Why Do You Read the HP Books?

[lucianam73]

No: HPFGUIDX 142754

> ibchawz wrote:
(snipped)
> > My question is: If you feel these
> books are so poorly written from a character, plot, and storyline
> development perspective, why do you read them?

> ibchawz also wrote:
(snipped)
> >I have seen criticism of Harry Potter's character and moral 
fiber.  
> >Comments I have seen include him being arrogant, lazy, 
rebellious, 
> >amoral, immoral, plagiaristic, disrespectful, incompetent, etc.  
> If Harry, as the main character, is really this bad a person, why 
> do you read the books?
>

Lucianam:

Look, I seriously need the fun. And HP books have been so much fun 
(except for OotP which I loved but was NO fun) that I can live with 
the flaws. IMO JKR's books are full of them, but so far I've been 
able either to ignore them (Grawp) or to complain loudly about them. 
This last option has been much more rewarding (adds to the FUN! and, 
on a more serious side, gets you to know other people's opinions, 
too). 

Now, why do I think the books are so much fun that their flaws don't 
matter so much? For me, it's the kids and their teachers. The 
greatest literary merit of the HP series, in my opinion obviously, 
is the uncannily truthful portrait of Hogwarts's students and staff 
JKR builds book after book. I didn't fall in love with this series 
because of Harry (back then when I read PS/SS for the first time), 
it was Ron that did the trick. And Neville and Snape and Draco, too. 
I was delighted to just be able to see them and feel confident about 
how they looked, how they behaved, and talked, and how Harry saw 
them! They were tangible. In Snape's particular case, I loved how he 
was not 'the mean teacher' with a 'the', but just his mysterious 
Snape guy who happened to be 'a' mean teacher. He was not a 
stereotype.

Maybe what I wrote could be perceived as me not liking Harry: not 
the case!! I love Harry. I specially like that he's a normal kid who 
tries to do the right thing, and fails both at being normal (most of 
the time) and at doing the right thing (not many times, but hugely 
when he does). It's very difficult not to root for a kid in that 
situation. But I confess I have special, maybe bigger, love for some 
other characters (Ron, Sirius, Draco and Snape) - not because 
they're morally better than Harry but because I find them more 
interesting.

> Tonya wrote:

> I love
> the underlying messages that JKR is sending me, every day I 
> remember DDs words "it's the choices you make that define who you 
> are far more then your
> abilities" HOW TRUE IS THAT?? Does that explain life?? YES for me 
> and my family and the way I was raised is all about making good 
> choices.

Lucianam:

Although I loved this part of Tonya's post and also think some of 
JKR's messages have been wonderful, since OotP I lost my 'faith' in 
the series as a bearer of wisdom, and have settled for a fun, 
engaging read and interesting puzzles instead. I do not mean this in 
a bad way, at all. All I mean is I've changed my expectations, which 
is nothing so unusual considering this is a series that not only 
takes a long time to read (years between the books!) but also its 
readers are changing while it is being written. And the author as 
well, of course.

For me, as long as the main characters are still 'alive' (wow, the 
number of characters I consider 'main' is huge I'm afraid) I'll love 
these books.

> Nicky Joe wrote: 
> I read Harry Potter shortly after it became a "must read" and 
> exploded across the face of the globe, merely for the sake of 
> curiosity.  I was not impressed with the first book and frankly, 
> couldn't see the attraction.  JKR didn't seem to be a particularly 
> good writer, I found the characters to be a bit flat, the plotline 
> was okay but not terribly gripping.  I read the second book and 
hated it.  

Lucianam:

I also began to read it because I was curious. When PS/SS movie came 
out, I bought all four first books just before watching it. I read 
Book 1 before the movie and the other three in the following weeks. 
I was hooked. But I only got really, really addicted when I 
discovered the fandom. Three years of intense fandomization (!) 
online helped me wait for Book 5 - it was me and my sister then, 
reading our copies of OotP into the night... She woke me up at 3 in 
the morning in tears, well, you know.

I'm not such a huge fan now, in comparison to myself in those days, 
but I'm still big. Hopefully I'll stay like that until Book 7 and 
frankly I can't think of a reason why not. The flaws I see in the 
books are fuel for discussion, not reasons to drop the books.

Lucianam, joining the other listees in applauding a very opportune 
question!