fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2465 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2465 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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02.

[Twin Peaks]

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03.

[Doonesbury, O Human Star]

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04.

[Two of a Kind]

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05.

[Cleopatra/Elizabeth Taylor]

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06.

[The Final Descent by Rick Yancey]

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07.

[Attack on Titan]

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08.

[Sleepy Hollow]

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09.

[Whitechapel]

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10.

[Outlast]

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 021 secrets from Secret Submission Post #352.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I've always disliked Harry Potter, because I felt it was such a shining example of trendiness and hype winning out over actual quality. The writing -- characterization, plot, etc. -- was just laughable (take the epilogue for example). I also really don't care for some of the things the author has done.

...But that doesn't mean I hate the fans! People are free to like what they want. Sure, I personally hate it, but that doesn't mean I'm technically "right". It's all a matter of taste and opinion, after all.

I don't really agree with it being about trendiness and hype, but yeah, when I look back on the books, some of the characterisation and plot does seem kind of weak and the writing style makes me laugh aloud at parts I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to find amusing. And the world-building is really weak in places. They're still very good books though! It's a good classical story. I'd still read it to my kids.

Maybe it depends on where you lived and such, but it sure as hell was trendy over here. Whenever I'd say that I didn't follow the series, the response was always something along the lines of "But everyone reads them! It's the in thing!". Parents would stand in lines with their offspring on the release dates, because if the kids didn't keep up with the series they'd get teased in school for not being cool enough.

Wow, seriously? I was living in Malaysia for most of the releases, so I guess that's why I never really thought of it as something that people got into only because it was popular. That's kind of sad about kids getting teased for not reading them - I remember being teased for waiting up to read them.

"But everyone reads them! It's the in thing!".

I hate that. I want to go, "no, not everyone reads/watches/listens to it. I don't."

"But everyone reads them! It's the in thing!"

if there was ever anything so calculated to make me not want to read a series...

I knew they weren't technically great books at the time, but there was just something about them. The prose just clicked with me in a way that I have tried and failed to analyze.

Yeah, I agree with this. I saw lots of writing flaws, and certainly "adolescent discovers magical abilities" isn't the world's most original plot... but they clicked with me somehow, and I guess they clicked with a lot of other people.

But I see where people might get sick of hearing about it all the time and having everyone assume they must be reading it.

OP

Yeah, exactly - and I can respect your opinion. I'll admit that in hindsight I do think the books had a lot of flaws, and were given credit for "original" things that weren't really so original.

And I respect your opinion, too! :)

On the other hand, I'm fucking tired of people going on and on about how they think Harry Potter is shit in so many ways, without ever supporting their claims in any way whatsoever. It just comes off as "hey, look at me, I'm DIFFERENT".

JK Rowling was one hell of a good storyteller. Her books became a sensation in countless countries, in every age group, and with every gender. That's highly unusual, and it says a lot about the storytelling itself. That includes plot, naturally. So, laughable? No.

I also find it strange that you should laugh off the characterization when her characters have so many dimensions to them that over 6 years after the end of the series, and 16 years after the first book's release, people are still arguing over even the bigger details of these character. No one can come to any proper conclusion about characters like Snape or Dumbledore. I'd say that's good evidence that her characterization is pretty damn good.

I also find it strange that you should laugh off the characterization when her characters have so many dimensions to them that over 6 years after the end of the series, and 16 years after the first book's release, people are still arguing over even the bigger details of these character. No one can come to any proper conclusion about characters like Snape or Dumbledore. I'd say that's good evidence that her characterization is pretty damn good.

I think some of that stems from fan dissatisfaction. I also think the first two books are deceiving, because they are more obviously for children and a bit more simplistic in characterization. I'm not sure it's until the third book that we really start seeing all of those dimensions, and even then there's characters who aren't written as well as they could be.

I really think that's one of the big problems for me in HP:

I read it when I was a kid myself, and even then, I found the very one dimensional "evil=ugly and mean" characters annoying. But that's just the way a lot of children's books are and I loved them very dearly nonetheless. The problem was that it wasn't until book 4 that the characterisation started changing and becoming more subtle. And that was a bit too late, for my taste, to start backtracking with a lot of characters. I always thought the whole "Snape's evil!" - "Now he's good!" - "Now evil again" - "Or maybe good after all?" thing was very inconsistent and silly.

Generally, I thought the series never did the transition from "cute children's book" to "young adult fantasy lit and WIZARD WAR; PEOPLE DYING!" very well.

Wow, you're a moron. Everyone's nice and respectful in this thread, and then you come along and it's like you can't even READ (I guess that explains why you like HP though lol).

Yeah, that's true. The books are written kind of terribly but childhood nostalgia gilds them, making it out like they're absolute masterpieces.

[ SECRET POST #2465 ]

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