Harry Potter Discussion (spoilers)

I wish I could go back to reading it for the first time! ;_;

But yeah, the series gets a lot darker as it progresses, starting with the end of book four
when Cedric Diggory dies and Voldemort returns
(Book 4 spoiler). If you thought OotP was dark, just wait untill you read the next one.
Still, Goblet of Fire is my favorite book too, although Halfblood Prince is really good too.
 
I just finished Order of the Phoenix - it was my least favorite of the movies but probably my favorite book (so far). The last few chapters were so exciting that I found myself speeding through them and had to go back and re-read parts of it.

The books are really different than the movies and the characters are much deeper like Cap suggested. Harry in particular is a lot different - angrier and more impatient - and a lot of that was not portrayed in the movie. I was very surprised how dark it was, even at the very beginning.

My current system is the watch the movie then read the book - I'm doing this through all 7 books/8 movies. I have pretty much not watched any other movies at all while I do this, putting my movie watching project on hold and building up a big queue of movies to watch. I'm glad I haven't started to lose interest in this because it is a LONG process (I started around Halloween I think).

I read all 7 books in a little under 3 months, I think. And the only reason it took me that long was because I used the motivation of wanting to read to finish/read a few other books in between. I finally finished The Count of Monte Cristo because of Harry Potter.

My 18 year old brother read all 7 books in 8 days (while attending high school). He's ridiculous.

Wait till you read the next one, and see how different the book is to it.
True story. The book Half Blood Prince is SO different and SO much better than the movie.
 
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I was reading through this thread and I was really disappointed in how some of you were acting in it. Particularly toward Mole, but it wasn't just that. I didn't catch it when it happened because I am just now reading the books but I really wish someone had said something. There's no reason to talk to people like that about something as stupid as speculation of a plot of a book.

Geez, it's no wonder all these new registered members aren't posting. I wouldn't want to post where a bunch of people are being jerks, either.

Mole & Goodwill (and others) - I'm really sorry you guys were treated like that.
 
Captain Canuck said:
True story. The book Half Blood Prince is SO different and SO much better than the movie.

I'm half way through Half Blood Prince and it seems less different from the movie so far than Order of the Phoenix. It's less dark, too, but I understand from thee movie that I haven't hit the darkest parts yet.
 
I'm almost done with The Deathly Hallows and it is so good...the number of things that have come full circle and the fearlessness in letting big, terrible things happen to important characters is just incredible. I just read the chapter "A Prince's Tale"...I'm just really enjoying this book.
 
I finished The Deathly Hallows yesterday. The whole series was great - The Deathly Hallows was the best book.

The whole thing with Snape and Lily talking about Dementors and going back to when Petunia was talking to Dumbledore about "that boy" talking about Dementors...that was really good. I knew going into The Prince's Tale that I was probably going to be impressed based on what people said about Snape in The Deathly Hallows, but it exceeded expectations. Also, as far as the debate over Snape being good or evil...so well done. I saw the movies first so I knew what was going to happen, but if I had read this when it first came out I would have not thought he could possibly be good. I don't think so, anyway. All of the stuff with him talking to Dumbledore in the Pensieve was excellent. I can only imagine how shocked I would have been had I read that chapter when the book came out, having not know anything about it beforehand.

I didn't think Harry & Ginny's relationship was done very well. It seemed very forced; like all of the sudden Harry liked her but they never developed a relationship, then all of the sudden, 19 years later, they are married with kids. I kind of thought the same with Hermoine and Ron but at least that seemed to develop a little, over the last half of The Deathly Hallows.

Kreacher was also a great character. I wish we had got more of him after his turnaround.

Neville was also great in the last book. I loved how important he became, especially given his role in the prophesy.

I'm so glad I read these. I don't read a lot of books and it was a pretty major commitment but I'm happy I did it. My son is in the middle of The Order of the Phoenix (he's only 9!) and we like to talk about them, so they are good for that, too.
 
I'm half way through Half Blood Prince and it seems less different from the movie so far than Order of the Phoenix. It's less dark, too, but I understand from thee movie that I haven't hit the darkest parts yet.
As I said, I just watched the movies again last week. I think I felt like the book was different than the movie because the first time I saw the movie I hated it and thought it was really awkward all the way through and I liked the book a lot. But going back and watching it again I guess it's not that much different, just in the book everything is more fleshed out (same with the rest of the books) so it seems less angst-y.

I finished The Deathly Hallows yesterday. The whole series was great - The Deathly Hallows was the best book.

The whole thing with Snape and Lily talking about Dementors and going back to when Petunia was talking to Dumbledore about "that boy" talking about Dementors...that was really good. I knew going into The Prince's Tale that I was probably going to be impressed based on what people said about Snape in The Deathly Hallows, but it exceeded expectations. Also, as far as the debate over Snape being good or evil...so well done. I saw the movies first so I knew what was going to happen, but if I had read this when it first came out I would have not thought he could possibly be good. I don't think so, anyway. All of the stuff with him talking to Dumbledore in the Pensieve was excellent. I can only imagine how shocked I would have been had I read that chapter when the book came out, having not know anything about it beforehand.
I wish I had read these books before I watched the movies. I felt like it was pretty clear in the movies that Snape was actually good, but its not clear at all in the books.

I didn't think Harry & Ginny's relationship was done very well. It seemed very forced; like all of the sudden Harry liked her but they never developed a relationship, then all of the sudden, 19 years later, they are married with kids. I kind of thought the same with Hermoine and Ron but at least that seemed to develop a little, over the last half of The Deathly Hallows.
One of the things I liked so much about the books is how much these character relationships are subtly developed throughout the entire story. This is probably less true with Harry & Ginny, but I thought the development of the relationship between Ron and Hermione was really well done, all the way back from the first couple of books when they couldn't stand each other right through Dealthy Hallows. It just worked for me.

