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[Diesel]

This is a little kiddie's book series we're talking (and possibly debating) about here, right?

[Diesel]

Originally Posted by Stripey

jolielaide: YOU GUYS.This is going to sound crazycak

What language are the people in that thread using?

[Rachie]

Originally Posted by Diesel

This is a little kiddie's book series we're talking (and possibly debating) about here, right?

I'd hardly put it down as a book for "little kiddies". Have you read any of them? I'd imagine if you had you wouldn't be pigeon-holing the series like that.

[Stripey]

Originally Posted by Rachie

I'd hardly put it down as a book for "little kiddies".

If you think harry potter isn't a kids book you've got problems.

[Old Gold]

Originally Posted by Stripey

If you think harry potter isn't a kids book you've got problems.

Thing is, the series has been on the go since a lot of the more mature readers were just 10 or so. The writing style and characters, while not exactly rich, have a certain comforting nostalgic value to them... sort of like gran's mince and tatties in book form.

[Dave]

I've never really seen it as a kid's book. It's suitable for all ages, like Lord of the Rings or Huckleberry Finn. It's not making any claims to pseudo-intellectual snobbery or edgy experimentalism, it's all about the storytelling.

[Rachie]

Originally Posted by Stripey

If you think harry potter isn't a kids book you've got problems.

Have you read the books Stripey? Or do you consider reading beneath you?

Dave hit the nail on the head, ok so when it started out with the Philosopher's Stone it was aimed for children, but unless you're blind/stupid/have never seen the news you'll have noticed that millions of people enjoy them, that says something. The books have brought many kids back to reading, which can certainly not be a bad thing.

Try reading them, it might bring a bit of joy into your otherwise miserable existence.

[Chris]

Originally Posted by Thomas Banacek

It was weird reading it because every plot line I had guessed after the end of the last book was there in this one. I didn't know whether to be smug or slightly freaked.

I enjoyed it, I initially thought the ending seemed like a cop out, a "best of both worlds" scenario, but I soon got over that and saluted it for the fine finale to a fine series of books.

One thing which angered me intensely however.

The queue outside Waterstones was full of young kids, many of them dressed up in cute fancy dress.

For them to have to endure the abuse thrown at the crowds by drunken idiots (I won't say neds cos there were plenty folk who would not have looked out of place on the Moshulu dancefloor also engaged) was disgusting and made me feel on several occasions like committing a violent offence.

I am more than a little certain that some kids were probably very upset by it, and I hope whoever those people were feel big and proud of themselves.

The wisdom of having a midnight launch on a Friday night, for a book read by lots of children, always seemed a bit dodgy to me. Surely they could have changed it to a midweek launch or something, instead of having lines of children standing around city centres getting abuse from pissed up louts.

Aside from that I have no interest in Harry Potter whatsoever. The books and the films haven't appealled to me at all.

[Stripey]

Originally Posted by Rachie

Have you read the books Stripey? Or do you consider reading beneath you?

Dave hit the nail on the head, ok so when it started out with the Philosopher's Stone it was aimed for children, but unless you're blind/stupid/have never seen the news you'll have noticed that millions of people enjoy them, that says something. The books have brought many kids back to reading, which can certainly not be a bad thing.

Try reading them, it might bring a bit of joy into your otherwise miserable existence.

I certainly consider reading childrens literature beneath me, I grew out of reading fantasy stories in my early teens. I've just finished re-reading Sartres Nausea and Will Selfs Grey Area, you know, books for grown ups that don't have pictures or massively kerned large type that makes the book look twice as long and leaves room for kids fat fingers to trace the text as they read it one syllable at a time.

Just because "millions of people enjoy" the books says nothing about their literary worth.

[Dave]

A defining feature of a "grown up" is the ability to leave each to their own and to not belittle the amusements of others. If someone reads books for their supposed "literary worth" rather than their quality, then that person is really wasting their time.