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Original poster

how come nobody has bought Rowling's new book?

111 replies

notactuallyme · 27/09/2012 21:46

went into town at 4pm after work, thinking 'shame, they'll all be gone' only to find that every shop had them discounted - a tenner in Waterstones! HMV had piles of them and I gave in and bought one in Tescos for £9 - what happened there then?

OP posts:
expatinscotland · 27/09/2012 22:38

Because it was over-priced.

Viviennemary · 27/09/2012 22:36

It might be rubbish. I'll wait and get it from the library.

SuzySheepSmellsNice · 27/09/2012 22:35

Grr

TunipTheVegemal · 27/09/2012 22:31

The thought of sitting through a stage play by Enid Blyton fills me with horror!

She really needs to just get on with it and develop at an adult writer at her own pace. Harry Potter has given her the financial freedom and publishing clout to do it without worrying about those things, but doesn't provide a shortcut. I'm not rushing to buy this one but I wouldn't be surprised if JKR wrote something really good for adults one day. Just like adult writers who switch to writing for children sometimes take a while to get into the swing of it.

LemarchandsBox · 27/09/2012 22:31

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MrsjREwing · 27/09/2012 22:30

I will grab it from the supermarket and give it a go. I think JKR showed a great imagination and background knowledge, that kids would possibly never have known otherwise.

greencolorpack · 27/09/2012 22:30

Diana Wynne Jones wrote better more inventive books thirty years earlier. I still yearn to read those books again, I consider myself very lucky to have discovered her books. Whereas Jk Rowling books are okay but they ain't all that. No offence.

greencolorpack · 27/09/2012 22:28

It got my back up that she was on the breakfast television programme holding forth about British politics every fifteen minutes. I missed the memo where I'm supposed to care about her political opinions.

quirrelquarrel · 27/09/2012 22:27

Enid Blyton tried her hand at writing for adults, I think a stage play, and it didn't work at all for her. Hopefully JK won't follow in her footsteps. Sad to think that no one's buying her book :-(

vvviola · 27/09/2012 22:22

I always felt, especially in the later books, that she was in need of a really good editor. The story was still there, but the prose seemed to need to be tighter.

I won't be buying the new one (hype like this always has the opposite effect on me) but I'll probably grab it from the local library at some stage.

To be fair to her, it's a hard leap to make - children's fiction to adult fiction, especially with all the focus on her.

SuzySheepSmellsNice · 27/09/2012 22:20

*on

SuzySheepSmellsNice · 27/09/2012 22:20

I'm sorry are we assuming here I'm some poorly read halfwit???? Of course I've read better written books, but the whole world of Potter is just amazing

FYI I have a degree and Masters in Spanish and Translation, focusing of film and literature

:)

TunipTheVegemal · 27/09/2012 22:17

Amazon charge more for pre-orders then on publication day the price shoots down.

Original poster
notactuallyme · 27/09/2012 22:16

Gosh, interesting thoughts here; didn't think of the loss leaders thing. - just v surprised that this morning it was all 'wwoo, were opening early' and tonight just piles of rejected little hardbacks. Will read with interest.

OP posts:
TunipTheVegemal · 27/09/2012 22:16

not given it a look in, I should have put

TunipTheVegemal · 27/09/2012 22:16

I quite like Kate Atkinson!

I don't quite agree that any clever literate woman could write Harry Potter. There are too many imitations out there now that haven't just not had the hype, they're also not as good.
I don't think she's as many times better than everyone else as her fabulous wealth compared to the pittance most writers earn would suggest, but I think HP was a cracking first novel though I agree the later ones weren't tight enough.
Of course she was lucky too - she was there just at the moment when all the publishers were getting tired of gritty realism and wanted magic. A few years earlier and they might have not it a look in.

JollyToddler · 27/09/2012 22:12

I agree 100% with NorthernLurker

LemarchandsBox · 27/09/2012 22:11

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Itsjustafleshwound · 27/09/2012 22:10

It just doesn't sound like a book I want to read or even have on my shelves ...

Northernlurker · 27/09/2012 22:10

Harry Potter is easy to read with a good plot and some fab comic moments. It's not great literature, it's not exceptional. The first Harry Potter book is the book any clever, literate woman could write. The rest of the series and the global success is down to a lot of luck and some bloody good marketing. JKR is a sharp, bright woman. In the latter HP books and I suspect in this one, she has been chronically over-indulged by her editors and publishers. I'm sure this isn't a bad book but I doubt it's an original one or one that you'd want to take to a desert island. Still anything's better than bloody Kate Atkinson or the Time Travellers awful Wife.

EnglishGirlApproximately · 27/09/2012 22:08

New releases by popular authors are always discounted. Harry Potter was always half price in the first week, especially in the Supermarkets. Same with CDs and DVDs. They use them as loss leaders.

SuzySheepSmellsNice · 27/09/2012 22:06

I loved HP and won't hear a bad word against it. So there.

JollyToddler · 27/09/2012 22:06

Because that's what I think. Every time I have re read them I notice bits that are not very good.

In the first book, the bit where Hermione has to work out which vial Harry should drink is very weak. Throughout the books there are weak parts.

On the strength of the writing I really believe the books would not have been a success. The plot is excellent though.

quirrelquarrel · 27/09/2012 22:02

Because hp was very badly written. Good plot, but she should have got someone else to write it.

Why do you say that?

Waswondering · 27/09/2012 21:59

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