Harry Potter 7 Discussion Thread (Full discussion acceptable)

[Brunhidden]

People who are certain that the Harry Potter books are handbooks for Satanic worship.

i actually know someone who thinks this, their reason? they claim the books have 'actual spells' in them.

yeah, they speak pig latin and wave a stick. if it were that easy most of the parents and teachers of the western world would have been turned into a newt by now.

I think you all know which Monty Python quote goes here

[DarkAudit]

Y'know, Belgarath and Polgara didn't need no stinkin' wands. 

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

"This issue, everybody dies."

That's be just after the rocks fall, right? ;-]

[Feroluce]

Y'know, Belgarath and Polgara didn't need no stinkin' wands. 

neither did Belgarion. He just charged in and waved his sword around. But then, even that series allowed for the use of actual spells - like to summon Demons, or with Vordai the witch. 

[thegayhare]

I'll agree that some folks are going overboard but still I don't understand the need some people have to ruin others fun.

and I'm not talking about the silly stuff like Ron is realy a robot built by voldimort to kill harry

but I mean the people who post the real endings

with the last book I was on a political forum reading a thread with absolutly nothing to do with harry potter and some one posted an image with no warnings at all.  the image was a photo of a page in the book where harry said snape killed dumbledor.  I was so pissed I mean there was no reason for that sort of thing other then to just ruin the fun for others.

Me I pre ordered my copy and am waiting for it to show

[DarkAudit]

Me I pre ordered my copy and am waiting for it to show

Weren't most preorders supposed to arrive yesterday? Amazon was actually offering to refund the cost of the book if orders for Saturday delivery didn't show up on time.

[superluser]

with the last book I was on a political forum reading a thread with absolutly nothing to do with harry potter and some one posted an image with no warnings at all.  the image was a photo of a page in the book where harry said snape killed dumbledor.  I was so pissed I mean there was no reason for that sort of thing other then to just ruin the fun for others.

Thanks for ruining book 6 for us, TGH! 

Oh, I remember that one.  The only thing sadder than the people who get so worked up about Harry Potter are the people who have no other purpose in life than to post spoilers.  I found it mildly amusing that there are image generators that have that as the default text, but it tends to be pretty pathetic when people start actually using them.

I'm just glad that it's *over*, and I never have to hear about Harry Potter ever again.

[thegayhare]

Me I pre ordered my copy and am waiting for it to show

Weren't most preorders supposed to arrive yesterday? Amazon was actually offering to refund the cost of the book if orders for Saturday delivery didn't show up on time.

Nope we didn't want to pay extra for the delivery
besides last time we pre ordered from fye it was only 3 days after the release date it arived and that was for Un Lun Dun (or was it Iron council) not soimething like harry potter

And Luser if I realy did I'm sorry realy I am, I just assumed anyone interested would have already read 6  or have heard about what happens by now

[DarkAudit]

I'm just glad that it's *over*, and I never have to hear about Harry Potter ever again.

There's still two movies left to be made, so you're not safe yet.

[superluser]

And Luser if I realy did I'm sorry realy I am, I just assumed anyone interested would have already read 6  or have heard about what happens by now

What part of  didn't you understand?  I think we've all seen it by now.  Encyclopedia Dramatica is calling it The Great Dumbledore Dies Meme of 2005 (the entry contains spoilers about book 7, FYI), and an old meme.

There's still two movies left to be made, so you're not safe yet.

I know, but I have a feeling that it will all die down a bit after this, and people don't seem to get as funny (or at least as funny in public) about the movies.  Maybe they'll wake up from their stupor and actually read some good books, like Gravity's Rainbow or something.

[Tapewolf]

What part of  didn't you understand?  I think we've all seen it by now.  Encyclopedia Dramatica is calling it The Great Dumbledore Dies Meme of 2005 (the entry contains spoilers about book 7, FYI), and an old meme.

I knew he was in for it before I even read the sixth book.  I think The Guardian handled it best: they ran a competition whereby their readers had to write a death scene in the style of various authors.

My favourite was H P Lovecraft:
http://books.guardian.co.uk/harrypotter/story/0,,1523455,00.html

[Caswin]

First: Wow.  This is big for me.

Second: The climactic quick-draw-ish scene confused me.  What happened?  (And why does it seem so gosh darn familiar?)

[Zedd]

Enjoy Eric make an arse outta himself with his lady friends at the final potter party!

