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Harry Potter was badly written

365 replies

Stackys · 19/08/2020 12:45

I’ve seen this said on here a few times, that the books are badly written and she’s a terrible author who just got lucky.

Why do people say this? The world she created was amazing, what’s wrong with the books?

OP posts:
serenada · 19/08/2020 17:46

@ShesMadeATwatOfMePam

That’s not true, She. With other fields, people are allowed to discuss quality and style. There is nothing wrong with critiquing the books, as we are here.

wanderings · 19/08/2020 17:47

And in Half-Blood Prince, when Harry is suspicious of what Malfoy is up to, I thought that JKR could have given him just one ally who thought he was on to something; but no, everyone else was unanimous.

Aragog · 19/08/2020 17:53

I have however recently worked with a Learning assistant who thinks book day is about everyone dressing up as HP characters and waving their wands around.

Well at least Harry Potter was a book first and most children still know they are proper books, as well as the films.

Its the Disney princesses and the various Superheroes I'd be more picky about, as most children have only seen these characters on a screen. Most haven't even read a book after the film for them.

Withthemonsters · 19/08/2020 17:55

I love the Harry Potter books as an adult (having first read them as a child) and still re-read them every now and then (alongside other fiction).
I don't get the whole preoccupation with her writing; the Harry Potter books were never intended to be "great literature", they're children's fantasy and clearly the focus is on the plot, characters and story-telling and I don't think they're written that badly; I've never picked up on it.
I also think people are quick to say that the books are "badly written" or boring or dull and that they can't understand how any adult could read them, when they clearly just don't like/enjoy the books. Which is fine! We all have different tastes and can't all like the same books. I don't enjoy some of the books with great reviews on here but I don't try and claim that they are awful writing. There's also a lot of snobbishness around children's books on mumsnet imo.
On diversity, I think a lot of people judge Harry Potter (because it is still so popular today) on 2020 standards and forget that it was set in 1990s Scotland at a boarding school and written by a white, female author so the vast, vast majority of people there would have been white. Having said that there were quite a few characters in the books (although no "main" characters) who were mentioned as being from BAME backgrounds: the Patil twins, Lee Jordan, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Angelina Johnson, Dean Thomas, Cho Chang etc., so I'd say diversity (based on the time and setting) was pretty good. If JK had tried to shoehorn more diversity into her work, people would have criticised that!
And I think claims of plagiarism are just daft. Yes goblins, elves and the like are in the blyton, lewis and tolkein books but they're also in countless others. The only similarity with the worst witch is that they are set in wizarding schools and again that is not plagiarism; i've read both and the books are completely different. If writers were only allowed to use ideas (like a wizarding school) that no one had ever thought of before then there would be no more books ever written.

CreatureComfy · 19/08/2020 17:56

'Good' writing can mean a number of different things. Creating a gripping plot, believable settings, rounded characters. There's good basic English, but some writers use language in a more experimental or imaginative way. I read a lot of literary fiction, but I loved the HP books because I found them gripping and relaxing to read. I think it was clever to use tropes like boarding school stories, orphaned child, etc which people find familiar and comforting from lots of other children's books. I agree that some of the later books needed more editing. I've always wondered if editors got a bit scared of JKR when she became very successful and let stuff go that probably needed extra work.

It's true they are not Booker Prize quality writing, they're not innovative or stylistically challenging, and there are a few mistakes and sections of poorer writing. But prize-winning literature is often difficult to read, not always gripping or relaxing, and doesn't appeal to the vast majority of readers.

If JKR is a bad writer, probably most published novels are badly written too. I've read some trashy crime, romance, fantasy and other genres, and they were mostly by successful writers. There's room for all kinds of writing - if someone enjoys a particular genre, why should anyone turn up their nose? There are all kinds of benefits to reading, not just the intellectual challenge of reading great writers. Even reading so-called 'bad' writing can expand your vocabulary and fluency in spoken and written English. But reading is also about relaxation, losing yourself in another world, de-stressing, and it can increase concentration and focus. It's a huge achievement and takes a lot of skill/talent to get millions of children (and adults) engrossed in reading and to create characters and setting that are now part of our culture.

Withthemonsters · 19/08/2020 18:04

*sorry for the lack of capitals on the writer's names in my last post!

thecatsthecats · 19/08/2020 18:08

My favourite HP stylistic gripe is Rowling'd habit of using the construction, "That he, Harry, blah blah blah..."

Oh, so the books are about HARRY are they? I hadn't noticed.

There was an Easter egg in the Strike TV series episode about the writer-murder plot, where there was a throwaway line about the writer's use of semicolons - Harry Potter is practically a drinking game if you count the semicolons. I hit seven in one paragraph once.

(Disclaimer: I write myself, and I do have some issues with her world building, especially outside the main books. I'm not envious as such, but I think she takes all the licence of a creator and none of the "responsibilities", if such a thing existed. If my works were to even be a tenth as successful, made so by devoted fans, I'd personally put a bit more effort into writing or approving additional material - and I'd be revolted if someone created such a turd as Cursed Child and tried to call it Canon to my universe.)

thevassal · 19/08/2020 18:29

@Withthemonsters you are so right re: the diversity. In my experience it seems that usually the people criticising her for this are millennial/gen z Americans I find....people who look around them and see that their high school is very racially diverse and don't have the intelligence or ability to look outside their own narrow sphere to consider that the UK when JKR started writing the books (according to the 1991 - 2001 census) was 94% white...and there were very different attitudes to gay/trans visibility, particularly for children.

