To clarify what I mean, and to elaborate:
Harry Potter is reportedly the "best selling" book series in history. Over 500 million copies have been published.
The last four books consecutively set records as the fastest-selling books in history, with the final installment selling roughly eleven million copies in the United States within twenty-four hours of its release. That's insane.
In my mind, it's just not worth all of that.
As the extraordinarily well-respected Ursula K. Le Guin said, "I have no great opinion of it. When so many adult critics were carrying on about the 'incredible originality' of the first Harry Potter book, I read it to find out what the fuss was about, and remained somewhat puzzled; it seemed a lively kid's fantasy crossed with a 'school novel,' good fare for its age group, but stylistically ordinary, imaginatively derivative, and ethically rather mean-spirited.
There are currently 805,000+ fanfictions involving Harry Potter. That's beyond insane.
I agree with Le Guin, there's nothing special about it. It had it's charms when we were all schoolchildren, but I have friends now in their thirties who are still obsessed with it. They still read the books once a year. They still watch the movies several times a year, and they have harry potter themed baby showers for their kids! That's insane as well.
I don't understand it. And I don't think that sub-par literature deserves all of the fanfare, panoply, and attention that it gets. I get that people can like what they like, but there are other and better books to be read. And the obsession with Harry Potter, I think, is impeding people from finding new and better literature to read and enjoy (and be obsessed with).
(some edits to elaborate on my opinion re: comments (and my responses thereto) below)
First, this post was designed to be less about the overall literary merit of HP (although that is an important factor in my opinion) and more the "hype" and "fandom" generated by the series, which is what is most bewildering to me. I fully understand the value of nostalgia and the impact the series had on 9-15 year olds back in 1998. My point is that those fans (most of whom are now in their 30's) need to move on to other books, and NOT that they should stop loving HP.
From the wiki on Harry Potter:
Washington Post book critic [Ron Charles](http
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Any character arc that can begin with a shy and meek 10 year old, and end it with a nearly 18-year old man that’s the figurehead of a revolution who countless people look up to and have it feel earned and not jarring; is a well crafted, executed arc (looking at you Game of Thrones).
>‘Why didn’t he tell him to hide, then?’ shot back Aberforth. ‘Why didn’t he say to him, take care of yourself, here’s how to survive?’
>‘Because,’ said Harry, before Hermione could answer, ‘sometimes you’ve got to think about more than your own safety! Sometimes you’ve got to think about the greater good! This is war!’
>‘You’re seventeen, boy!’
>‘I’m of age, and I’m going to keep fighting even if you’ve given up!’
>‘Who says I’ve given up?’
>‘“The Order of the Phoenix is finished,”’ Harry repeated. ‘“You-Know-Who’s won, it’s over, and anyone who’s pretending different’s kidding themselves.” ’
>‘I don’t say I like it, but it’s the truth!’
>‘No, it isn’t,’ said Harry. ‘Your brother knew how to finish You-Know-Who and he passed the knowledge on to me. I’m going to keep going until I succeed – or I die. *Don’t think I don’t know how this might end. I’ve known it for years.’*
>He waited for Aberforth to jeer or to argue, but he did not.
And that's not even talking about Harry ending the series by literally roasting Lord Voldemort in front of the entire Wizarding World:
>"You won’t be killing anyone else tonight,” said Harry as they circled, and stared into each other’s eyes, green into red. “You won’t be able to kill any of them ever again. Don’t you get it? I was ready to die to stop you from hurting these people –
>"But you did not!
>"– I meant to, and that’s what did it. I’ve done what my mother did. They’re protected from you. Haven’t you noticed how none of the spells you put on them are binding? You can’t torture them. You can’t touch them.You don’t learn from your mistakes, Riddle, do you?
It started when I was working at Scholastic and I was looking at something to bring home to read to my friend Merisha. I can't remember the details, but she'd read the books as a child and I didn't because my mother used to quite resent them for putting witchcraft into a positive light, despite never had read them herself. It's been many years since then and she was finally willing to give them a listen if I read.
There were laughs to be had and plot to be enjoyed. Storytime each night became her favorite thing. I read until my voice went hoarse, only to resume tomorrow.
The first five books we did about 2-3 chapters a night, but then around Half Blood Prince is when she really got into it. Her entire mood, ever since the first book, had switched around. I myself had fallen in love with HP as well.
Another part to this nightly tradition was to watch the accompanying movie after finishing its book. Basically put, we were all terribly upset with Goblet of Fire.
So since I don't have a Sorting Hat, we decided that I would have been in Hufflepuff, and so now I wear a little yellow Hufflepuff wrist-bracelet. My now-wife Merisha was in Gryffindoor, and I honestly haven't asked my mom yet.
I feel pretty accomplished right now. It was a blast reading the books and I loved all of the characters. My favorite characters to voice were Hagrid, who I reached into my inner Black Beard the Pirate to voice; Voldemort, I tried to as a high rasp, like when you're trying to angrily whisper across the room. For the Malfoys, I tried to jut my jaw out and sound as snobby as possible. For Bellatrix, since I wasn't very good with girls voices as it was, did a high, wild, insane voice rather like the Chamberlain from The Dark Crystal. The Fred and George I just spoke high and nasally. For Snape, I tried speaking from the back of my throat and rolling the words into each other. The voices made the story awesome for everyone.
