I don’t know how I’ve missed coming to your site all this time—good stuff!  Welcome to my blogroll.

I have a lengthy business trip coming up.  The new book should make a fine (if hefty) addition to my carry-on.

Honestly, I think the popularity of Harry Potter showcases American Stupidity. I never understood what the fuck the fuss was all about, but what do I know?

If I’m going to read a book, I want to learn something out of it, and not fiction.

Maybe it’s just the act of reading a book but I find the HP series leave you with a very positive feeling. I still have to read No.5 though before I can get involved with the current hubbub.

When I was younger my favorite book was The Dig and later I was excited to found out they made a LucasArts adventure game The Dig… And even later I found out that the book was made after the game. All this time my favorite book was actually a verbatim script of an adventure game.

It’s getting harder and harder to find a good adventure game now that Sierra and LucasArts are done with them. The last 3 excellent adventures were Syberia 2, Syberia, and The Longest Journey. There were some other good ones but nothing even came close to rivaling a good ol’ SCUMM engine game. Oh what I would give to sit down and enjoy a new Day of The Tentacle, or Fate of Atlantis, or even a Sam and Max. Everyone else would be on the plane reading their Harry Potters and Tom Clancys, would be sitting there with a laptop enjoying an interactive fictional story of epic proportions!

If I’m going to read a book, I want to learn something out of it, and not fiction.

Wow!  I didn’t think that I would see such a close-minded opinion from you, Bo$$.  Let’s see, you have just shut the door on Franz Kafka, Plato (allegory stories are still fictional), Nathaniel Hawthorne, Miguel de Cervantes, all non-historical religious texts and treatises, Jonathon Swift, the Ulster Cycles, Beowulf, Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Edgar Allen Poe, Mark Twain, Aesop, Robert Louis Stevenson, H G Wells, Jules Verne, Charles Dickens, Mary Shelley, Emily Bronte, etc… One tends to get whatever out of a book that one puts into the reading.  Granted there is some stuff that is pure fluff, but most things can show you something new even if it is just a new perspective on life or a new philosophy.  What a diminished world it would be with no fiction.

Wow!  I didn’t think that I would see such a close-minded opinion from you, Bo$$.

The key word in my post is ‘book’. I wouldn’t mind reading any of the literature you mentioned, warbi, as hypertext. I just hate books. I much prefer to read off computer screens.

Ahhh… yes, that makes a huge difference.  My apologies.  Your post made me think that you found the idea of fiction personally repugnant.  I have to admit that I am somewhat old-fashioned in that regard- I love the feel of a hardback in my hands just as I prefer using my 35 mm camera to a digital.  Just a question of preference.

What has really amazed me is how fast these books are selling and how quickly they’ve been translated into some 70+ languages.  At this rate, Harry Potter will overtake the Bible for most copies sold and the world will be a better place.

BTW:  The half-blood prince is really Harry and Hermione’s son returned to protect them.

My copy was delivered by the postlady and it sits on the counter still in it’s cardboard wrapper because I am savoring a new adventure into the wonderful world of fiction!  What is the reason for the fuss you ask?  It is because this work caused even nonreaders to pick up a book. What a powerful tool!

Already finished it at 2am today.  Definitely my least favorite of the series.  Although I foresaw the plot twist I also expected the plot twist to untwist itself or leave the possibility in the next book which it did not do.  Little to nothing happened the first 400 pages and the last 150 the story accelerated extremely fast and hit a brick wall.  Just my initial reaction to the book.

What is the deal with HP. Personally I dont like them. I just cant get over the use of wands. Wands seem to take away the magic element of the book. And the silly use of words. The fact that harry potter has to say some latin sounding word and then wake a peice of wood makes magic seem less special, and far less useful (lest say some one doing magic can simply think of something happening and then it happens; well harry, good luck if you try to fight that). But, i suppose its a better book to be reading than the bible. HP is a much better book for the masses to read than the slaughter and killing of the bible(and the attempt to control the minds of followers). If everyone has an uplifting fealing after reading it, it is far better than every one being in a religious converting frenzy after reading the bible.

If any one can tell me what is so appealing to the book, please.

Cheers BunBun

Yes! I am not alone in hating Harry Potter!

Maybe I was too harsh in saying everyone who reads Harry Potter. But the crazy protestants are even more wrong about it. You don’t see little kids saying “Fuck Jesus, I have Harry Potter now”.

