Harry Potter Comments
Harry Potter (J.K. Rowling)
well...if u can count CS lewis in the top ten..then-oh please...the books r shitty and harry potter is way better...there isn't a character which has received a response larger then harry potter...i guess only those like me who GREW UP with harry potter can understand this...like those who were children when HP first released and were of about harry's age when the last book came out can understand what harry potter means...like when i finished reading the last book..there was this feeling of emptiness which cannot be explained...as if a part of u has gone away....harry potter should be third after LOTR acc to me
well...if u can count CS lewis in the top ten..then-oh please...the books r shitty and harry potter is way better...there isn't a character which has received a response larger then harry potter...i guess only those like me who GREW UP with harry potter can understand this...like those who were children when HP first released and were of about harry's age when the last book came out can understand what harry potter means...like when i finished reading the last book..there was this feeling of emptiness which cannot be explained...as if a part of u has gone away....harry potter should be third after LOTR acc to me
I have read all the books, the last ones are quite good, but i have read better books in my live. It´s not a 10-20 on my list. But... maybe it´s just because i was like 20 when the first Harry Potter came out, and therefore never really found it sooo amazing. But i would definitely recommend it, to my kids, when they are old enough to read these kind of books.
I have said it before and I'll say it again, Harry Potter is an average book series, with a wonderful idea t the right time.
I've always felt each book was a collection of wimsical short stories(Quittage matches are still fantastic to read) that were mashed together into an average novel.
I read them all, but I never got attached to the characters and I always found Harry to be a lacking hero. He spent 7 years in wizard school and uses 2 spells on average, he's a one trick pony and is often saved from some rediculous magical artifact, his friends ingenuity(Lets face it, the books should be about Hermoine cause she's the only one with real Magical Muscle in the group) or some weird magical rule that was only just mentioned as a plot point of said book.
It's place on the list is where it should be.
For all the insistence that JK Rowling is less than a fantastic wordsmith, I will have to point something out. This is a book for ALL AGES. This book has to be easy to read and comprehend for anyone who reads it. I was nine years old when Harry Potter came out, and at that time, I was reading at a high school level, at least.
I can hardly argue that Rowling used a simplistic language, but the books by themselves show more power than any of these. I have read at least half of the series' on this list, and while they were all enjoyable, none of them had the power of Harry Potter, none of them were anticipated and celebrated and loved worldwide anywhere near the level that Harry Potter was.
Stephen King said it best: "Harry Potter is about confronting fears, finding inner strength and doing what is right in the face of adversity. "
If someone like Stephen King can say that about Harry Potter, none of you have any room to talk. The books are simply written, but fantastic, and the fictional hero of the books is more loved than any of you will ever be in your lifetime. Deal with it.
To all anti-Potter people:
Harry Potter has become a worldwide phenomenon that has touched every gender, age, and ethnicity. Over fourteen years of work have gone into this series, and even though it might not have the greatest "wordsmithery", Harry Potter teaches us about bravery, friendship, love, and personal sacrifice in a way that everyone can understand. And, yes, the series starts out simple, but as the readers grew up, so did the books. Oh, and the so called "cheesy symbolisim" is essential to make the book OUTSTANDING. It ties back to what the series teaches us. If love isnt something you want to teach people, then maybe you should write your own 7book series, turn them into eight movies, and then add a theme park. Good luck with that.
-A Harry Potter lover
I have read many of you so called list of Best books. and The harry Potter Series is far better than half of the Best books list.
I wouldn't say that so lightly. I read the series, and I never felt the same excitement I felt when reading The First Law Trilogy, A Song of Ice and Fire, or even the Bartimaeus Trilogy, a trilogy made for children. I never had the urge to skip over the pages and find out the ending, or snap at my sister for interrupting me while I was reading it. It was just... Average. The plot was average, the writing was average, but it had some good ideas.
Average is how you sell large numbers of just about anything.
For example,close to 99% of the beer sold in the US is Bud Light, Bud, Miller Light, Coors light, or Coors. Those are pretty much the blandest beers on the market, too. They aren't gross, they aren't offensive, but they don't have much flavor or character either. They are so light you can almost drink them like water, and it's a safe bet that if you don't know what kind of beer someone likes they'll at least be willing to drink them.
Harry Potter is the Bud Light of fantasy. It's pretty entertaining and very accessible, which is why it is so popular, but it also doesn't have any real substance. It's got no meat to it. The characters are all one dimensional, and the plot is super simple. These things make it accessible. The only way Harry Potter gets on to a top 25 fantasy list is if you make special rules for it (like how it significantly spiked reading rates in young people - a fantastic thing, but it doesn't make the world of HP any richer or the characters any more compelling). It simply doesn't compare with the works of Martin, Tolkien, Jordan, or any of dozen other fantasy writers.
Thank you for leaving this off you top 25. The only reason to read it is for reference value.
Besides some decent character development it fails on all aspects.
-Simple plot
-Worst magic system (ooh look, we have a plot hole, let's fix it with a random spell based on something ambiguous)
-Painful 'wordsmithery'
-cheesy, cliched use of symbolism and such (the power of love for example)
The fact that it is popular does not mean it's good (ever read twilight for example?). Its location on the list seems about right to me.
Surprised this series is this high up... Should be MUUUUUUUUUCH lower on the listing, if on it at all.
f?
wtf?not on the top 10 ? not even the top 25? this book is far better than His Dark Materials, Abhorsen,the eye of the world....
again....wt?
i agree. Harry Potter should be in top 25 best books.
I believe this book is a MUST BE in the 'Best' list, not in the Grat books.... Its totally stupid to think this is not one of the best seriees of books to be created ever.
have you guys noticed, that Harry Potter is number 2 on the "Best Children Fantasy Series", and that is where it should be. The definition of children books on this side are nice, clean, not too complicated fantasy books, which harry potter certainly is. Thereby not said it cant be read by adults...
Reply to Peter,
Harry Potter is not a childrens series. It may have a few books that are in fact children's books, but as the series goes on it grows into more, it really is a series for all ages. That's the beauty of the Harry Potter series, it touched millions because it grew up with millions. That is also a reason why it belongs on the Best list.