[Jim Halisstrad]

Now, I'm not saying I took a week off from the internet because I was waiting for Harry Potter....

Wait, thats EXACTLY what I am saying. 
And as for the book itself?  I loved it!
Oh Ron, your wacky short tempered shenanigans fill me full of joy.

[superluser]

I knew he was in for it before I even read the sixth book.  I think The Guardian handled it best: they ran a competition whereby their readers had to write a death scene in the style of various authors.

Ha!  Also worth reading: The Hunter S. Thompson one, the Catcher in the Rye one, and the TS Eliot one.

Let's see, Dumbledore's death done by Thomas Pynchon...You'd have to change the names.  Albus Dumbledore would be something like Albert Dribbleglass, Severus Snape would be Severing Spine, and Harry Potter would be Harry Potsherd.

Dribbleglass tried to remember the exact words that Spine had said to him, but the words wouldn't emerge from the background noise in his mind.  Perhaps Spine wasn't coming to kill him.  Did Dribbleglass have any real evidence that the Death Eaters really exist, or was it all just another excluded middle, something else that could just be pure fantasy?  No, that couldn't be right.  There was definitely something going on here.

It was then that Dribbleglass noticed Harry looking at him, with eyes as vacant as the wake from a steaming battleship.  He was looking for more information.  The information had compressed itself into two pools--The Death Eaters did exist and Spine was coming to kill him, or the Death Eaters did not exist.  Which would he tell Harry?

Dribbleglass did not have time to decide, as Harry's eyes jumped to the door.  Dribbleglass now saw Severing Spine in the doorway, holding a wand at arm's length.  ``Ahura Yugo!'' screamed Spine, and a brief flash of light appeared at the end of his wand.  The light made an arc and then went out.  It was purely ballistic, now.  Harry could see the contrails from the other side of the room.  They rapidly dissipated into the grey sameness of the air.

Harry had never heard that spell before.  It sounded like a curse, but Dribbleglass was smiling.  He was always smiling, though.

[book ends here]

[Alondro]

The book has sold millions of copies already.  I'd say it's a success.   

What I don't understand is why retailers are offering discounts as high as 50%.  These people are the same rabid, obsessed types who paid $500 for Furby.  They could have dectupled the price on the books and claimed 'super-rush express delivery' for the dimwits who paid it, and made a mint doing so!

I don't know what kind of people they have working finance in book sales, but they're obviously alot dumber than the usual accountant ogres who'd know how to take advantage of slavering fans...

I'm just such an evil ogre.   

[thegayhare]

actualy Alondro they say they are making money on the other purchases people make when they order the books.

[bill]

Yeah, I remember lots of people from bookstores saying that they were making Jack Shit off the book, due to the uber publisher's costs.

[RJ]

Got it at the opening on Saturday morning (very uneventful really, when the box opened and that really awkward one person clapping moment... and I got my book before the people who had pre-ordered, haha). But since I had work I wasn't able to pick up the book until Sunday night. But I finished it Monday night.

I dunno, I just don't have a sense of achievement or it was anything special...

[Brunhidden]

To me something seems wrong if a 2 inch thick book can be finished in one day.

I love deadlines, they make a cool whooshing sound as they rush by

[Damaris]

The reason the book is a "kiddie book" is because it's written from the perspective of eleven year olds.  Of course the original book is not going to be a bastion of adult reasoning.  However, as the series progresses, the children age, and the issues age as well, to the point that I would not suggest the last three books of the series to many of the children that come into the library.

Incidentally, I found the Ring series books to be tiresome and self-important- bloated to the point that they were unenjoyable.  But, then, I didn't like the movies much either (with the exception of the Legolas eye candy.).  I rather felt they would have benefited from a nice session with a pair of scissors in the editing room.

[superluser]

Incidentally, I found the Ring series books to be tiresome and self-important- bloated to the point that they were unenjoyable.  But, then, I didn't like the movies much either (with the exception of the Legolas eye candy.).  I rather felt they would have benefited from a nice session with a pair of scissors in the editing room.

I dunno.  If a book can't be self-important, I really can't read it.  I enjoy it when an author spends time to make a book that is supposed to have some important message, and when the author spends time to develop that theme.

In the case of LotR, you have to remember that the whole thing is essentially a fanfic of Beowulf and Der Ring des Nibelungen (which was the `real' Ring series).  Part of the conceit was to try to write a book much in the style of those old stories, and so sometime he'll write in elements like those other stories.  He was also a linguist, and so he spent a lot of time looking at linguistic elements.  If neither of those are your personal interests, then I can see why it might be tiresome.

