Page One of Harry Potter IV
July 3, 2000 8:40 AM Subscribe
Page One of Harry Potter IV posted at the The Standard. Man, I hope this is a spoof.
Yeah. It had me going, though, until it mentioned Britney Speares (sp?).
posted by silusGROK at 11:54 AM on July 3, 2000
posted by silusGROK at 11:54 AM on July 3, 2000
I'm sure some real spoilers are already on the web somewhere, now that a few copies have escaped into the wild.
posted by harmful at 12:09 PM on July 3, 2000
posted by harmful at 12:09 PM on July 3, 2000
Okay, explain it to me very slowly...
I read most of the first volume of this series. It's entertaining in the way a kids book written with an eye to a not-so-kiddish audience can be entertaining. But it's for sure not great writing. And it's derivative story-telling. So, what's the big deal?!
(Man, I just hate it when there's a big ol' pop-culture-happening-thing that won't go away and I'm left on the sidelines, wondering what the hell all the hoo-hah is about).
posted by m.polo at 12:23 PM on July 3, 2000
I read most of the first volume of this series. It's entertaining in the way a kids book written with an eye to a not-so-kiddish audience can be entertaining. But it's for sure not great writing. And it's derivative story-telling. So, what's the big deal?!
(Man, I just hate it when there's a big ol' pop-culture-happening-thing that won't go away and I'm left on the sidelines, wondering what the hell all the hoo-hah is about).
posted by m.polo at 12:23 PM on July 3, 2000
I honestly like the series, and am looking forward to the new book, but I still think that "the big deal" has more to do with "news" outlets deciding that they'd rather cover entertainment than, well, news. News being defined as events that will have a real impact on people's lives. I personally don't find the coverage of these books as odious as CBS's attempts to turn their morning "news" programs into ads for Survivor.
Also, the author has been pushing very hard to keep some of the events in the book as much of a surprise for readers as possible, as compared to modern movie trailers which usually spoil everything. Hence better security than the Los Alamos nuclear hard disks.
posted by harmful at 12:47 PM on July 3, 2000
Also, the author has been pushing very hard to keep some of the events in the book as much of a surprise for readers as possible, as compared to modern movie trailers which usually spoil everything. Hence better security than the Los Alamos nuclear hard disks.
posted by harmful at 12:47 PM on July 3, 2000
m.polo: I'll concede that HP isn't the very best writing, but it IS great storytelling. The hoo-hah that has arisen (at least until it was all the rage to report it as news) around the HP series is that kids and parents are reading it together... and kids are turning off their TVs to read. All very good things.
posted by silusGROK at 1:19 PM on July 3, 2000
posted by silusGROK at 1:19 PM on July 3, 2000
Here are the REAL Harry Potter Spoilers...
Warning: Self-Promotional Link
posted by wendell at 3:41 PM on July 3, 2000
Warning: Self-Promotional Link
posted by wendell at 3:41 PM on July 3, 2000
> News being defined as events that will have a real impact on people's lives.
*So* rarely in life do I get to take a good return shot at Brennan... :-)
"Harry Potter is getting kids to [turn off their TV's] and *read*." I concur with Spider Robinson in thinking that that may be the biggest impact on the United States this generation.
A second level observation is that this will have an *incredibly* positive effect on the publishing business, which doesn't devote a whole lot of attention to childrens' books, and especially to new childrens' authors.
posted by baylink at 11:07 AM on July 4, 2000
*So* rarely in life do I get to take a good return shot at Brennan... :-)
"Harry Potter is getting kids to [turn off their TV's] and *read*." I concur with Spider Robinson in thinking that that may be the biggest impact on the United States this generation.
A second level observation is that this will have an *incredibly* positive effect on the publishing business, which doesn't devote a whole lot of attention to childrens' books, and especially to new childrens' authors.
posted by baylink at 11:07 AM on July 4, 2000
Hey, I'm all for kids reading this stuff (My gripe about news coverage being taken over by entertainment was tangential). Last time I went into a mall bookstore, they had a great display wall of "If you liked Harry Potter, you'll like..." titles. The Phantom Tollbooth, Lewis's Narnia books, some Madeline L'Engle, etc. I don't think they had any Jonathan Bellairs, or the John Christopher Tripods books, but I did see a number of old "friends". I may have to get some of them (and a few newer ones that looked good) for my cousins' children so I'll have an excuse to read (or re-read) some of them myself.
posted by harmful at 12:24 PM on July 4, 2000
posted by harmful at 12:24 PM on July 4, 2000
Hey, I'm all for kids reading this stuff (My gripe about news coverage being taken over by entertainment was tangential). Last time I went into a mall bookstore, they had a great display wall of "If you liked Harry Potter, you'll like..." titles. The Phantom Tollbooth, Lewis's Narnia books, some Madeline L'Engle, etc. I don't think they had any Jonathan Bellairs, or the John Christopher Tripods books, but I did see a number of old "friends". I may have to get some of them (and a few newer ones that looked good) for my cousins' children so I'll have an excuse to read (or re-read) some of them myself.
posted by harmful at 12:24 PM on July 4, 2000
posted by harmful at 12:24 PM on July 4, 2000
(That's four double-posts in two weeks. Sorry, guys. I hate my flaky net connection.)
posted by harmful at 12:25 PM on July 4, 2000
posted by harmful at 12:25 PM on July 4, 2000
I'm convinced that this whole character was stolen from the Books of Magic, by Neil Gainmen quite some time ago. This reminds me how Battletech blantently ripped of Macross:Robotech. The Phoenix Hawk mech is the most obvious rip. They did not even bother to remove the RDF (Robotech Defense Forse) markings from their pictures. Shameless.
posted by john at 2:00 PM on July 4, 2000
posted by john at 2:00 PM on July 4, 2000
Where is the similarity between Harry Potter and (Books of Magic) Tim Hunter, beyond the most basic "British boy who learns he has magic powers" description?
posted by harmful at 5:59 AM on July 5, 2000
posted by harmful at 5:59 AM on July 5, 2000
And how many certified speshul great works of literature would there be without off-ripping? If I remember correctly, just about every one of Shakespeare's plays is based on a previous source, and of course the plots and characters of Greek tragedies were drawn from the common mythology which everyone knew. Even "worse" would be Pope's 'versifying' of Donne & others.
Not to say that Harry Potter doesn't suck anyway.
posted by EngineBeak at 7:31 AM on July 5, 2000
Not to say that Harry Potter doesn't suck anyway.
posted by EngineBeak at 7:31 AM on July 5, 2000
I don't know, but I could swear they look like twins. Look and feel is what I'm talking about.
posted by john at 8:36 AM on July 5, 2000
posted by john at 8:36 AM on July 5, 2000
« Older Snap to Grid: A User's Guide to Digital Arts... | Hollywood rewrites history... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by holgate at 11:28 AM on July 3, 2000