Books!

[Ziggy]

Here's something I've been wondering...

Would you recommend the Harry Potter books to an adult who has never read them before nor seen any of the movies?

[Ack]

Here's something I've been wondering...

Would you recommend the Harry Potter books to an adult who has never read them before nor seen any of the movies?

No idea, I've never read them.

[Ziggy]

Not YOU!

[o.pwuaioc]

Here's something I've been wondering...

Would you recommend the Harry Potter books to an adult who has never read them before nor seen any of the movies?

The first four read at an appropriate age would have been fine. I was too old when 5 came out, and I finish the series just because I had been invested in it. It's not something I would have recommended teenagers, and definitely not something I would recommend adults.

That said, it does depend on one's literary sensibilities. Can you list some favorites that might be relevant to the series?

On a side note, I only saw a couple of the movies, and thought they were uninspired and boring. I think it was when the third one (whichever one that was) that I completely tuned out, and partly it was losing Richard Harris that turned me off of it. From what I've read, I don't think there's much use in bothering with the movies unless you're already a fan. Then again, I'm usually a book over movie sort of guy anyway, with just a few exceptions.

Granted, these opinions were formed 20 years ago, and I never had even an smidgeon of curiosity in revisiting any of the series.

[marurun]

I haven't read the HP books, but I do know they are quite solidly YA fiction. YA fiction has a lot of appeal for adults as well as young adults, but if you aren't one of those adults, I suspect HP might not be for you. There's also the whole "Death of the Author" thing to consider and whether what you know about the author will affect how you interpret their work.

[REPO Man]

Hundred bucks says the characters of Harry Potter would call out JKR for her opinions.

[opa]

I'm sure you could find a used copy of the first HP for like a dollar or less at this point. It'd be a cheap way to see if you like it.

I personally don't like the series. I was more into fantasy series like Conan when I was a kid. Harry Potter doesn't really scratch the same itch.

[Limewater]

Here's something I've been wondering...

Would you recommend the Harry Potter books to an adult who has never read them before nor seen any of the movies?

As Marurun said, it's going to depend a bit on your literary sensibilities.

I didn't read any Harry Potter until I was 24. My wife and I both read the six that were out at the time within a couple of week period. We loved them. We bought the seventh at midnight when it came out.

I have in the last couple of years listened to about 2/3 of each of the first two books on audiobook during road trips. I still enjoyed them.

I don't think there are many people who would enjoy Harry Potter as a child but dislike them as an adult. But I've generally felt that way about literature. I can't think of any instances of books that I really liked as a kid that I read as an adult and didn't enjoy. I have felt that way about movies.

I think it was when the third one (whichever one that was) that I completely tuned out, and partly it was losing Richard Harris that turned me off of it. From what I've read, I don't think there's much use in bothering with the movies unless you're already a fan. Then again, I'm usually a book over movie sort of guy anyway, with just a few exceptions.

It's probably not the third one. That one's easily the best in the series despite being a time travel movie. The fourth was still pretty good, but after that the movies dropped significantly in quality. They removed aspects of the books that were very interesting, like how the books handled deaths of major characters, and replaced those interesting things with hollywood tropes.

Hundred bucks says the characters of Harry Potter would call out JKR for her opinions.

A million bucks says that I could beat both Goku and Huck Finn in a game of Candy Land.

[Ziggy]

That said, it does depend on one's literary sensibilities. Can you list some favorites that might be relevant to the series?

No, I don't think I can. I really haven't read any fantasy novels before. I've only just decided to get into that genre. Something about the fantasy genre always annoyed me, although I don't know why. But I've been coming around on that opinion. After thinking about it for years, I finally started reading The Lord of the Rings (I'm on chapter 9 of Fellowship).

That said, I feel like a lot of my enjoyment from a book comes more from the way the author writes and less from the genre. I think Tolkien writes in a way that makes it interesting and engaging. You could have the same world building and character development, but written in a way that makes it boring.

THAT said, I think what finally drew me into reading Lord of the Rings is the idea of a massive world building adventure. I mean, I'm only on chapter 9 of the first book, but Tolkien makes the world seem so huge and with so much depth. When Frodo and company makes it out of the Shire, it feels like when Cloud steps out of Midgar for the first time. It's just like, wow, I'm in this huge alternate world and I'm exploring it.

I guess that's why I was specifically asking if an adult first time reader would enjoy the Potter books. I know they were written for a younger age, but I have no idea if they're engaging for adults or not. Like, is there epic world building in the books? Because I think that might be a huge part of the appeal of fantasy books.

I haven't read the HP books, but I do know they are quite solidly YA fiction. YA fiction has a lot of appeal for adults as well as young adults, but if you aren't one of those adults, I suspect HP might not be for you.

Yeah, so a year or two ago I completed my collection of the original Goosebumps books and was reading some of them. And I found that I actually enjoy reading them. They are very much written for a young age group. So much so that some of the plot points are really laughable. Like yeah, I'm just suppose to accept without question that the dad is a mad scientist and that automatically gives him the ability to create a plant based clone of himself. But that was part of the enjoyment I got from reading them, that stuff like that is laughable. And because they were written for a younger audience, they were really easy and fast reads. Which is exactly what I want sometimes. But a huge part of why I was reading them was because I enjoyed the hell out of them when I was in elementary school. If I didn't love the series as a kid, I don't think I would have every picked one up as an adult.

Long story short: I find the Goosebumps books enjoyable but it's probably 99.9% because of my nostalgia for them.

I'm sure you could find a used copy of the first HP for like a dollar or less at this point. It'd be a cheap way to see if you like it.

I personally don't like the series. I was more into fantasy series like Conan when I was a kid. Harry Potter doesn't really scratch the same itch.

Ah, good point. I'll keep a look out the next time I'm in a thrift store.

So I'm very much a fantasy book noob. I'll take suggestions for good novels or series!

As Marurun said, it's going to depend a bit on your literary sensibilities.

I didn't read any Harry Potter until I was 24. My wife and I both read the six that were out at the time within a couple of week period. We loved them. We bought the seventh at midnight when it came out.

I have in the last couple of years listened to about 2/3 of each of the first two books on audiobook during road trips. I still enjoyed them.

Well that's encouraging, thanks. How you would describe the world building of the novels?

[marurun]

Hundred bucks says the characters of Harry Potter would call out JKR for her opinions.

And that’s not appropriate discussion for this forum, which is why I was being very oblique in my reference. Don’t delve into this particular subject again.