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AIBU?

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Original poster

to not understand why adults find harry potter so good?

162 replies

Mindexplode · 17/08/2015 11:28

I never really got into harry potter but people told me I was missing out so I have watched all 7 films in the name of research

I still can't understand why it made it so big when there are better fantasy films and books aimed at the children and teenager market?

I certainly don't understand the attraction to adults, I found them very dull and formulaic

if you are a fan - what is it I'm not getting? if you compare them to narnia, or his dark materials, or hitchhikers guide or Asimov then there is no comparison. I much prefer Pratchett or Iain m banks or gainman

am I the wrong age - I was about 18 when the first book came out

OP posts:
WilburIsSomePig · 17/08/2015 14:29

I never understand threads like these. OP posts saying they don't 'get' a book/TV show/food like it's such a bizarre mystery that different people may like different things. Odd.

JohnCusacksWife · 17/08/2015 14:29

I read the first book when I was 30 and now, at 45, have read the whole series many times. You just can't compare the films which are decidedly average with the books which are so much richer, more detailed, funnier, sadder. Yes - the earlier books are v straightforward but as the series goes on the books become progressively more complex. They can teach children a good deal about loyalty, sacrifice, duty, bereavement etc. The scene where Harry surrenders himself to Voldemort whilst surrounded by his dead parents and their friends gets me every time. And the scene where Snape's unrequited love is explained is beautifully written and very moving.

I also love the level of detail in the books, even where it isn't immediately obvious to the reader - the hidden message in Snape's first question to the class in the first book is a case in point. And, oh, how I would love a real life Marauders' Map!

ThumbWitchesAbroad · 17/08/2015 14:37

Orangefluff - TOTALLY agree with you re. the Golden Compass which was dreadful!

ThumbWitchesAbroad · 17/08/2015 14:39

Oh and another one that was thoroughly fucked up (IMO) was The Dark Is Rising (oh no, yet another "children's" book series that I would still read now as an adult, oh dearie dearie me Hmm)

JeanneDeMontbaston · 17/08/2015 14:42

Not judging because they are choosing to read in general on the train but because they are opting to read a book aimed at people with a much lower IQ than themselves

That is not how IQ works, as thumb points out.

I don't think HP is particularly well written (though I think it's very well plotted). But I enjoy it. I read loads of children's books. I read HP growing up, so still enjoy it, but I got to know The Dark Is Rising as an adult, and I love that too.

Oddly, I notice it's usually people who don't know much about literature who get snobby about children's books (and genre fiction, too). I teach English Lit at university and no one at work has ever looked at me funny for carrying around a copy of Harry Potter (or Diana Wynne Jones, which is better).

The80sweregreat · 17/08/2015 14:47

Grey, they do get better after book one, by book four they are much more complex. I think they are brilliant but the films are just alright and don't really do justice to how wonderful the characters are and how JK really understands human nature and teenagers!( I love her adult works too, although plenty don't) I only wished I'd thought of it first ( and could write as she does!)

Bellebella · 17/08/2015 14:47

I love Harry Potter, when I was a young child it was Harry Potter that really developed my love for books. I was 7 when I got bought the first 4 books box set and I was not seen for days. I also dressed up and won tickets to see the first Harry Potter in the cinema Grin. The books are better and I still can happily read them now.

I did love Narnia books as a child as well. Amongst all the princesses I dressed as Lucy for World Book Day every year Blush

ThumbWitchesAbroad · 17/08/2015 14:48

When I read Harry Potter, it struck me that JKR was almost emulating old Enid Blyton style children's books. The one phrase that (almost) annoyed me was "at once" - the children in the HP books always did something "at once", not "immediately" - and I vaguely remember that from books like The Naughtiest Girl in the School and so on. It's a style that's definitely aimed at children, IMO, but that doesn't make it unintelligible or unreadable to adults! It's certainly not "first reader" standard, ffs.

CloserToFiftyThanTwenty · 17/08/2015 14:57

NarrativeArc - I didn't say badly written, I said I found it turgid (personal opinion, happy for others to disagree!) and I didn't enjoy it (ditto)!

I've just opened the Prisoner of Azkaban, and this is an example of the sort of stuff that doesn't do it for me:

^He couldn't hear the commentary over the wind. The crowd was hidden beneath a sea of cloaks and battered umbrellas. Twice Harry came very close to being unseated by a Bludger; his vision was so clouded by the rain on his glasses he hadn't seen them coming.