But I understand what you mean. It's pretty unrealistic that these 17-18 year old characters start relationships and then 19 years later they're married with kids.

Kreacher was also a great character. I wish we had got more of him after his turnaround.

Neville was also great in the last book. I loved how important he became, especially given his role in the prophesy.
Yes and Yes. Concerning Kreature (sort of): I really thought one of the most compelling parts of the later stories was Harry realizing that his dad, Sirius, and Dumbledore weren't the perfect people he had thought them to be. His dad was a bully, Sirius caused a lot of trouble because he didn't treat Kreature well, and Dumbledore was friends with Grindelwald and had ideals not that much different from Voldemort when he was younger. And Sirius' brother, who was initially painted as the evil deatheater is redeemed, not only because he turns against Voldemort, but also because you start to see him through Kreature's eyes. I like how this character growth in Harry really plays into his point of view changing on Draco and Snape.

I'm so glad I read these.
I'm with you there. I really want more, but its pretty clear that the story has been told and there's no point in writing more.
 
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I really thought one of the most compelling parts of the later stories was Harry realizing that his dad, Sirius, and Dumbledore weren't the perfect people he had thought them to be.

There was a line in The Deathly Hallows that I can't remember exactly, but I think it was by Albus Dumbledore talking to Snape in the Pensieve while Harry watched, about how Harry was much more like his mother than his father and I think that was a huge part of that, and what makes The Prince's Tale that much more important...Harry's compassion is every bit as important as his courage, if not more so, and we see why he is like that. It was really profound.

Regarding the relationships...I didn't think it was unrealistic in the way you mentioned, but it was more like it just kind of happened while the reader didn't really get to see it progress like a "normal" relationship does. Yes, we had the seeds planted early with Ron & Hermoine, but it was kind of like they couldn't stand each other, then all of the sudden Hermoine was upset because Ron had a girlfriend. There were so few of the moments that might show why Hermoine liked him...from her point of view, as a potential boyfriend or whatever, he was completely unlikable. As such a strong female character, I found it really weird.

As for Harry and Ginny...that was just not well done at all. We had the seeds planted toward the later middle of the series, but instead of bringing it to a head, he spent all (or most) of the last two books completely avoiding her, and only thinking about her here and there. It wasn't like he used his feelings for her as fuel to do what he had to do. And even if he had, it would've been weird. She should've been introduced as his potential girlfriend/wife much earlier, and played a more important role. She just wasn't that important to the story or the main character.
 
I just finished reading Deathly Hallows. It makes me sad that I'm finished again. These books are so great.

And E, I don't agree about the relationships. I thought they were handled very well and subtly.
 
I just finished reading Deathly Hallows. It makes me sad that I'm finished again. These books are so great.

And E, I don't agree about the relationships. I thought they were handled very well and subtly.

Hermoine and Ron might have been subtle, but I still feel like Harry/Ginny came out of nowhere. I think it was mostly Ginny; she was just never really developed as that important of a character.
 
Hermoine and Ron might have been subtle, but I still feel like Harry/Ginny came out of nowhere. I think it was mostly Ginny; she was just never really developed as that important of a character.

She was in the background since the first book and was a major part of the second book. It was established in that book that she had a crush on Harry. She also grew and developed as a minor character in the background until she became just as visible as Luna and Neville in Order of the Phoenix. Then all of a sudden in Half Blood Prince Harry realized that he liked her and struggled with those feelings throughout that book. The way they got together was pretty abrupt (he just kissed her out of nowhere when they won the Quiddich cup at the end of Half Blood Prince), but I feel like if you know it's coming and read it again, you'll see it being developed all the way through.
 
So I started reading Harry Potter and the Cursed Child yesterday. I'm about a quarter of the way through it. It reads really quickly because it is a play and there isn't much text on each page, just dialogue with some notes about emotion and the setting. It's a bit weird to get used to because of that. It also differs from the first seven books because it covers three years in the first few scenes. The book/play picks up from the epilogue from Deathly Hallows and gives us snippets of Albus' first few years at Hogwarts for some character development, and then starts the actual story at the beginning of his fourth year.

I'm a bit sad this wasn't just written as a novel. And I'm disappointed with the quality of the writing so far. It reads a bit like a fan fiction. Overall though, I'm enjoying it.

My guess is that the cursed child refers to
not one person, but three: Albus, Scorpio, and Cedric Diggory, as each of them struggles with their relationships with their fathers and what happened in the past.
 
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I'm a bit sad this wasn't just written as a novel.

It's disappointing. There is no planned audiobook, likely in large part due to the format of the book. I'm able to listen to audiobooks while I work and drive and don't have a ton of time to just sit down with a regular book, so I'm not sure I'll be able to get this one.
 
It's disappointing. There is no planned audiobook, likely in large part due to the format of the book. I'm able to listen to audiobooks while I work and drive and don't have a ton of time to just sit down with a regular book, so I'm not sure I'll be able to get this one.

I seriously read 80 pages out of 300 in maybe a little over an hour. I'm not really a fast reader, but the book is quick.
 
It's disappointing. There is no planned audiobook, likely in large part due to the format of the book. I'm able to listen to audiobooks while I work and drive and don't have a ton of time to just sit down with a regular book, so I'm not sure I'll be able to get this one.

I use the program Balabolka to make epubs into audiobooks. It's a computer voice reading it of course, but it's better than nothing.
 
I finished. I think it took me about four hours in all. It's not bad, but certainly not up to the standard of the first seven books. It sort of feels like JK Rowling wanted to write a successful play more than she wanted to write a good Harry Potter story.

It was nice to be in the Harry Potter world again.
 

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