Posted on 07/10/2007 7:05:00 AM PDT by fgoodwin
Like circus elephants on parade, J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels have lumbered past a dazzled young public for the last 10 years. Now the beloved fantasy series is ending with the release of the seventh volume, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," at midnight July 21.
Media coverage is in overdrive and millions of fans are arguing and obsessing over the fate of young Harry in his struggle with the dark wizard, Lord Voldemort. Others in the world of books and reading, meanwhile, are contemplating the end of the historic series. Besides wondering what, if anything, could take its place, they are reflecting on the impact the books have had on reading, bookselling, and publishing for the young.
For the young fans, it has been a long era of good feeling. But in real life, as in the books, not all is happy magic. A forthcoming national study finds that not even Harry Potter has stemmed a decline in adolescent reading. With the enormous number of books sold, mass-market retailing, and cutthroat price competition, Harry Potter is no money maker for many booksellers. And while Potter has sparked an explosion of middle-grade hardcover fiction, some think books for younger children have been neglected.
The adventures of the bespectacled English boy at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry have achieved sales far beyond any comparison with normal books. More than 325 million copies of Harry Potter books have been printed worldwide, in 66 languages. Scholastic Inc.'s first US printing of "Deathly Hallows" is an unprecedented 12 million copies, and Amazon.com has already received 1.6 million advance orders. The worldwide box office take for the four Harry Potter movies made so far is $3.5 billion; the fifth, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," opens Wednesday.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
I gave up on the books/movies when she killed off Sirius Black and then Dumbledorf. It’s not like she’s Shakespeare writing Hamlet for crying out loud. It seems like she just doesn’t know what to do next and kills someone off. I enjoy watching the early movies just to see the sets and watch how cute these kids were before they turned into international super stars. I probably won’t see the new movie or read the new book.
One of the things I respect about Rowling is that, while she could (as the saying goes) publish her laundry list, she has clearly worked hard to improve her craft. Book one was pretty dismal writing; my wife and I groaned and chuckled. By book five, she’s still repeating herself too much (how many times are we told that Umbridge is “toadlike”?), but she has greatly improved.
Book six was gripping, and some really deft, moving storytelling.
I for one am looking forward to book 7.
There are some interesting points in this article, but I think it’s erroneous to generalize from the experience of the publishing industry to the actions of the reading public. The fact that, for example, fewer young children’s picture books are being published in recent years doesn’t mean that the libraries aren’t full of children’s picture books.
New books are nice and all - especially for authors and publishers! - but if there were never another new book for children published, there’s enough extant fiction and nonfiction to keep every literate person in books until the end of the world.
I agree. Her grammar has always been quite good, but her composition skills were far short of her plotting and setting. It’s getting better.
But she does need a more aggressive editor who's not afraid to use a thesaurus. She's too prone to reuse the same word again and again (see above), and sometimes in the same sentence (Harry leaned on the table, and spilled the coffee onto the table).
I thought she really increased her writing sophistication in 5. The complexity of the plot alone was noteworthy. Could be she got a better editor.
“As Harry leaned on the table, coffee slopped over the saucer and onto the highly-polished surface.”
I agree ... she’s like Mona Charen with “tendentious.” Okay, I looked it up - now give me a new word!
“Half-Blood Prince” was a very well-done story. As you observed, the author has improved over time; maybe she could go back and do a rewrite on the earlier books. (Sell more copies!)
There are different versions of HP, US and Brit.It’s not just the covers, it’s the text.
11 more days to go.
I know they change some words to reflect American vs. British usage.
Visit the Countdown thread and offer your predictions for the finale:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1857268/posts?page=395#395
Experts fear today’s empty playgrounds
Stockton Record | July 09, 2007 | Jennifer Torres
Posted on 07/09/2007 3:08:15 PM EDT by fgoodwin
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1863150/posts
I'm nearly 40 and I can't stand to read any modern fiction: all modern fiction is By, For, or About middle-aged women!
Apparently, middle-aged women comprise the entire book market now.
Well, there’s plenty of Clancy and Creighton plus stuff like Eragon and whatnot.
You pretty much have to read Fantasy/Sci Fi nowadays, but even many of those books are becoming feminized. I tend to read older books and hunt for pre 1950s books at discount stores.
Funny you mention that because Rowling has actually said she wants to possibly redo much of Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix to make the story in both books "flow" better.
It’s an idea with potential. She could fix the continuity glitches readers have noticed, too.
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