Kevin's Watch

Putting the pieces together LF ?

I understand it all now!

Thank you Hamlet!

See the salt on this pretzel? Don't ask--just say "YES!"

Now, look at the stars. Now, some people say they're billions of billions and tons of hot gas. But I . . .I think it's God's salt. And he's just waiting to eat us!

images.amazon.com/images/P/0439567629.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

I'll probably never read Harry Potter, but that is COOL.

Oh. My. God. That is, if possible, the coolest thing, EVER!!! And pretty too.

Lord Foul wrote:I'll probably never read Harry Potter, but that is COOL.

You are so right Foul; the fact that you'll never read 'orrible little potter is cool
Melenkurian Skywier; did i just call the Despiser...cool
This site must be getting to me

Earthfriend, one thing you need to acquaint yourself with if you wish to pursue a teaching career is popular children's literature.

You better start reading the Harry Potter books and you better start liking them.

I hear you, Infelice

And i've read the Harry Potter books ( well, the first three, anyway ), but i just can't bring myself to like them

They are just so generic! Still, your point is well taken

We have read all the Harry Potter books out thus far in our house, and have the upcoming book on order from Amazon...in fact, I went and ordered a second copy from Amazon after Foamy informed me that she was planning to take the originally ordered copy off to her summer program.

Foamy and I are currently engaged in a re-read of all the books written up to now, so we will be ready for the next books. I read the first and second book over yesterday and today, but can't get to the 3rd book yet cause Foamy is still reading it.

I think JKR writes a good, enjoyable story. It ain't great literature, but it sure is fun to read.

~MsMary~

My kids have both just gotten done with their rereads. I had to pre-order two copies, one for each, so they wouldn't fight over one copy. Luckily the bookstore nearest us was offering a preorder deal, where you could get the book/s for 40% off.
Actually, I am rather grateful to Harry. It started my younger son on a great love of fantasy. When he started Harry he was reading tiny little kids' books back in fourth grade. By the end of the year he had moved on to read Tolkien. Now, a year after that, he has read LOTR and the Hobbit several times, the Sil, and has just started Narnia. And my older son started reading Tolkien in self-defense after hearing me and the little one talk about it for hours and hours and hours, and now he's thinking about reading Zelazny's Amber.

I read an article in the paper on the weekend about the young actor Daniel Radcliffe who plays Harry Potter in the movies. It seems that he does not want to continue with the part after the third movie, instead he wants to focus on his studies.

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey--maybe now Keanu Reeves can play Harry! What the hey is wrong with that poor kid--that dumb Radcliffe!?! Why's he concerned with blinking education, of all stupid things??! He probably doesn't even know he's a blinkity-blink lousy millionaire!

"Duh, I'm Bill Gates; I got billions of dollars, but I never graduated college. Time to get me an edumacation, huck-huck! Yas-siree!"

Sorry if I sound angry, but I'll never forgive humanity for allowing a 12 year-old to earn 3 million dollars. Oh, and that James LeBron kid. I don't care who thinks he's the next Jordan-slash-Kobe-slash-Magic the Gathering-slash-Jesus Christ. They basically gave a high school student 90 million dollars for some commercials.

Infelice wrote:

dukkha wrote:I don't love Harry Potter. But you HAVE to read the series. It already rivals LOTR as the most successful fantasy series ever, and it may soon surpass it.

By successful do you mean according to book sales figures?
I have read all the Harry Potter books and have enjoyed them as well. And yes, I have seen both movies, and I`m not ashamed to say that I saw HP2 four times (I have a few young nieces and nephs) but, imo, the series does not compare to LOTR.

Zahir, being a great fan of BtVS, I find your comparisons very interesting and it definiely does make one wonder - could it all be just coincidence or is there something else, dare I say sinister, at hand.

By successful I meant sales figures and its omni-presence within our culture. The new Harry Potter sold 5 million copies on its first day. That's not just a lot, it SHATTERS old sales records. By the 7th book/film, there may not even be a sales comparison with LOTR.

The sales figures for this book has been astounding and I can't wait to get my copy cos I absolutely love the books.
And in years to come it will probably counted amongst the classics of children's literature, just as LOTR is considered a literary classic. You could argue the whys and wherefores back and forth all day. It does seem that HP is set to break all kinds of sales records but it has had the benefits of modern media and marketing strategies. It is interesting to note however, that the film version of TTT grossed more money than HP2. But I guess it comes down to how you view popularity and what factors you consider when making conclusions about popularity. LOTR has had world-wide popularity over a very long period of time to a diverse age group and the popularity of the movies today is testament to its continued appeal (and I realise that this success comes from media hype and modern marketing strategies as well). But that's got to tell you something.
HP's popularity while meteorical is over a much shorter period of time and it appeals to a more narrow market but that fact alone makes the sales figures astounding.
I guess the true measure of popularity comes with time. Will HP have the same staying power in the popularity stakes as LOTR? Only time will tell I guess.
It will be interesting to see, in ten, twenty or thirty years time, how many home libraries or literature collections contain copies of the Harry Potter books and videos (DVDS) as compared to LOTR.

Oh for goodness sakes!!!!!!! That was me !!!! Damn these flipping connections that drop out just before you want to post your message!!!!!

My niece was in line at midnight the other day to pick up her copy. I still havn't got around to reading the books, but I hear they are well written.

They are wonderfully written books, Damelon. I love reading children's literature. However a few of my adult friends and family tried to read them and they quit after the third book. It just wasn't their cup of tea.

Depends on what grabs your fancy I suppose.

gonna watch The Chamber of Secrets in a couple minutes.( SOOOOO behind here)

I didn't like that movie as much as the 1st one... or at all really.

I have not been in2 the Harry Potter thing at all, but I applaud the books and the international reading fenzy they have inspired vigoruosly!

I just read an article in this Sunday's paper about how literary "purists" on the web are chastizing Oprah Winfrey because her revamped Book Club has seriously renewed interest in Stienbeck's East of Eden. It a nutshell it was a ridiculous article--no ellectic "body" of literary snobs has a corner on the classics--just because u have a liberal farts BA doesn't mean u understand a book like this any beter than any1 else--anything that inspires people to read the classics, no matter what walk of life they come from is a godsend. Anything that inspires people 2 read period is a godsend.

I don't kno anything about HP but anything that inspires millions of children and adults 2 avidly await and read books is an unbounded treasure and pleasure to behold.

Yeah, well said:)