I was roughly the same age as HP and when I started my comprehensive school had maybe three asian and zero black kids out of about 1200 students, and I didn't even live in a particularly rural area.

serenada · 19/08/2020 18:31

And actually, an authors job is to write. Publishers sell through marketing and distribution.

DrManhattan · 19/08/2020 18:33

She has got alot to thank the worst witch and LOTR for.

Osirus · 19/08/2020 18:39

@ScorpioSphinxInACalicoDress

There's one I use in particular- the name Harry appears 12 times in 5 lines, not a pronoun in sight. He's moving, so it's Harry walked quickly, Harry ran silently, Harry waited anxiously. Etc etc.
That’s terrible. I was taught not to do that when I was 9!
GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 19/08/2020 18:40

@Creaturecomfy, a resounding ditto to all that.

Soundbyte · 19/08/2020 18:40

As a huge HP fan, they’re not perfect books but none ever are. There are always a select few who hate massively popular things and they usually fall into one of a few small groups of people such as;

Those far too intellectual and of discerning taste to like anything the masses like

Those who liked something when it was small and obscure who dislike the same thing when it becomes popular

Those who take pride in never having watched/read something widely celebrated but will simultaneously make daft comments about its poor quality

Those who don’t like a person associated with said thing and so take Ill founded pot shots against the work itself as part of an attack on the creator

Ofc some people genuinely dislike them, that’s only natural too, but many fall into the above groups aswell.

Lightsonnobodyshome · 19/08/2020 18:41

If JKR is a bad writer, probably most published novels are badly written too.

Of course they are!

Soundbyte · 19/08/2020 18:42

You dont just happen to be 500+ million copies sold ‘lucky’

The80sweregreat · 19/08/2020 18:45

Most authors tend to copy a bit : if your going to write fantasy novels there will be things that overlap from others that have written it all before. The use of portals, for example.
I've read a few physiological novels that seem similar to other ones and the author has to try and make more twists in order to make it look as if it's original and not just a rip off of ' the girl on the train ' or 'gone girl'
It must be so hard to write something completely original. J K was obviously influenced by Tolkien and Pullman and even the Star War films.
They are a cracking read though ; much better than the films in my opinion. The films leave out a lot.

yourestandingonmyneck · 19/08/2020 18:45

I just take it as snobbery when people say that.

The worlds she has created are fabulous and she manages to convey that to a massive audience who loves it. I don't think that's anything to be sniffed at.

I do, however, agree with the PP who mentioned The Worst Witch. I loved the Worst Witch growing up and did immediately think of those books when I first read Harry Potter. Although I will always hold The Worst Witch very dear to me, I'll admit I think this was a case of Rowling "doing it second and doing it better."

BlastedMolluscum · 19/08/2020 18:48

@wanderings didn't they find the maurauders map in the trunk with the real Mad-Eye? Or in the office somewhere? I'll have to dig the book out....

One thing that always bothered me was Harry almost killed Malfoy in THBP by using the Sectumsempra spell and he just received some detentions for it. I mean, come on, that is not a suitable punishment!

Withthemonsters · 19/08/2020 18:49

@thevassal Yep, you've said it better than I could Grin

MrsWooster · 19/08/2020 18:54

Haven’t rtft, but surely it’s significant that the books are for kids?! The earliest books are simply written and structured, for young readers-and to match the characters. They become increasingly complex, in language and content, to match the increasing maturity of the reader/characters.

scepticalface82 · 19/08/2020 18:58

Harry Potter badly written? Anyone who thinks so is INSANE. Or maybe just jealous.

serenada · 19/08/2020 19:01

@Soundbyte

Nonsense

5amonSunday · 19/08/2020 19:04

I really enjoyed the books but thought JKR didn't really know how to end it. Harry's hero's sacrifice has been done to death and it only made sense because the reader was told so.

I also think being told Dumbledore is gay now is a bit weak. JKR wasn't brave enough to make it overt in the book, which I can understand for the first 3 books but really not after book 5.

But I loved reading them and I'm looking forward to sharing them with my DC.

UnaCorda · 19/08/2020 19:16

Totally agree. Amazing story-telling, but rather inelegant prose (which can sometimes, imo, detract from the amazing story-telling).

I was slightly surprised when I found out that JK Rowling is a linguist.

PavlovaTescobar · 19/08/2020 19:19

English Literature graduate here. I think they are very well written, what exactly do posters think is badly written? The grammar and sentence construction are fine. There are too many people who are pretending to be "cool" by slagging off what are well thought out and well researched plots with interesting characters and a lot of deeper underlying messages. All the themes about death and resurrrection and references to supernatural mysteries are woven into a fun exciting story. I think a lot of unsuccessful authors like to slag off J.K. when they don't have a fraction of her talent. Each page of her Harry Potter novels has something interesting/exciting happening on it and essentially these are children's books which are loved by children, so have reached their target audience.

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