Worth it?

[zanooda2]

No: HPFGUIDX 153578

> Janie wrote:

> Some of you seem to have based your 
> lives around Harry Potter. I am sure I am not meaning to be rude or 
> trying to bash anyone, just curious, what is it about these books that 
> have enthralled you?


zanooda:

I wouldn't say that my life revolves around HP. My family is most
definitely the center of my life, and I'm also interested in many
things happening in the world. HP books are more like a hobby of mine,
but a hobby that has a rather firm grip on me, I must admit. 

I wouldn't even try to explain why millions of people around the world
are enthralled by HP books, I can only say what they mean to me
personally. I'm not very interested in magic, it's fun of course, but
for me, the most important thing in a book or a movie are the
characters. A book might have an absolutely thrilling plot, with lots
of action and mysteries, but if there are no realistic, likable
characters in it, I will never feel a desire to read it again. 

Now, JKR may not be a Leo Tolstoi, but I've never in my life read a
book where almost all of so many characters are so vividly written
that you have this strange feeling that they are real people. Some of
them I love, some of them I hate, but almost none of them leaves me
indifferent. 


> Janie:

> I am an intelligent person and a very good reader [one of the only 
> things I'm really good at], but I just don't think they're that 
> amazing. I read the first, second, and latest one that came out, and 
> quite frankly, lost interest.


zanooda:

Maybe I didn't understand you right, but it sounds like you read the
first 3 books, and then jumped directly to the 6th. This won't work
with HP. There are book series where every book has independent plot,
only the main character(s) remain the same. Here every next book
starts right where the previous one ended, you can't jump through them
like this!

I can't say myself that I got hooked up on HP from the very first
book. I started reading them when the first 3 books were out. I wanted
my son to read more in English and was looking for something that
might interest him.
 
I liked the first book, but it was just a good children's book for me.
I liked the second one better, but I thought that the plot (memories
jumping out of diaries etc.) was a little too much even for the
wizarding world (I know better after HBP, of course).
 
It was PoA that finally got me, loved every word of it! As for GoF, I
thought it was uneven, in some places very interesting, but sometimes
not so much, and not very logical.
 
The last 2 books made a real HP fan out of me. They are both so well
written, that when I read my favorite passages, I feel a real sensual
pleasure, you know, like Slughorn, when he sits in his soft chair,
eating his crystallized pineapple and drinking his favorite wine :-).


> Janie:

> Am I the only one out there?

zanooda:

Of course, you are not the only one. My whole family is not so much
into it, that's why I'm here!