Sunny
What are the reasons you like the Harry Potter books. I've heard so much hype about them. Well I read the first chapter of the first book a while back but it was a little boring. I know, haha I gave up easily. I just really didn't get into it. But now, I mean, it's summer, I'm bored, and I just thought, "why not" "maybe I'll read it" Should I? What's so great about the books?
Answer
YES! Read them! J.K. Rowling is a fantastic writer and she creater a wonderful and colorful world that is a delight to explore!
Literary critics have, as we all know, always been partial to serious plots and writing of a quality that we mere readers most often find very 'heavy'. Bombastic language, meandering lengthy dialogues, war of words and a number of literary devices are employed by in those 'appreciated books' that more often leave you confused with what actually is the story about rather than provide wholesome reading!
Not stealing the credit from the classics or any of the above mentioned books, what one's trying to convey is that literary critics needn't judge a book only by the kind of words used or the high purpose of the book or moral it conveys but by the ultimate feeling with which it leaves a person.
Books, like music appeals only when it is simple, straight from the heart and has a truth and honesty about it! I have found many books that have been lauded by critics, extremely boring, prosaic, didactic and even not worth a single reading! While 'The Scarlett Letter' by Hawthorne could not grip me for more than 5 pages, a run-of-the-mill chick-lit book called 'The Real Thing' would not let me put it down!
Harry Potter has been one series that has, even from a literary perspective, exceptional quality! The writing is simple, the characters-extremely everyday people(muggles or otherwise!) and situations that can be related to the real world! The depth of characterization, the subtle internal struggles between the good and evil in everyones' heart, the various shades of emotions, expressions and thought have had no better outlet than through the words ofJ.K.Rowling. One great thing about her words is that it is unpretentious and clear.
To create a magical world co-existing with the real one, weaving both together in such a way that they fuse when necessary and remain parted at other times is no mean task! What Tolkien did was to create a whole new 'Middle Earth'. It fascinated me- his imagination. But after numerous tries of reading and re-reading, I always tend to stop after a point. J.K.Rowling got the trick right- she made sure we remember the world she created by making it as real and as magical as possible at the same time!
The characters- from loyal, love-craving Harry, sarcastic attention-seeking Ron, brainy steadfast Hermione, happy go-lucky Fred and George, the wise Dumbledore, loving Hagrid, kind Weasleys, brave Ginny, brave yet shy Neville, eccentric Luna, the courageous and caring Lupin, Tonks, Sirius and others on one hand contrasted with the embodiment of evil-Voldemort and all his Death Eaters and their families together, subtly help us learn how to be and how not to be! That we are what we choose to be, could never have been explained in a better and more unconscious way than how Rowling has chosen to do!
In every book, there's something new to learn-not only about the plot but also about the spirit of living itself! What Enid Blyton, L.M.Montgomery, Charles Dickens, Jean Webster, Mark Twain and other children's writers created is what Rowling has also sought and brilliantly achieved! The only reason why people still go back to their 'Faraway Tree' and 'Oliver Twist' is because it has a never-ending appeal. It infuses a hope and faith in life; that all is not lost in this big bad world. There's love, loyalty, brotherhood, sacrifice and truth to conquer even the deepest rooted evil! Harry Potter teaches us that!
For all those who say that 'The Boy who lived' will be forgotten from the world soon after and will maybe just remain a marketing logo, think again!
The truth is, we all are kids within. And once in a while, we need to remind ourselves that! Else, the adult world will ensnare us in its many vicious traps and make us forget that it's not about money and power but it's only truth and love!
YES! Read them! J.K. Rowling is a fantastic writer and she creater a wonderful and colorful world that is a delight to explore!
Literary critics have, as we all know, always been partial to serious plots and writing of a quality that we mere readers most often find very 'heavy'. Bombastic language, meandering lengthy dialogues, war of words and a number of literary devices are employed by in those 'appreciated books' that more often leave you confused with what actually is the story about rather than provide wholesome reading!
Not stealing the credit from the classics or any of the above mentioned books, what one's trying to convey is that literary critics needn't judge a book only by the kind of words used or the high purpose of the book or moral it conveys but by the ultimate feeling with which it leaves a person.
Books, like music appeals only when it is simple, straight from the heart and has a truth and honesty about it! I have found many books that have been lauded by critics, extremely boring, prosaic, didactic and even not worth a single reading! While 'The Scarlett Letter' by Hawthorne could not grip me for more than 5 pages, a run-of-the-mill chick-lit book called 'The Real Thing' would not let me put it down!
Harry Potter has been one series that has, even from a literary perspective, exceptional quality! The writing is simple, the characters-extremely everyday people(muggles or otherwise!) and situations that can be related to the real world! The depth of characterization, the subtle internal struggles between the good and evil in everyones' heart, the various shades of emotions, expressions and thought have had no better outlet than through the words ofJ.K.Rowling. One great thing about her words is that it is unpretentious and clear.
To create a magical world co-existing with the real one, weaving both together in such a way that they fuse when necessary and remain parted at other times is no mean task! What Tolkien did was to create a whole new 'Middle Earth'. It fascinated me- his imagination. But after numerous tries of reading and re-reading, I always tend to stop after a point. J.K.Rowling got the trick right- she made sure we remember the world she created by making it as real and as magical as possible at the same time!
