Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic Harry Potter, anyone...?

Just curious, are there any other Harry Potter fans here? I just saw the thir film and loved it! I love the books best of all, but I think they do a great job with the movies.
-Wanda

Oh, I'm a HUGE fan! Yeah, the books are the best, but they've done a great job with the movies. I especially liked the extra nooks and cranies they added in The Prisoner of Azkaban. It was good, but not my favorite.

JD

I saw the movie last night, and loved it even though Lupin and Black weren't at all what I had expected them to look like -- I thought they'd be more . . . I don't know . . . handsome or something. And I definitely didn't think Lupin looked right with that moustache.

I actually got hooked on Harry Potter through the movies, and I didn't read the books until I had seen the first two movies. Now I am totally addicted although any day of the week, I'd rather have a movie than a book. So even though I like the books, I like the movies a lot better.

- Laura

NO!

Tank (who finds the notion of watching or reading about the 'adventures' of children not only unappealing, but downright appalling)

IMHO the Harry Potter (and Lemony Snicket) books have made reading a popular hobby again for kids. We've read all the books and seen all the movies - together as a family. And lemme tell you, the audiobooks have made traveling with kids much less painful. In my book, J.K. Rowling deserves every dime she's ever earned and we eagerly await her next volume.

I saw the movie yesterday and loved it.

OK, I'm not trying to convert anyone here because it's highly annoying to do that.

But...

Tank - I finally broke down and picked up the first HP book because I was so sick of hearing all of the hype and just had to know why in the world this "kiddie" book was such a freakin' big deal. I came into it as a hard-core cynic, figuring I'd see why all of these kids and tweenies were so jazzed but that I'd write off the entire phenomenon as something akin to those horrid "Goosebump" books that had my 13 year old nephew in a twirl. Pulp fiction for the single and newly-double digit set. Twenty four hours later, I was in the bookstore picking up the second and third books.

Although the characters in these books are indeed children, I would not classify these stories as "adventures of children". In fact, I think I could safely say that you could take every single child-character in this book, add ten years to their ages and move the setting to a college and the story would not have to be changed one iota. JK Rowling does not pull any punches - she deals with death and abandonment, the stress of responsibility and dealing with special powers and being different than everyone around you and what that means to your life. All very adult themes - actually, a lot of the same themes presented in Superman stories.

Nor does her writing pander to a child-level. In fact, I often wonder that younger children read and actually understand these books. The themes are very sophisticated, and other than the uber-cool aspect of being a wizard or witch and getting to do magic, I wonder that a lot of this doesn't just fly over the heads of most of the target audience.

So, again, not converting anyone because if your mind is made up against it, I know that it is futile to try to change it. Just wanted to chime in here in defence of these books because I'd hate to see someone run away simply because they pictured volumes full of things like "Harry and Ron went to the video arcade and then met Hermione at the movies where they threw popcorn at the cute girls from Potions class."

Lynn

PS - I have yet to see PoA and am looking forward to it. And I will be one of those geeky freaks in line at midnight the day that Book 6 is released.

Isn't Hogwarts supposed to be like a high school/college anyway? From the books, it sounds like the classes are not at elementary school level once they finish the first year or two. You'd probably have to be pretty intelligent to get a passing grade in one of Snape's classes. I was always terrible at chemistry myself.

Hogwarts seems to follow the English and Welsh school system. Albeit a slightly dated version (no SATS )

You start high school the September you are 11. I can't quite remember what happens at Hogwarts, but in the muggle world you have compulsary exams at 16 called GCSEs, and after that education is optional, but most people who go to schools like Hogwarts (ie private boarding schools) would stay on at school until after this they're 18 and sit their A'levels exams then (the traditional entrance exams to university). The prefects come from these two year groups (in the muggle world called the Sixth Form)

Confused? It would help if I check what was in the books

Helga

The Hogwarts equivalent to GCSEs (is that the same as what used to be called "O-levels"?) would be OWLs, I think; and NEWTs would be like A-levels.

