My Dirty Little Secret

[sdelmonte]

Hi. I'm Alex. And I am not a Harry Potter fan. Oh, I've seen some of the films and have absorbed a lot about the books and I am curious how it ends. But I've never been interested in the books. They just aren't my thing.

As far as I can tell, I am rather unique in this regard. I might be the only person on LJ who's not a fan. I am pretty sure I am the only person in Milliways of this mindset. So I am curious - is there anyone else out there who isn't a fan?

Comments

[braider.livejournal.com]

For the first four books, I was. The last two, I haven't been so enchanted with. The movies, in my opinion, were not as good as the books - they lost the wit and the fluidity. (As have the most recent two books, for that matter...)

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

I'm not a fan, per se, though I've seen all the films.

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

No, you're the last of the Not Harry Potter Fans. Unless another Not Harry Potter fan has used a chameleon arch to disguise himself as a Harry Potter Fan and hidden himself at the end of the universe, succeeding so well at blending in that he's forgotten his true identity.

Hope that helps. :)

[sdelmonte]

Fantastic!

[canadabear.livejournal.com]

I'm not a rabid fan? I like the movies but to be honest, I haven't read the books, despite actually having played a character in Milliways. I'm curious as to how it ends, but I won't be lining up at Con to get the final book and probably won't be hanging out while people read it afterward.

[campkilkare]

I think that covers me pretty well. I have a fair amount of knowledge, and I'm curious as to how it ends, but HP has never really captured my imagination; I don't think much about it between books, unless something (Milliways or otherwise) brings it up.

[kmelion.livejournal.com]

I'm not a fan.

I read the books because after seeing the third movie, I walked out of the theater feeling like I had missed a lot - things had made jumps that were obvious in the books, but were gaping holes in the movies.

I don't see what the whole hooplah is about these books. I don't think they're great works of literature, but you know... it's getting millions of people reading and for that I can be satisfied with the hooplah.

[immortalthief.livejournal.com]

Gasp, your secret is out. :)

Sorry but I am a HP fan. But I certainly don't mind that you aren't. You like alot of other really cool stuff.

This was also me just wanting to say hi since it's been a while. I have apped a pup in Milliways so if she is approved we can start playing again.

[mm_madb]

*raises hand* I'm going to read my aunt's copy when she's done with it because I have read the others. I'm really not going to care if someone says "Oh, Snape was evil after all." or something else that could "spoil" the book. I don't have enough invested in it to for anything to spoil it.

[agoodshinkickin.livejournal.com]

HAH! I know the feeling. I feel as though I'm the only one on LJ who doesn't like anime.

Which isn't really what you asked about, but...well there it is anyway.

[areyoumymemmy.livejournal.com]

*doesn't actually like anime either.*

like, I ADORED shati's in-bar Anthy, and Utena was entertaining for the bits I watched because of that connection, but anime in general just doesn't do it for me.

today is my day of double pariahhood, whee!

[sdelmonte]

I too am not much for anime. I loved Spirited Away, liked Ranma, and loved Escaflowne, but never feel much of a reason to track anything down.

I think it's fair to say that there is that (at least) one thing that everyone likes but you. And one thing that you love and everyone else doesn't get.

[areyoumymemmy.livejournal.com]

I really really liked the first book, because I have a thing for boarding school adventure books/tv shows. And then I liked the next couple in a diminishing returns way and now I'm just kinda like "yeah, okay."

I've read all of them by now, and I'm curious to see how it ends and I'm sure I'll eventually read the Deathly Hallows, but overall I'm kinda meh at this point.

I'll be interested to see how the Harry Potter books do over time, actually. Because while I have enjoyed reading them for the most part, (the exception being the bits in which I really really wished JK Rowling had not gotten too rich for editing, or her editors had gotten too wussy) I don't know how popular they'll be fifty years from now.

However, I have no doubt at all that there will still be shipping wars fifty years from now. Much of HP fandom is batshit, yo.

[genarti]

What I'm curious about, too, is how kids with the entire series at their hands will like them. They get a lot darker and more adult as the series goes on, and if you have a kid who's young enough to love the first and an enthusiastic enough reader to (potentially) read them all in succession... well, I'm curious.

And, yeah. I am interested to see whether they'll turn into children's classics, or whether they'll fade into an interesting literary footnote.

[sdelmonte]

Hmmm. It will get a lot harder for parents, if nothing else. With all seven books out there, and a kid who wants to read them all but is only 12, it will be no fun at all to say "you aren't old enough."

I'm curious - and since you channel Will Stanton, you are good to ask - do the Susan Cooper books also get darker as they go along? (Will be read these books soon by Batya, but right now I am a newbie to that canon.)

As for HP's status in 50 years, I think that it can't possibly avoid a period of knee-jerk backlash. And there is no way to tell how all the kids of the first generation will react when Mom or Dad says "I read this as a kid". But I would guess that Harry's adventures will remain popular for years to come.

