Explain to me why you still like Harry Potter

[Gizmo1990]

So I see a lot of Harry Potter hate and a lot of Harry Potter love on this site and I want to know the reasons why.

I hate Harry Potter. I liked it when I was a kid. Philosopher's Stone came out when I was 7 and I enjoyed it. Same with Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban. I got to number 4, Goblet of Fire, and I hated it. In my opinion it was crap. Badly written and kind of long and boring in places. I was 10 at this point. Now I am someone who has to know how something ends, be it a book or series of books that I do not like or a bad movie or a bad TV show if I have seen it or read it from the begining I have to finish it just to find out what happened. (Just explaining why I kept reading them after i started to hate them, althrough I never paid for another one I just used other peoples copys)

Very little happened in Order of the Phoenix until the end, NOTHING happened in the Half-Blood Prince until the last few chapters and from what I remember most of the middle of the last book was just harry and others moving from staying in one place to the other and arguing because of something (I cannot remember).

This is not a case of me growing out of them I still like books from when I was a kid. For example I still love Artemis Fowl (even through the last few have not been as good as the first 4). I just think that it is badly written, with uninteresting and irritating characters (I hateded Ron from the first time I read about him and that was when I was to young to realise how crap the books were) and more plot holes than any other work of fiction in history.

Harry is doing to save the world from the big bad bad guy is he Dumbledore? than how about actually using the first 5 books to teach him some magic. Harry Potter must be the most underpowered wizard/hero ever. He is not even that smart. Everyone around hime seems to be better at magic than him.

I have talked enough so I will not even start on the movies (Hated them, acting actualy got worse with each movie)

If you hate it then good tell me why. If you still like it tell my why. I am not going to take the piss I would really like to know why. I have never now nor will I ever presume to tell someone that they cannot or should not like something. (just covering my bases there, i started a thread about how much I hated FF 13 and I had a bunch of people tell me I should not tell people what they should or should not like even through I was not trying to).

EDIT: Added a Poll but it has been eaten by the internet.

 

[starslasher]

well, i'll put in my two cents, but i don't hate or love the harry potter books/movies. i came into it relatively late, like in 2000 or 2001, and by that time, goblet of fire was out, i think. well, i didn't read the first book, i only saw the first movie, but i read the other 6 books afterwards. when i heard all about the hype about harry potter, i dismissed it at first, and didn't care about it. but when i found that i had some of the books, i decided to give it a read. the books weren't bad, but i have read better. and yeah, i didn't question too much about how a student supposedly adept yet unskilled was suppose to be able to fight off against all these legendary powers, like the basilisk, death eaters, etc.

to sum up, my interest has been with other series, but i just decided to catch up on harry potter series, since there was so much hype around it, even my friends were talking about it. it's overall not bad, considering that i wanted to finish each harry potter book i read once i started reading it.

 

[rokkolpo]

Magic!

That is all.
I just love magic.

 

[enzilewulf]

Well I tried reading the books yet I wasn't to interested in magic at all. I love World war two type stuff. That was when I was 12 and I never have had interest in the movies either. I like the more realistic stuff and the non-superhero type. Harry potter in his own lite seems to be a Hero right? I just could never get into them. I mean I don't hate them by any means. I just don't really like the trilogy.

 

[DSQ]

I was eight when GoF came out so I didn't really start demanding that the books I read when super well writen until I was about 14 if i'm honest.

I have a sentimental attachment to the books and the characters.

Also the books handles death and the social ills of discrimnation well. The ending was a little to tied up but y'know esscially though snape it got the very true message of 'life's a ***** and then you die' and in the last book it was well written enough that I truely though anyone could die (cept possbly harry XD).

Also not every book needs to be a Nabokov.

 

[timithy4569]

3rd grade and tried to read Philosopher Stone. It didn't end up well. When I got into 6th grade, I gave it another go and finished it. It was a good read but didn't think it was a great enough book for all the fever that accord. Harry Potter conversations are the thinnest book conversations I have heard. Everyone agrees it was ungodly, a meem level Harry Potter reference is mentioned, everyone laughs and then thats it. If any other book is mention everyone at least talk about what they disliked/liked about characters and the plot.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

I started reading the books when they first came out, so I have a bit of an emotional attachment to it. I like the story, the characters and the expansive universe JK Rowling created.

But hey, if it's not your cup of tea, I respect that...

 

[Tsukuyomi]

People like it because its an easy read, doesn't take much thinking, and has some interesting characters in it.

And you've missed the point if you think any amount of magical training could have helped Harry. He was nothing special, he was just an accident of fate.

This. It's like a Disney movie. Most folks claim to have 'moved on' from them. But despite that they're almost always a good watch for anyone because they're easy. Easy enough for kids to understand, but not so easy that adults or parents are bored out of their gourd. It has flaws I suppose, but the bottom line is that HP just works for people.

If you say almost nothing happened in Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince, then you kind of missed the answer as to WHY Harry got little to no training. He is indeed a hero by chance. Dumbledore even mentions it and Harry reflects on it at points. There were others who could have had his fate. He sure as hell didn't want it. That ran through the course of the books, especially the later ones. He flies by the seat of his pants, has no desire to actually LEAD anyone, really...all he wants is a normal life. Which I think anyone would want after enduring what he has. You can only have the weight of the world put on your shoulders so many times before you just get freaking tired of it.

I suppose the characters can be a bit bland, but ask yourself this: are you looking at this as a book series for adults? Or for children? Because it is the latter, whatever it's fame has made it. There are some complex themes in the series, but ultimately it is written for kids. Highbrow, complex characters may be just as likely to confuse them as bring them in.

Furthermore....at least here in America, before Harry Potter, people didn't read. Blame our educational system if you like. (I do.) But people simply didn't want to read anything beyond a magazine article. In a way, it HAD to be simple and bland to achieve the popularity it did. Most adults...the last book the read recreationally was when they were a child or teenager. Their literary prowess likely hasn't gone past that level. It works BECAUSE it's simple and bland. and it serves a greater purpose to get people to actually READ instead of stare at the TV all the time. It may not be a masterwork, but for those millions of people who that's their first book since they got out of high school, to them it is.

Ultimately? don't let it irk you. It's a means to an end. As the wider world becomes more literary, eventually it will get to the point where stuff like Game of Thrones holds just as much hype as Twilight and Harry Potter. The majority of the world just isn't at that level yet. Give it time and remember that the supposed drivel does serve a means to a better end.