The characters- from loyal, love-craving Harry, sarcastic attention-seeking Ron, brainy steadfast Hermione, happy go-lucky Fred and George, the wise Dumbledore, loving Hagrid, kind Weasleys, brave Ginny, brave yet shy Neville, eccentric Luna, the courageous and caring Lupin, Tonks, Sirius and others on one hand contrasted with the embodiment of evil-Voldemort and all his Death Eaters and their families together, subtly help us learn how to be and how not to be! That we are what we choose to be, could never have been explained in a better and more unconscious way than how Rowling has chosen to do!
In every book, there's something new to learn-not only about the plot but also about the spirit of living itself! What Enid Blyton, L.M.Montgomery, Charles Dickens, Jean Webster, Mark Twain and other children's writers created is what Rowling has also sought and brilliantly achieved! The only reason why people still go back to their 'Faraway Tree' and 'Oliver Twist' is because it has a never-ending appeal. It infuses a hope and faith in life; that all is not lost in this big bad world. There's love, loyalty, brotherhood, sacrifice and truth to conquer even the deepest rooted evil! Harry Potter teaches us that!
For all those who say that 'The Boy who lived' will be forgotten from the world soon after and will maybe just remain a marketing logo, think again!
The truth is, we all are kids within. And once in a while, we need to remind ourselves that! Else, the adult world will ensnare us in its many vicious traps and make us forget that it's not about money and power but it's only truth and love!
Do you recommend books that you have never read?
norseheath
Whenever I see the 'book recommendation' questions come up, I always look for one person that gives a long list of books and authors. Most of the time, the books are listed alphabetically by the author's last name or by the date of publication . Are these recommendations genuine?
What scares me more is the fact that these long, alphabetized lists come from the 'top contributors' more often than the others. I understand they might read more than the average Yahoo Answers user but cutting and pasting a list of books from an internet search isn't exactly a great recommendation, is it? If you haven't read it, how could you recommend it?
Do you recommend books you haven't read?
I have not, nor will I ever.
Answer
I'm one of those who has put long lists of books as recommendations. Believe it or not, I neither alphabetize nor do I cut and paste. As the book comes to me, I put it down. The only time there is any alphabetization is when I check my own book list to search for titles (yes, I know, I have a "list" problem).
I don't remember what I may have recommended last August (it's too many questions ago & those first few months I was on Yahoo Answers is rather blurry due to a tragedy in the family at that time). I will tell you that I have recommended a few books that I haven't read for one of two reasons (the first being a compound reason, but without all those factors, I don't recommend it):
1. It's by an author whose other works I have read and enjoyed, the story is one whose premise and basic outline I know, and it's on my "to read" list (yes, yet ANOTHER list) AND I think it's the type of book which might appeal to the asker (BTW: very few books fall into this category, though, because I've probably read at least 98% of what I recommend in those long lists and many times 100%, and all of them in the shorter lists I've given), or
2. It was recommended by someone I know whose opinions I value and whose tastes are similar to mine. This one has only happened a couple of times. Usually I will say that "I've heard this was good" or something like that.
For instance, though I have read all of Charles Dickens' books (except his unfinished The Mystery of Edwin Drood), I haven't read all of Robert Louis Stevenson's novels and yet loved the many of his that I HAVE read. Therefore, I don't have the least qualm recommending another of his books that I haven't gotten to yet. I know and love his style of writing, so I may recommend it. Of course, what I haven't gotten to yet is always changing, since I read every day.
What I won't do now (as I said, I can't guarantee the first short while of my time on YA), is recommend something by an author I've never read, about a story of which I'm unfamiliar and that wasn't recommended to me by someone I respect.
Okay, end of true confessions....
I'm one of those who has put long lists of books as recommendations. Believe it or not, I neither alphabetize nor do I cut and paste. As the book comes to me, I put it down. The only time there is any alphabetization is when I check my own book list to search for titles (yes, I know, I have a "list" problem).
I don't remember what I may have recommended last August (it's too many questions ago & those first few months I was on Yahoo Answers is rather blurry due to a tragedy in the family at that time). I will tell you that I have recommended a few books that I haven't read for one of two reasons (the first being a compound reason, but without all those factors, I don't recommend it):
1. It's by an author whose other works I have read and enjoyed, the story is one whose premise and basic outline I know, and it's on my "to read" list (yes, yet ANOTHER list) AND I think it's the type of book which might appeal to the asker (BTW: very few books fall into this category, though, because I've probably read at least 98% of what I recommend in those long lists and many times 100%, and all of them in the shorter lists I've given), or
2. It was recommended by someone I know whose opinions I value and whose tastes are similar to mine. This one has only happened a couple of times. Usually I will say that "I've heard this was good" or something like that.
For instance, though I have read all of Charles Dickens' books (except his unfinished The Mystery of Edwin Drood), I haven't read all of Robert Louis Stevenson's novels and yet loved the many of his that I HAVE read. Therefore, I don't have the least qualm recommending another of his books that I haven't gotten to yet. I know and love his style of writing, so I may recommend it. Of course, what I haven't gotten to yet is always changing, since I read every day.
What I won't do now (as I said, I can't guarantee the first short while of my time on YA), is recommend something by an author I've never read, about a story of which I'm unfamiliar and that wasn't recommended to me by someone I respect.
Okay, end of true confessions....
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