Harry Potter

[Nuzzolese]

I just discovered this great little series of books called Harry Potter. I don't know if any of you have ever read them or not. I started the first one, I guess it was about, 3 weeks ago and I've been reading at least one a week since then. I just can't put them down!

They are children's books, and they center around an unhappy orphaned boy -living with cruel relatives - who finds out, on his eleventh birthday, that he is a wizard! Any kid's dream, right? Well he's not just any wizard, he's famous for defeating a much more powerful, evil wizard when he was just a baby. (Although he can't remember that battle or the death of his parents.)

In the first book he sets off by magical train for a magical wizarding school, called Hogwarts, that seems to be modeled after traditional English boarding schools. Only in this school the classes are held in dungeons and castle towers, and they get to use wands and cauldrons. Each book in the series tells the events of Harry during a different year of school where he and his wizarding friends learn all kinds of spells, potions, and magical charms as he learns to use his wand, fly his broomstick to play a magical sport called Quidditch, and have all sorts of exciting and frightening adventures that occasionally lead him back to face the evil wizard who killed his parents.

It's pretty good. I'm at the end of the 4th book now, and it gets pretty scary!! I'd recommend checking them out if you haven't already. They're meant for kids but you don't have to be a child to enjoy them.

[Bernard Goetz]

"Great little series of books"?
Don't you mean "behemoth-like juggernaut of media domination"?

Love all the books. Goblet of Fire is the best.

[b i o n i c]

there's this book called the bible ;) the pages sometimes make good rolling papers

[Nuzzolese]

Bible, you say? Sounds dumb, doubt it'll take off.

I want to re-read these Harry Potter gems because throughout the various books, items, locations, events and characters that were previously introduced tend to reappear with significance.

[jabumbo]

welcome to 2001

[Nuzzolese]

Everything looks so sleek and shiny!!

[sjp]

there's this book called the bible ;) the pages sometimes make good rolling papers

:D

[hpdrifter]

There's a lot of sarcasm in this thread.

I'll just say they're quite enjoyable books and congrats on discovering them.

[b i o n i c]

nuzzo knows im kidding

i couldnt see reading these books, but the first couple of movies were pretty aight for kids movies.

[YoungRemy]

welcome to 2001

more like 1998.

I read 1-4 and never finished 5 and lost interest... in 2003

I'm sure I'll finish the series one day...

they are about to release Movie #6, no?

[Nuzzolese]

What could be better for a child who feels alone and unappreciated than to discover that he is actually more special than all those jerks who took him for granted? Then he gets to go to a special school, have powers and abilities... It's very empowering for a child.

Then, as Harry grows into adolescence, the books seem to get darker and more menacing where magic is concerned, just as life becomes more confusing and challenging for kids that age.

I just finished The Goblet of Fire. I almost cried.

[Nuzzolese]

The part that bothers me about Hogwarts is the whole division of houses deal. As if kids aren't naturally inclined to be clique-y as it is, they get a sorting hat telling them which house they are supposed to fit in with, on the very first day! You can be a brave Griffindor, a loyal Hufflepuff, a smart Ravenclaw, or an ambitious Slytherin. That's kind of limiting.

But I love the Dickensian names of the characters and the delicious descriptions of the food they eat. It sounds so exotically English....puddings and casserols, spotted dick, sausages, and goblets of pumpkin juice.

[Planetary]

harry potter is sick! i've read all the books :cool:

[Audio.]

welcome to 2001
^first thing that popped in my mind

But who cares? I've read every book series up till The Half Blood Prince.... no wait... oh yeah up till Order of The Phoenix. Almost half way through I could at fucking all... I SERIOUSLY couldnt finish up reading. It was soooo BORING! Fucking Boring. Probably the most interesting book in the series is The Goblet of Fire. That was the shit. I really enjoyed reading that book. Sadly that was the only chapter book I ever enjoyed reading.

[Audio.]

The part that bothers me about Hogwarts is the whole division of houses deal. As if kids aren't naturally inclined to be clique-y as it is, they get a sorting hat telling them which house they are supposed to fit in with, on the very first day! You can be a brave Griffindor, a loyal Hufflepuff, a smart Ravenclaw, or an ambitious Slytherin. That's kind of limiting.


In highschool we had what is called an Academy. For instance like Academy of Business, Academy of Agriculture, or Academy of Technology. I was in Technology. So Hogwarts really reminds me of Highschool. aah good times at the academy courses.

[Documad]

I agree that separating the kids into four different groups was at the root of the school's problems. Putting all the evil-leaning kids into one group and then encouraging them to compete against the other groups was a bad idea from the start. It's also disturbing that Harry's group gets to win everything, usually because one of his pet professors adds a bunch of points to his house's score at the last minute. What about the kids in Ravenclaw who were following the rules all along?

I also agree that Rowling is a genius when it comes to naming characters. You can tell who is a baddie based just upon his/her name.

[Bernard Goetz]

But I love the Dickensian names of the characters and the delicious descriptions of the food they eat. It sounds so exotically English....puddings and casserols, spotted dick, sausages, and goblets of pumpkin juice.
Don't forget butterbeer. Mmm, butterbeer.

[Nuzzolese]

I agree that separating the kids into four different groups was at the root of the school's problems. Putting all the evil-leaning kids into one group and then encouraging them to compete against the other groups was a bad idea from the start. It's also disturbing that Harry's group gets to win everything, usually because one of his pet professors adds a bunch of points to his house's score at the last minute. What about the kids in Ravenclaw who were following the rules all along?

I also agree that Rowling is a genius when it comes to naming characters. You can tell who is a baddie based just upon his/her name.

I know that the school was founded by four different wizards, but if I were the headmaster at hogwarts I'd push for a break from tradition, a discarding of the sorting hat, and I'd try to encourage every child to strive for bravery, intelligence, loyalty and ambition all at once. But what do I know about it? I'm just a muggle. The wizarding community seems to take pride in their archaic habits as a matter of cultural preservation. Why else would they insist on using rolls of parchment and messy quill pens and bottles of ink?

Although I understand that for purposes of streamlining the plot, you need to focus attention on the Griffindor house because that's where our protagonists are. They don't always win everything. But wouldn't it be funny if, in a movie or a book, the writers were to acknowledge the favoritism of main characters by having someone actually refer to them as main characters? "Hey you! You four main characters, you're in big trouble!" They did that on Lost once, it was pretty funny. Someone on the island was giving Kate and Jack a hard time, complaining about how cliquey it was there, and how Kate always got the best pieces of wreckage to build her shelter.