Harry Potter Discussion (spoilers)

Here's a lengthy but brilliant essay from Entertainment Weekly about why J.K. Rowling is the "Entertainer of the Year". It's definitely worth a read, I think it's one of the best articles I've seen in the magazine all year. It's mostly about the books, too. Recommended reading for all. :D
 
That could be pretty awesome... Although when I was reading it I swear i had someone else in mind, but now i've lost it.
 
After some consideration, my rankings for the seven books.

1) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
2) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
3) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
4) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
5) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
6) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
7) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Reasoning to follow, if anyone wants to discuss.
 
hm... to counter:

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
2. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
5. Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone
6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
7. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
 
My rankings:

Half Blood Prince
Goblet of Fire
Prisoner of Azkaban
Sorcerer's Stone
Deathly Hallows
Order of the Phoenix
Chamber of Secrets
 
Planet-man said:
Yikes. I really can't understand finding more to like in Deathly Hallows than ANY of the other books.
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Best written, by far, as well as the most intricately constructed of the series... Plus i just flat out loved the book. It might shrink down in time, but i've read it three times now and I still think its the best of the series.

If it goes down, the lowest I'd rank it would be #3.

I can't see why you and Goody have HBP as #1, its the most poorly written book in the series since Chamber of Secrets (and by that I mean not story-wise, but actual quality of writing... It read like fan-fiction to me). The only great bits in HBP are those explaining Voldemort's backstory... That's why I was so worried that DH was going to be crap, and when it was probably the most satisfying ending the books could have had.
 
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Dr.Strangefate said:
I can't see why you and Goody have HBP as #1, its the most poorly written book in the series since Chamber of Secrets (and by that I mean not story-wise, but actual quality of writing... It read like fan-fiction to me). The only great bits in HBP are those explaining Voldemort's backstory... That's why I was so worried that DH was going to be crap, and when it was probably the most satisfying ending the books could have had.
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It's funny, but I felt the exact same way about Deathly Hallows. It read like bad fanfiction. The obvious red herring that was the Deathly Hallows themselves, the 300 page meandering, the stupidly contrived explanation on how Harry got the Elder Wand, the plot hole that was the Invisibility Cloak, the unsatisfying death of Snape, the rath anti-climactic final battle between Harry and Voldemort, the lack of emotion to the deaths of Lupin, Tonks and even Fred, and, of course, the epilogue.

The only really great part to DH, in my opinion was the backstory on Dumbledore and how he wasn't the saint he was portrayed to be in the other six books.
 
*shrug* To each his own. I love the books, and the ones at the bottom of my list i only like marginally less than the rest.

That said, I disagree about Deathly Hallows, but I don't want to get all arguey.
 
Dr.Strangefate said:
*shrug* To each his own. I love the books, and the ones at the bottom of my list i only like marginally less than the rest.

That said, I disagree about Deathly Hallows, but I don't want to get all arguey.
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I understand.

I don't actually hate DH, I just like it less then the other books. I do agree about HBP, though. That's near the bottom of the list, too. GoF is probably my favorite, with PoA close behind.
 
I just had an impromptu Potter movie marathon.

I put on the first movie this morning just to see once particular scene. Next thing I know I'm watching the whole movie. Then the next one. Then the next one. Next thing I know I'm halfway thru Order of the Phoenix without even realizing it.

And out of all the films, one line stuck out the most. At the end of GoF...Ron says, "What's life without a few dragons?".

That was actually some solid zen thinking there.







I should also note that I'm kinda high off a lot of cold medicine.
 
GoF is the best of the Potter films, IMO. The first one doesn't get enough credit anymore either. It was a great adaptation and there are some moments in it that are just pure... *turns to camera* ...magic.

Namely Diagon Alley, going through the platform barrier, and most memorable of all, the wideshot at the beginning of the first Quidditch match. I remember the whole audience collectively making that "ooooohhhoohhhh (this is so good)" noise during that bit.
 
OK, im gonna jump right in with out reading the 30+ pages before my post. I apologize for the wonderful thoughts and ideas already presented.

First off, books in order: 3 & 7 (Tie), 4, 1, 6, 5, 2 (all really close except 2, i almost hate book 2)
Movies in order: 3, 1, 5, 2, 4

I will also come right out and say i think the epilogue was a complete cop out. JK has stated that she wrote that in the VERY beginning (1995) and only made minor tweaks to it and it shows. It give us almost no extra information and just seemed rather rushed and drawn out at the same time (near impossible, but managed). I hate that we got more information the month following the book release than we did in the epilogue.

Which leads me to hate issue number 2. I hate that Dumbledore was outed as gay. Before you go calling me homophobic, that is not that case. It just seemed like a very poorly thought out and even more poorly executed plan. If he was meant to be gay, then add more information into the books to imply this. Telling us so far after the fact adds nothing to the books and also seems like she was just trying to garner support from a very out spoken community.

Third hate issue: suing the fan community for publishing a book of speculation and history gleaned from the book. Work together with them and publish the book together, dont austrisize your fans.

Final hate issue: the movies. Why cut so much from the books only to A)create a scene for movie six that is never mention in the books and B)split book 7 into two movies to remain as accurate as possible. If you wanted to keep the movies accurate to the books then make them all long and include everthing. If you want to make them a good movie that all can enjoy, then do that. But you can't have your cake and eat it too.

There, i've given my two cents...
 
I'm glad you thought 3 was one of the better ones, to this day, for me anyways, 3 is the best.

As for the gay issue, I thought he was gay by the end of the sixth book, it just kinda, clicked.
 
Ultimate Houde said:
I'm glad you thought 3 was one of the better ones, to this day, for me anyways, 3 is the best.

As for the gay issue, I thought he was gay by the end of the sixth book, it just kinda, clicked.
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you really got a gay vibe from him? Once that "shocker" was revealed, i reread the entire series and didnt once get a gay vibe, not once.
 
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