Have a great day, everybody, and thanks for listening.
#Edit
I just took the Pottermore test and now I'm in Slytherin.
YAALLLLLL I CANT EVEN SJSJSJSJXKSKAKA GUYS MY HEART NEJSJJSKSKSKS MY LIFE IS SO BORINF NOW WTH I FEEL LIKE AN EMPTY VOID JUST BUILT ITSELF IN MY HEART AND IM ✨NOT✨OOKKSHUSUSUDUSJ THE ENDING WAS LITERALLY AMAZING AND EVEN MADE UP ( a very VERY minuscule amount worth) FOR THE TEARS AND HEARTBREAK IT CAUSED ME
If there were a series similar to marvel’s “What if…” for Harry Potter, what are some ideas for episodes you would like to see?
I would love to see
- What if Voldemort made Neville the chosen one instead of Harry?
- What if Snape never heard the prophecy? What if he heard the whole thing instead of just half?
- What if Lupin were the Potter’s secret keeper and not Peter?
Love to hear your ideas!
And this is coming from someone who loves Star Wars.
It seems like every other time I go online, there's some new article about "What your Patronous means about you," or how Rowling has announced another dozen books. Everywhere I look I see nothing but beaming admiration for the series and how they're only a step down from the Ten Commandments when it comes to texts being delivered to us mortals from the divine.
It's not like it's bad either; they're solid young adult books that are an easy read with a decent story and world-building. I just think that more people need to remember that above all else, these were children's books.
His uncle had control over electricity and had to read books while walking around oUtside or all of the lights would explode. Set in England. There was like 12 books the first one was red and the last one was black
I already asked this question in https://www.reddit.com/r/answers/comments/atyjxc/can_i_use_the_word_muggle_legally_in_my_book_as/ but haven't really got a confirming answer, so again is it legal if I am writing a book and always use the word muggle to describe a non-magical person in it?(The book does not take any characters or use the world of Harry Potter)
Harry is raised by a Business and Trial law attorney, and has been around the best English Law Firm, as his father is one of the partners. All his life Harry has seen his father and other attorneys who represent big corporations on a daily basis, and are always exploiting legal loopholes to get their clients out of hot water.
Harry has been taught the motto "For every law, find ten loopholes, and think of a hundred ways to use them."
-***-
Albus Dumbledore massaged his head, tired after a hard day at work. He didn't need this shit. He had hoped Severus and Harry might try and get along, but alas, that turned to be nothing but a fantasy. Severus as usual had tried to frighten the first years by signaling out one and asking questions.
Unfortunately, Harry Potter was not one to be trifled easily. Instead, it turned out the young Potter had done considerable research, and thus was able to point out to Section 69:420 about unsatisfactory teacher's performance in the case when a teacher asks tough questions with the intent of humiliating a student.
How the Potter boy managed to get a total of 7 references to the use of the particular section of the Charter, Albus had no idea. He had to force Severus to reign his slight bias, and gently request (threaten with power) him to treat everyone equally, fairly and most of all improve his teaching standards.
All of that was just yesterday's work. And now he had to deal with an injury caused by the same boy.
"Mr. Potter, explain to me again how a gaping stab wound to the stomach is perfectly legal according to the Hogwarts Charter?" Albus asked kindly and gently.
"Yes sir. If you would check Section 58:008, you will find if a student challenges another to a duel specifying only the place and time, the challenged person dictates the rules of duel, which have to be vocalised just before the duel, and can be vocalised on a way that the challenger is unable to hear the terms. My terms for the duel was for it to be a knife fight. And, according to Section 17:77, a duel when issued and accepted, the duelists are immune from any and all form of formal charges of this school or the governing body for any injury sustained in accordance to the terms of duel," Harry supplied with the notes of Charter in front of him. "So, perfectly legal."
Albus sighed and closed his eyes again, trying to will the approaching headache away.
'Curse the day that attorney decided to raise Harry Potter' Albus thought to h
... keep reading on reddit ➡With the Harry Potter series now on HBO Max and using Closed Caption I can enjoy all the dialect that I couldn't catch the first time watching them.
Please list your favourites or some recommendations of books I should read and why.
So in HP and the Philosopher’s Stone, Vernon and Hagrid are exchanging barbs when Vernon announces that Harry will not be going to Hogwarts with this exchange;
“"Haven't I told you he's not going?" he hissed. "He's going to Stonewall High and he'll be grateful for it. I've read those letters and he needs all sorts of rubbish -- spell books and wands and--"
"If he wants ter go, a great Muggle like you won't stop him," growled Hagrid.”
So it got me wondering, how much rights do parents and guardians have over their own children in the magic community?
Harry was entrusted in the care of Petunia and Vernon. And while they weren’t great guardians, they had all legal precedents over the boy and his raising.
What authority does Dumbledore have over a parent’s right to their children, not just to Harry, but any muggle parent who may not want their child to go to Hogwarts?
I noticed that it went on sale today, but I've heard about the game suffering from game breaking bugs and crashes in certain intervals. Is the game in a state that warrants purchasing?
What do you miss most about it?
The fifth was dead Sirius.
