Harry Potter?
I just finished the latest installment of Harry Potter. It's pretty good and it only took me about a day to read (I kept telling myself I would stop at the next chapter but I could never get enough will power to do so...)
So, anybody else read it? How does it compare to the others so far?
So, anybody else read it? How does it compare to the others so far?
12 Comments:
I also read it straigh through in one day over the weekend. It's really like a movie on paper and you can't just stop in the middle of a movie, can you? I think it's better than #5 and about on par with the rest in the series. Don't know about you, Delphine, but I always feel a bit guilty reading Harry Potter when there are so many better books I haven't read. But I guess one has to eat a little junk food some time. :)
<british_accent> Au contraire, Ben, my learned friend (a friend without a pier, I might add :). Rowling's weltanschauung is above reproach; her plot and pacing are more than adequate. However, her language lacks a certain je ne sais quoi, her heroes insouciance, her villains nuanced ambivalence. Her work is an amalgam of incisive psychological portrayal, withering social satire, and profound moral mythology uncouthly wrapped in strawberry pop-culture prose and a tedious narrative of insidious intent that effects the unfortunate elevation of "snogging" to the central allegorical signifier. The long term social consequences of her works remains very much in doubt unless she can, against all likelihood, bring about the inclusion of her books in that very zenith of literary approbation, Oprah's Book Club. </british_accent>
Here's my prediction for HP7: Snape achieves some measure of redemption. "I know there's still good in him." -- Luke Skywalker
Since it's two years until the next book, I'm going to try reading Moby Dick (Harry Potter it ain't) for the third time. Hopefully this time I'll get far enough so Ishmael actually gets on the damn boat.
i, on the other hand, can't seem to find time to read it! i own a copy, so i didn't feel too bad about getting an ebook version to put on my treo, so at least i can snag a few pages read between meetings and the such :(
I haven't read the book, nor do I intend to. But in the current debate, why has everyone taken the side of weltanschauung over zeitgeist? Or can the two not be separated?
Skip the Melville. I hated Billy Budd.
Qian, if you are going to read Melville, you should read Bartleby the Scrivner. It's short.
But it looks like the Onion wants me to read Moby Dick. :)
Reread Bartleby the Scrivener? I would prefer not to. :-)
Seriously, it was a decent short story, showing that Melville isn't all that bad when he doesn't have the room to go off on endless tangents.
I totally agree with Christina. I liked it better than but 3 is my favorite and I will reluctantly admit that I did check out a Harry Potter fan forum to see if people had similar theories to me about 7...
My mom finished the book before I did btw (she finished it the day it came out!) Brian finished the book after me. Everyone's reading Harry Potter! well everyone except Vincent...
I meant to say "I liked it better than 6" btw
uh I mean 5.... dang... I can't type this morning. or afternoon or whatever time it is...
I like the new book, although Goblet of Fire is still my favorite. Some newspaper reviewers complain that the title of #6 does not match its content or whatever, but I think the interactions with the HBP are essential, and often pretty funny.
I haven't developed any substantial theories yet about #7. Last year, I did read (on the internet) some small speculations about that one barkeep in Hogsmeade which sound convincing. So that's one thing that'll probably come to fruition in #7, if it's not a red herring.
If we are on the subject of literature recommendations, I suggest "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson and Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor. But perhaps everybody has already read these in school. Or if you are into detective fiction, A Murder is Announced is quite enjoyable.
I'm with Vincent.
I read the first book (because I had a long plane ride) and didn't like it. Both that I didn't enjoy it myself and that I wouldn't want to give it to any kid of mine. Do the later books get better? I tried to read the second one, but didn't get past a few pages.
I've seen the first two movies though. Maybe I'll rent the third one before the fourth one comes out.
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