When we were living in California and Henry was a wee baby I bought him a set of Harry Potter books. There were five published at that point, and our library book sale had the whole set, hardcover, dustjackets, rubber-banded together, for four dollars. So I trotted them home and put them in a box thinking that maybe he’d like to read them when he got older; and then we moved three times and they ended up in the bottom of my closet, where they spent the next few years being squashed under two dictionaries and a copy of Fish! Their Lives and Habitats (with 2,000 color pictures).
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So the other day I finally dusted them off, found them a place of a bookshelf, and started reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, because there was not anything else around and I am on a strict book-buying diet. (Incidentally, I always check the verso before I start reading, just to see if I should keep coffee and babies away from it, and my copy turned out to be the first American edition, fortieth (!) printing, which was a little staggering. I mean, I knew they were popular books, but forty printings in a year? Holy goodness.) It’s pretty good. I don’t know, though, the Quiddich rules seemed overly complicated, and some of the writing is a little sloppy, and Harry doesn’t have much personality yet, but overall it’s okay. Probably if I’d read it when I was twelve I would love it.
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So far, my favorite part is:
He finally tore his eyes away from the druidess Cliodna, who was scratching her nose, to open a bag of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans. “You want to be careful with those,” Ron warned Harry. “When they say every flavor, they mean every flavor – you know, you get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you can get spinach and liver and tripe. George recons he had a booger-flavored one once.” Ron picked up a green bean, looked at it carefully, and bit into a corner. “Bleaaargh – see? Sprouts.”
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Sprouts! Ha. So, I guess my main question is, if I finish reading Years 2-5, will I feel compelled to rush out and find 6 and 7? Also, does it get addictive from here? Does it get better? How much more Quiddich is there, and does Harry get more interesting?
June 8, 2009 at 3:09 am |
No, no, no, too much, and no.
June 8, 2009 at 3:47 am |
It was the third one that got me well and truly hooked. At that point only four of them had been published so, yes, I did line up with all the other children for volumes five, six, and seven as each one was released.
June 8, 2009 at 3:53 am |
I romped through 1-5 in a couple of weeks, had to stop because 6 hadn’t come out yet, and never got back to them.
Fashionably late, maybe?
June 8, 2009 at 12:24 pm |
I agree with Kate, I got genuinely addicted around the third one. Things get more intense, that’s what I would say, as the books go on. There is a lot of Quidditch, but I grew fond of it (I had the same reaction as you to the complicated rules, initially). Also, there are a lot of good characters that you’ll never get to meet if you don’t carry on reading. It makes me sad to think you would never know about Luna Lovegood, if you stopped now.
June 8, 2009 at 4:25 pm |
keep going! yes, they get better (although the writing is never superb). i got really addicted after the 4th book; it was my favorite until i read number 6. they mature as the kids do, so the first 2 are very simplistic. i must say though that i HATE quidditch. so boring. fyi: the fourth book only contains one game, at the very beginning! and there’s none at all in book 7! i should stop now though, cause i can talk about hp all day.
June 8, 2009 at 5:39 pm |
I loved all of those books right from the get-go. But what do I know? I tend to read a lot of trash. No really, I do. If my reading material was food, it would be an endless diet of hamburgers, fries, chips, soda, cookies, and ice cream. And I’m not ashamed to admit it.
June 8, 2009 at 10:29 pm |
yes, the plot gets better (even if the writing doesn’t). i agree that my perspective changed once i read book 3. i hated the second book. but, then again, i really like jv fiction and am already hooked on two other series, mistmantle chronicles and the crispin trilogy (which are both better than harry potter, fyi).
June 9, 2009 at 8:09 am |
The third one is the best – it’s a classic work of children’s literature. I, 2 and 4 are good fun, but the series slips around 5 and 6 when a good editor was desperately needed but obviously never found. The final one gets good but suffers from a very slow beginning. I read every page of those books (up to 7) out loud to my son and so I feel I do know them quite well……
June 10, 2009 at 1:15 pm |
I couldn’t get through the first 10 pages of the first Harry Potter. I used to be a book snob in that sense, but not anymore. I just don’t think they’re written well enough to make me want to read them.
June 11, 2009 at 12:40 am |
I romped through the first couple before they became famous. I agree that the series takes off at book 3 and none of them are great literature. But still, I’ve read all of them in a single sitting.
June 13, 2009 at 12:52 am |
Everyone’s different. I liked the earlier books better, but then I’m not big on ya fiction. Adolescence makes me roll my eyes!
June 13, 2009 at 12:52 am |
Maybe I’ll have more interest when my kids reach that age…or not.
June 13, 2009 at 4:43 pm |
Our family was introduced to HP when Ben’s 4th grade teacher read the first book to the class (this was 10 years ago); he was enchanted. I have only read the first book. The movies? I have a rule, that I will always read the book before I watch the movie…but I’ve broken that rule for every HP movie, and I have to say, I’ve loved every single HP movie. Just can’t seem to wade through the books. And that doesn’t make me a bad person!! Every rule needs an exception…Anyway, I started off to say, my opinion only, that I think around 4th grade is a good age to start HP as a read-aloud…it’s pretty wordy for younger children.
June 14, 2009 at 10:25 pm |
NO,no, no and no. It’s the same format done to death. I threw the third book across the room and haven’t picked one up since. I found them tiresome. I even refused to see any of the movies. Thankfully I didn’t buy any, I always put books on reserve at the library first.
June 17, 2009 at 8:35 pm |
They’re fine. Not great, fine. I actually like the movies better — find them more memorable. Addictive they are not; I have read them all but the last. Still, not bad for non-masterpieces, and some moments of very good fun.
July 26, 2009 at 4:05 pm |
I actually really liked this Harry Potter movie, i do not get tired of seeing the next chapter in the life of a wizard.