The only scary part of the whole thing is that I agree with Joel Stein. (Oh yeah, those poor trees as well. That paper had damn well have been recycled...)

I think I would have rather read the Bible than the last HP book.

I would not say I hate harry potter...but some of it does not make sense to me. As silly as this may sound, why does hp not just get some sort of very powerful modern weapon(maybe a good deal of nitroglycerine) and vaporize the evil guy...voldemort(sp?). And another thing that does not make sense to me is how can these wizards avoid notice of the modern technology that does a damn good job of survaillance--such as a satalite-- when the wizards cant even be bothered to learn how it works. They wont stoop to the level of us muggles. Sounds like muggleism to me. I’m not anything less than harry potter because I cant wake a wand around. If anything I am more because I have to use my brain to understand the world. Not just wave a wand around and say a few memorized words and then have my food cooked for me.

Although I will say the writing of HP is better than average. Its only the story/world I dont like.

Hope I dont offend any HP fans for my beliefes but I have always been one to question what is popular (maybe that is because im such a geek).

Cheers BunBun

I can’t think of any book, movie, or what have you that everyone has universally liked no matter how popular it is. I don’t understand the popularity of “reality shows” like American Idol or Survivor as I can’t stand them myself. So I wouldn’t sweat it too much if you’re not a Potter fan. Even if I could explain the appeal I doubt you’d understand it because when folks try to tell me why Survivor is such a great show I totally fail to see why.

Just suffice it to say that I have a rather short list of must-read fiction authors and J.K. Rowling is damn near close to the top.

Personally, I like the books.  I did not expect the person that died to actually die though.  As for why not to blow him up… Well, if you read the book, you’ll know why it doesn’t work.  His soal has been “preserved” in a way to prevent him from being able to be killed.  You can kill his body but it would only be a temporary setback.  I can hardly wait for the next book myself. 

I agree with you Bun Bun and was thinking along those same lines as I was reading.  What disturbs me more than them deciding to go get weapons is the fact that they don’t question the world of magic.  Certainly there must be some sort of separate physical laws that apply to that even.  The wizard that could find out how magic works on the most basic level would be there own version of Neo.  Rather it seems trial and error is the only way they discover charms and potions.

Their were several times where I was thoroughly disappointed at Harry’s deductive reasoning skills.  He had great suspicions but could not think of the evidence for his suspicions any where near what was satisfactorily useful to anyone else.  I think if they took some Muggle philosophy and science classes they would be greatly benefitted to discover the full power of their own abilities.  There were times I wwas even disappointed with the professors own reasoning skills.  Harry showed himself to be almost as able as any other character in the book minus Dumbledore of course.

A harry potter Neo. That would make an interesting book. Agent Voldemort. I could just see that now. They would be flying at each other...the spells they throw at one another doing the bullet cinematic. Lol.

Actually it would probably be a really stupid book at best.

Or maybe what about a James Bond type of HP. He could go and get some training over the summer as the next James Bond. Then he can infiltrate the wizard HQ and discover the secret conspiracy that managed to get voldamort all his power.

Brian, I have read the book. But if you managed to seperate every single constitutant molecule that makes up his body then what is he going to regenerate with? Some sort of host body he takes over?

Or better yet if the wizards are so powerful they should be able to get him to teleport(I cant remember what they call it) or touch one of thsoe key things that was meant to make you travel around and put the end destination in a black hole. Voldemort is gonna need some serious luck to get out of that.

That would kind kill the book though if voldamort died like that though. HP would end at book four or something like that when hp sends him to a black hole.

If that happened to voldamort i would fell sorry for him. If he cant die he is going to get rather bored floating through the cold darkness of space or trapped in a black hole for multiple billions of years. That would simply be awful, for anyone.

Cheers BunBun

I agree with Les.  I love the books and I can’t give you a good explaination.  All I know is for a few days I’m not a direct care worker, wife and poor person I’m just a kid.  I kind of like that.

BunBun: “why does hp not just get some sort of very powerful modern weapon(maybe a good deal of nitroglycerine) and vaporize the evil guy...voldemort”

BunBun, you should rent the movie, Wizards.  I have a hunch you would really like the ending! 

Interesting. I’ll see about it. Maybe I can netflix it.

Cheers BunBun