward.

And I think I still predicted the ending, despite that.

(shrug)

*black hole

Hopefully the WHOLE thing isn’t a vaccuum just yet…

My gripe is the same as yours, Todd.  How can readers discover new authors if the same old same-old is continually being slammed against their eyeballs?

What I find especially incomprehensible is the fact that the less a book and/or author needs to by hyped, the more it/he/she is hyped. I want to scream at the people responsible for such bullshit, “Do you realize how long ago I was SO OVER Stephen King?  Dude does nothing but plagiarize…from himself.  Now get him out of my face already and tell me about some fresh, new voices in horror!”  Without more diverse and just-plain-sensible promotion, readers don’t have a snowball’s chance of finding out what their fiction options are. 

I’m sure as hell not Oprah’s Number One Fan, but I do give her credit for at least trying to bring what would otherwise be obscure books to the public’s attention.

Oh, my GAWD - Harry Potter-less - I am not ready for that world. But, then again, I am a Hogwart’s alum…

Anyway - after reading you bitches’ post and the first few comments, I can only say - you were compared to the “literi” of the 19th Century. Ladies, you have made it!

I haven’t read any of them.  At first it was because everyone and their dog was reading it and I refused to follow the crowd, but once the initial fuss died down I realised I just wasn’t interested.

Haven’t watched any of the films either.

“I haven’t read any of them.  At first it was because everyone and their dog was reading it and I refused to follow the crowd, but once the initial fuss died down I realised I just wasn’t interested.

Haven’t watched any of the films either. “

You and me both. However my kids are getting sucked into the hype and I expect that someday HP will enter my domain. Still doesn’t mean *I* have to read them.

“BTW, how come everyone is saying “at least people/kids are reading…”
when the phrase “at least women are reading” made everyone have kittens last week? “

I suppose it’s acceptable in this context because it’s a situation where you are trying to teach children to be readers and book lovers when it’s so much easier for them to just become TV/video game/internet zombies while we poor adult women are just destroying our brain cells with mindless fluff and making the feminist literatis look bad (Romance reading = the big ass swan hat)

There are so many books out there from the Gold Plated Garbage Truck to Shakespeare why can’t we all just live in peace??? (sob sob!!)

Oh, and Marianne, Pullman TOTALLY wimped out on the third book.

Absolutely. I thought the first was fantastic.  I was really intrigued by the whole anima/animus thing being an actual animal.  Second book was decent and the third was a huge WTF to me.

Leaving a quick comment before starting my self-imposed all-media ban, so as not to be spoiled for the end of #7. (Thanks for nothing, New York Times and Baltimore Sun! What a bunch of wankers.)

I worked in a bookstore when the the HP books first hit the States. I remember one of my colleagues saying, “We’ve got this book called Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone, apparently it’s huge in Britain.” And then I watched as the series took over the NY Times best-seller list, to the point that the Times was forced to create a separate Children’s/YA list, because so many publishers complained about the HP books making up half of the general list.

Like other posters, I think what Snobby McPrat from the Post needs to keep in mind is that a *book* is a worldwide phenomenon, and that’s a good thing. And I, too, am weary of being told I’m not reading the “right” books.

And FWIW, I actually like the later books better than the first ones, because I’m addicted to world-building. I love how Rowling has built the wizarding world in the cracks between the Muggle world, and because I love the little details, I like reading about the ins and outs of the wizarding world.

Oh, and Pullman totally pulled his punches in the third book. Doesn’t mean I’ll be staying away from Daniel Craig in the Golden Compass movie, though. *g*

I found that there were a lot of similarities in her plot with regards to genocide (of Muggles) that reminded me to much of Hitler’s extermination of Jews. Even to the fact that Voldemort was part Muggle, as Hitler was 1/8th Jewish I believe.

This was purposeful, I think. She’s pointing out that people who hate like that are generally trying to kill part of themselves by killing other people. Suicide by proxy, so to speak.

Douglas Adams is rolling over in his grave…as are Shakespeare, Tolkien, Lewis, Gaiman (if he was dead), and so many others.

Neil Gaiman is quite alive and writing, praise the Lord. Those authors should be glad for Rowling—in many cases, she and her Harry Potter are serving as a ‘gateway’ drug, so to speak. Take your Potter fixation up a level to Tolkein. Get into elves and the whole concept of dark fiction, and you smack up against Gaiman. Go for humor and you find Adams and Pratchett. My niece hasn’t read the books yet (her mom feels she’s too young for the later books and doesn’t want to hide them as she finishes the first four) but she’s already reading fantasy books for her age group because she wants to read stuff that’s like Harry Potter. Sometimes, group think can work to advantage.

Doesn’t mean I’ll be staying away from Daniel Craig in the Golden Compass movie, though.

Holy crap—will he be getting naked and whipped in the nuts again? Now, *that’s* a series I was not impressed with, but I might have to see the movie if so. :-)

If people think 1)cutting the profit on the HP book will hurt the retailers or 2)once HP is finished reading is dead, have never been to a bookstore on the night of a HP release.

Actually booksellers have been the ones pointing out that they won’t be making a profit on HP. It’s *why* they all have the desperate tables filled with “If you like HP read this!” books.

Secondly there was already a NYT article that debunked the myth that Harry Potter lead to a lifetime of reading. Of course this doesn’t mean that reading is “dead” simply that HP isn’t the potent gateway drug people make it out to be.

As for the article there have market dominating books since time began. An allegedly professional writer with some knowledge of the history the book business should know that. There was never a golden era of diverse, “high-quality” (as the literati would have it) books being ready by a satisfyingly large number of people. Never. Deal with it.