He lost track of time. It was getting harder and harder to hold his broom straight. The sky was getting darker, as through night had decided to come early. Twice Harry nearly hit another player, without knowing whether it was a team-mate or opponent; everyone was now so wet, and the rain so thick, he could hardly tell them apart...^

I find the repetition of "twice" in quick succession clunky (more effective if they had been directly after each other?). The sentence construction in those two consecutive paras is also repetitive, though I admit I am probably unusual at finding the use of semi-colons annoying!

Of course I'm not claiming that everything JKR has written is rubbish - there are lots of bits that I think are moving, exciting or scary. And I'm not claiming to be able to do any better either Grin I just don't think that it is The Best Children's Stuff Ever Written, which her sales figures would suggest to be the case.

Coffeemarkone · 17/08/2015 15:00

" I didn't say badly written, I said I found it turgid "

it IS quite badly written though, said coffee angrily Grin

maybebabybee · 17/08/2015 15:11

'badly written' is totally subjective.

I think most of Jane Austen is badly written. I expect many people would be queuing up to disagree with me though. And that's fine, because it's subjective.

Coffeemarkone · 17/08/2015 15:14

" 'badly written' is totally subjective. "
to an extent yes. Not 'totally'.
You can dislike JA as much as you like but her books are not 'badly written'.

Bogeyface · 17/08/2015 15:14

There is one thing in her writing that she does that I have rarely seen others do except in very complex scenes.

Harry and SLughorn are alone - "Blah blah" said Slughorn, glaring at Harry. He, Harry, was confused....

Its the "He, Harry" thing that drives me mad! Its very easy to work out who "he" is 99% of the time!

maybebabybee · 17/08/2015 15:15

I'm confused coffee, I thought you were saying they WERE badly written? :S

JeanneDeMontbaston · 17/08/2015 15:15

I don't think it is totally subjective - but to some extent it must be.

What I don't follow is why children's books come in for extra flack in that context. There's masses of awful writing in adult fiction. I've just ground my teeth through one by Tracy Chevalier where she's got Edwardian people speaking in modern slang, and it's awful.

Coffeemarkone · 17/08/2015 15:18

JA not JK maybebaby Grin

maybebabybee · 17/08/2015 15:20

Ah, sorry! Total baby brain there Smile

FuzzyWizard · 17/08/2015 15:20

I agree that there is far worse out there in the world of adult fiction. Some of the awful, Jodi Picoult style misery porn is far far worse. I refuse to believe it is pitched at a higher IQ than Harry Potter and certainly not higher than something like Chaos Walking or His Dark Materials.

Coffeemarkone · 17/08/2015 15:23

oh god Jodi Picoult - real wrist slashing stuff.
Give me HP any day

MythicalKings · 17/08/2015 15:26

I see why DCs like them.But they are not for me. I dislike the style, characterisation, inconsistency and IMO (as a Literature teacher) they are poorly written.

They are derivative but not in a good way as Pratchett is.

WilburIsSomePig · 17/08/2015 15:34

Oddly, I notice it's usually people who don't know much about literature who get snobby about children's books (and genre fiction, too). I teach English Lit at university and no one at work has ever looked at me funny for carrying around a copy of Harry Potter (or Diana Wynne Jones, which is better). Yep, I agree with this completely.

Heels99 · 17/08/2015 15:34

That's so funny! People said Harry Potter is good so you watched the films! LOL! Hilarious!

Coffeemarkone · 17/08/2015 15:37

" Oddly, I notice it's usually people who don't know much about literature who get snobby about children's books (and genre fiction, too). I teach English Lit at university and no one at work has ever looked at me funny for carrying around a copy of Harry Potter (or Diana Wynne Jones, which is better). "

you know it is funny you say that, as I have found uni Eng Lit depts. to be incredibly snobbish - for example when White Teeth came out (which I thought was great) I had this friend of mine telling me that she thought it was rubbish 'and so did everyone in the department' Grin.
I don't suppose they were jealous, much.

JeanneDeMontbaston · 17/08/2015 15:41

Grin Well, I bet that's true too, coffee - but then, White Teeth is proper adult fiction, isn't it? English Lit departments are full of people who'll be snobby about that. Just not about children's lit. It's one of those reverse-snob issues, probably

HarrietVane99 · 17/08/2015 15:41

I read them as an adult. They are escapist entertainment. I like the worldbuilding and the way she draws on elements of traditional children's fiction - the School story, the adventure and mystery story. There are things in there for adults too - little plays on words which a child probably wouldn't get. The parallels with Nazism - most children would probably need to have that explained. And Snape's story requires a certain degree of maturity to appreciate.

I also admire her achievement in planning her storyline from the beginning and seeing it through to the end, unlike some other writers. GRRM has been mentioned. Robert Jordan was another who appeared to lose control of his plot and be unable to finish his series. Think Diana Gabaldon is going that way too.