[genarti]

If you start with Over Sea, Under Stone, then yes, somewhat. That book was the first one Cooper wrote, before she had really figured out what she was doing the series. While there are undertones of what's to come, it's much more of a Children Have An Adventure While On Holiday sort of book. (Will's not in it, either; it's Merriman and the Drew children.)

From The Dark Is Rising onwards through the end of the series, I'd say it's pretty consistent. There are a lot of serious issues and hard choices Will has to face from very early on, because he has to see the heart of the Dark and the Light and their battle in a way that the Drew children are shielded from all along and especially at first.

Many people, myself included, often advocate starting with The Dark Is Rising instead, and then backtracking to Over Sea, Under Stone before reading the last three in order. Merriman and the Rider are the only ones who are in both, and you get a better feel for the heart of the series without losing any continuity. You can do it either way, though, and knowing the characters (especially Merriman) through Milliways may help you with understanding the foundation of the series even in the most lighthearted of the books.

[skygiants]

I enjoy reading Harry Potter, but I wouldn't classify myself a huge fan - mostly because there are a whole slew of similar books which I think are much more original and better-written.

Half the fun, though, is being able to discuss books with people afterwards. And Harry Potter is one book series that's guaranteed to provide that, which is one of the major reasons why I'll be reading Deathly Hallows fairly soon after it comes out. Whether I like it or I don't, it'll be fun to talk about!

[genarti]

I find them enjoyable enough. I've read the first five, and seen all the movies, and I'm vaguely intending to finally get around to HBP before the last book comes out. Ish. Probably. I do intend to read all of them sooner or later, anyway? I'm spoiled all over the place for HBP, though, and have been for ages, and while I'm not seeking out book 7 spoilers neither am I frantically avoiding them. I'm certainly not buying the book in hardcover. (Luckily, my housemate is, so I can just read hers.)

I find them reasonably fun, and I like being knowledgeable enough to discuss them with other people. (And for me, satisfying discussion means being at least able to discuss in a fair amount of depth.) They have some good parts, despite the gaping flaws in the world-building. I'd call myself an indifferent fan at best, though.

[varadia]

I didn't read the last Harry Potter book and I'm pretty sure I'm not going to read this one, either.

The movies I have a slightly better chance of seeing, if only because I tend to go to those with other people.

[zellion.livejournal.com]

I just want to read the book. Alone. I don't want to hear squealing over who's hot, who's dreamy, who should be romantically involved with whom, and for heaven's sake quit talking about spoilers! Why are you even bothering to read the book if you're doing everything in your power to find out every detail before you read it? And I don't want to see the movies, I have better things to do with $20 and three hours.

[buongiornodaisy.livejournal.com]

I like 'em well enough, used to be obsessed, but now--I dunno. I guess I became too snobby for my own good, to the point that I couldn't enjoy Harry Potter on the level I used to. The books and films weren't good enough to justify the heaps of praise and adoration being mounded on them by people who worshiped as a goddess a woman whose prose had slightly more life in it than Ian Fleming's (and don't get me started on Ian Fleming's prose--it's not good) and judged the films based on how accurate they were to the books without realizing that the films were shitty because they were written and directed with no love of the cinematic form. The books are entertaining, I'll give her that. The books have atmosphere and are amusing at time. The films...eh.

I can't find any reason to love the series beyond it scratching a geeky itch deep inside me. If I want quality, I'll look elsewhere.

[chaos-wrangler.livejournal.com]

We're not really fans either. I started reading the books to see what all the fuss was about, and I still don't get it 'cause there's plenty of better stuff out there. G got some free second-hand, and we've borrowed the rest from friends / relatives, and we'll probably do the same with #7. As for the movies, we've seen all of them so far, but I can't remember if we saw them all in the theater or if we waited for video for some.

[wakeupnew]

i wouldn't call myself a fan. i read the books and see the movies, and i read the books pretty much the day that they come out, but that's only because i am a rampant spoiler-hater, and i know what will happen if i don't read fast. i enjoy the books, i think they're entertaining enough to merit reading, but by this point -- i think that rowling needs a good editor, frankly. 600-page books? is that really necessary?

[dimloep-suum.livejournal.com]

I've never read any of the books because I couldn't make it through the first chapter of the fisrt one, but I've seen all the movies before OotP (Worst. Potter Acronym. Ever.).

[the_croupier]

I'm halfway with you. I like the books, but as of OotP, I'm officially not a fan of the movies (with the exception of Azkaban, and that entirely due to Alfonso Cuaron).

[schung1968.livejournal.com]

Haven't read the books.

Haven't seen the movies.

The relentless merchandising kinda ruined it for me.

Seeing lots of people carrying the books around reminds me of:

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson.

The remake of "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers," where Donald Sutherland is screaming at a human and pointing.