[RJ]

To me something seems wrong if a 2 inch thick book can be finished in one day.

I love deadlines, they make a cool whooshing sound as they rush by

They had some people on a morning show on Sunday who'd read it in just 7 hours. =/

[bill]

Some people are just fast readers. 6-7 hours would be realistic for me to finish a book of that size.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

It's not like you have to think hard about that particular story, anyway.

I mean, if you compared it to, say, Umberto Eco's The Name Of The Rose, or some of Asimov's Black Widower stories, there's more thinking involved in those, even though they're shorter.

Well, ok, TNoTR is close on as large as Harry's latest epic, but even so...

[Alondro]

actualy Alondro they say they are making money on the other purchases people make when they order the books.

That's my point.  They could have dramatically raised the price on Harry Potter, still sold all the books, and made tons of money to boot, like the people do on ebay when they sell something for a trillion times more than it would normally retail when it first comes out because there are morons who MUST HAVE IT FIRST AT ALL COSTS!!

The idiot public is for fleecing!   

[Brunhidden]

actualy Alondro they say they are making money on the other purchases people make when they order the books.

That's my point.  They could have dramatically raised the price on Harry Potter, still sold all the books, and made tons of money to boot, like the people do on ebay when they sell something for a trillion times more than it would normally retail when it first comes out because there are morons who MUST HAVE IT FIRST AT ALL COSTS!!

The idiot public is for fleecing!   

its the whole concept of a sale, they're hoping you say "oh well, i came all the way here i may as well buy some bacon and underwear as well".  However my local walmart still has piles of this book by the entrance (uncommon for a sale, usually they make you walk by all the expensive stuff they hope you are compelled to buy) that are about four foot wide and come up to my armpit.

Just wait a month, theyll be so desperate to get rid of the damned things theyll cut the price in half or offer them free with purchases over 20 dollars.

Sigmund Freud once said, "What do women want?" The only thing I have learned in fifty-two years is that women want men to stop asking dumb questions like that.

[techmaster-glitch]

*WARNING* Minor spoilers ahead, for anyone of you non-fast readers, or poor souls who haven't even gotten your hands on a book yet.

Started and finished the book yesterday, though the reading was broken up several times, so I ended up finishing at exactly 2:55 A.M. this morning.

I liked it. Ultimately, it was a fitting end for this series. The only gripe I have is throughout the book, especially toward the end, I was thinking: Whoever said earlier, I think it was Charline, said that 'everyone dies'. Disturbingly close. I kept thinking toward the end, 'Oh come on! The Harry Potter story isn't supposed to be turning into the Jack comic! But that's just me. I know it doesn't actually come near to comparing to Jack, but that's kinda what it felt like. But that's only a minor gripe, and I think the final end made up for it.

A part I particularly liked:

   "I'm Draco Malfoy, I'm Draco, I'm on your side!"
   Draco was on the upper landing, pleading with another masked Death Eater. Harry Stunned the Death Eater as they passed: Malfoy looked around, beaming, for his savior, and Ron punched him from under the Cloak. Malfoy fell backward on top of the Death Eater, his mouth bleedig, utterly bemused.
   "And that's the second time we've saved your life tonight, you two-faced bastard!" Ron yelled.

I like that line, I might make it into one of my quote-signatures...

[superluser]

It's not like you have to think hard about that particular story, anyway.

I mean, if you compared it to, say, Umberto Eco's The Name Of The Rose, or some of Asimov's Black Widower stories, there's more thinking involved in those, even though they're shorter.

I used to be a pretty fast reader.  Then I started reading Joyce and Pynchon.  If you're even capable of reading them fast, you'll miss out on the whole book.  I've learned to take my time, enjoy what I'm reading, and not worry about how much I'm reading or what others think.

riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs.  Sir Tristram, violer d'amores, fr'over the short sea, had passencore rearrived from North Armorica on this side the scraggy isthmus of Europe Minor to wielderfight his penisolate war:

[Zedd]

To me something seems wrong if a 2 inch thick book can be finished in one day.

I love deadlines, they make a cool whooshing sound as they rush by

They had some people on a morning show on Sunday who'd read it in just 7 hours. =/

Why does the brat want a cookie or a nice pop in the mouth for be such a dillweed for having a lousey talent...Thats my brothers motto