I just finished re-reading the Goblet of Fire, and it sounds like O.W.L.S.(Ordinary Wizarding Levels) = GCSEs. But I don't remember what the wizard equivalent of a university is. They probably just get apprenticeships instead.

I managed to score tix to the Aussie premier yesterday and this was definitely NOT one of those movies where I say 'thank god I didn't pay to see that!' I thought it was great! I don't know if I loved this one as much as the second, but still a fantastic movie regardless.

I loved it, loved it, loved it!

I have read all of the books 2 or 3 times and seen all of the movies. I think that it’s great the way in which they are finally encouraging kids to read (not that I ever needed any encouragement when I was child! )

And yes, the equivalent to GCSE’s, which we take when we are 16 would be OWL’s and A-Levels that are normally taken at 18 would be NEWT’s.

Oh and Lynn, I will also be standing in line at midnight when the next book comes out , much like I did last year on June 21st (which also happened to be my 22nd birthday! )

Sarah-Jayne

To tell the truth, I started out like Lynn. Kind of. The first time I came near a Harry Potter book was three years ago, when I planned to read it for a book report at school - I read the first chapter and it bored me to sleep. Then I gave it back to the library with the intention of never picking it up again.

I picked it up again this past May, when I saw it in the library in a Hebrew edition. I figured, I'll get through it fast and just see what all the fuss is about. I finished it in three days, read the second one in one weekend, and the third one in the following week. I am now reading the fourth.

"Which goes to show that the best of us must sometimes eat our words," Dumbledore went on, smiling.

I haven't watched the movie yet, even though I have it on my computer (thanks Annette! ). I will see it as soon as I have some time.

Julie (who recommends these books to everyone!)

Yeah, same here. My sister nagged me for *ages* to read them, and of course, since she and I are at complete opposite ends of the spectrum, I said no without a second thought. But finally around the time that the fourth book was coming out, I finally caved, and she she handed me the first book, telling me not worry about how boring the first chapter was and to just keep reading. I was hooked by the second page. :p

Jen

I heard about Harry Potter more from the hype than anything else. "Oh, it's about witchcraft, and our kids want to read it. Let's burn it!" So, of course, that peaked my interest, and I had to read it...

My husband got me all of the books that were out at the time (First 4, all in hardback, whoo!) for Christmas. I spent the next 2 days sitting in my Dad's living room devouring the first 3 books. I finally got the books back after a year and a half, and am re-reading them now. And still loving them.

I read all the books and am looking forward to seeing the 3rd movie this week. Laura

Just had to add to this...

My dad was called in for jury duty and got to talking to this older couple (late 60s or so) about books. They discussed John Grisham, Robert Ludlum, Vince Flynn, etc. Somehow something came up about people waiting in line for hours for Clinton's book and they all agreed that those people were nuts. (I wouldn't wait in long lines for *ANY* 947 page autobiography. I'm sorry, but *NOBODY* has a life interesting enough for me to read a 947 page autobiography!)

My dad said, "But, oh, the Harry Potter books. We've waited in line to buy those a midnight. And will for the next one, too."

The older couple looked at him like he was in need of a strait-jacket. "We thought those were for kids."

So my dad got to tell them (enthusiastically, of course) how, even though they're technically written for kids, they're great books and how everyone in our family has read them (and 'stolen' them ) multiple times.

Always fun to break stereotypes.

Bethy

Hmmmm I saw the movie. Cool effects but it was a little scattered. I didn't like it as much as the first two. Laura

Yeah, a bunch of us were sitting around watching the second one on tv today and decided we liked the first two better. The third one was good in its own right, but we decided the director just didn't...capture the magic that the first two had. I'm not usually one to watch movies that go *exactly* like the book, but the third movie was too far off the beaten path for me. There was something to be said for going scene by scene in the first two movies, just to be awed over the sets, and hearing the characters say my favorite lines...

Jen