Harry Potter: 3 More Things I Learned

ExileStreet ^ | 8/1/07 | John Mark Reynolds

[ParsifalCA]

I am warning those who have not finished the series . . . and there must be still a few of them by now. . . that there are spoilers ahead. I have just finished the last book . . . having spent an enjoyable evening with it thanks to Sam’s Club and an indulgent wife.

I am done with Harry Potter and enjoying the literary aftertaste the way one enjoys a fine meal almost as much after it is done as when it is being consumed . . . though it is a bit sad that the series is finished.

And it is really finished . . .

Will one be able to re-read the books with pleasure?

I think the answer is only a tentative “yes.” If one knows the “puzzles” and “the secrets” of the book, it will not take away the charm of the characters or the fun of a good Quidditch match, but the first read will always be the best.

The strength of these books is in the plot and the second read, when everything is known, will be satisfying for finding all the clues to what happens . . . but I am hard pressed to know if I will want to re-read them a third or fourth time.

A really great book is as good on the fourth read . . . and some children’s books (Little White Horse) are better.

I deeply enjoyed the last book and thought the ending satisfying. For those who found them quite Christian, they will find much in this last book to give strength to their idea.

[Tanniker Smith]

Duty calls. I'm out for a while.

We'll be listening for the flush.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Cletus: "Reverend, that post 372's some powerful truth, ain't it?"
Reverend: "Indeed, Brother Cletus."
Nagini: "I hate muggles."

[Tax-chick]

Hey don’t forget that there is tacit approval for public breastfeeding too.

Sure, but it is totally over shadowed by the message calling for more gun control.

And the fact that Mundungus has to steal in order to afford food points up the need for Social Security reform and more outpatient alcholism-treatment clinics.

[discostu]

Dante, I read them in high school, on my own, for fun. And I read HP. You really need to can your sour grapes, it’s freaking pathetic and disgusting. Her writing is more successful than yours, get over it.

[Cymbaline]

It’s the JOOOS!

[Xenalyte]

If you want crap masquerading as worthwhile poetry, you can’t do much better than Whitman.*

“I celebrate myself” . . . indeed, he does, and it’s about the only damn thing he knows how to do.

*Okay, except Thoreau. What a poser. “On Walden Pond,” my happy foot. “On my mother’s back forty” is more like it.

[The Blitherer]

It's a pity, isn't it. I've just read that in Italy all schoolchildren study The Divine Comedy. In America these days, college graduates couldn't even name the author of it, and then they grow to feed their own children this kind of fluff.

And yet, incredibly, I studied The Divine Comedy in high school AND read Harry Potter.

[discostu]

Must fight that brand of BS. Of course I don’t do it often. Can only put up with it once or twice a year, hard on the old ticker.

[discostu]

thanks for the laugh.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Laughter is what finishes a boggot off. ;)

[null and void]

I almost forgot about the rampant SLAVERY in the HP books. Clearly pure evil.

Is this a bad time to point out that slavery in the Bible was used as late as the 1860's to justify slavery in the United States?

[Revolting cat!]

[discostu]

But there’s nothing wrong with fluff. That’s your core problem on this issue, let’s say every bad thing you say about the books is true (and it’s not, the cliche density thing is pure BS), who gives a crap?! They’re fun books to read, they don’t take that long, and there’s nothing about reading silly fun books that prevents people from reading deep and interesting. There’s room on the bookshelf for Rowling and Dante, room for Craig Shaw Gardner and Tolkien. So it’s fluff, get over it.

[Revolting cat!]

Sure, Agatha Christie is fluff, too. But it is well written fluff. The cliche density maybe exaggerated, as I said, I read random two pages in several of the books. Based on that, and having read some critics who cited persuasive evidence, I think those books are simply badly written, if they are richly plotted (though a couple of critics complained that sometimes she has trouble resolving some of these rich plots.) Danielle Steel for the young ones, you might say.

The mania and fanaticism, and the lack of distance to judge their literary value are a separate topic altogether, and I've said enough anyway.

[dmz]

So what you’re saying that Rowling is REALLY an American citizen,and she runs the Council of Foreign Relations.
________

Exactly. Deep cover.

[jude24]

You guys are gonna convert me yet!

The Presbys are alright with beer too.

Come over to the dark side.

[Tanniker Smith]

Okay, missing the point there.
But I shan't argue with a warrior princess.

[Xenalyte]

Mostly that no one sucks like Whitman, except maybe Thoreau. (I can’t stand the Transcendentalists.)

/hijack

[discostu]

Well there must be something good about these books. The punchline is simple really, people read fiction for FUN, these books are FUN, therefore there’s nothing wrong with reading them. As for the fanaticism, feces happens. People get fanatical about things, I’ve seen people get fanatical about much dumber things than HP, remember pet rocks? Of course on the other side you’re just as fanatical against the books as the most ardent fan is for them. You need to figure out why you feel this desperate need to go on nearly every Potter thread and tell the world you think they suck. I don’t go on any of the motor sports threads and tell them I don’t like racing (used to like NASCAR but that was a long time ago, I didn’t hit any of the Tour de France threads and tell them bike riding is a stupid sport. I can understand you hating Potter, but it’s not healthy to need to announce it over and over day after day. We like it, you don’t, nuff said.

[null and void]

Point conceded.