Rowling was not on the ground floor. You can find a lot of the ideas and even aspects of her setting in the work of previous authors, including Dianna Wynne Jones, whose books going back to the late 70s have a lot of elements that show up in Potter.
Out of nowhere, Potter? I haven't read Dianna Wynne Jones, so I can't say exactly how deeply her books presage Harry Potter. From a gloss, looking at Amazon and Wikipedia, it looks fairly close to the bone. When I read the Enders series by Orson Scott Card, it struck me how similar the device of the mutant/space academy was to the Hogwarts schtick - and I believe Ender's Game predated Potter. Nor is Rowling the seamless literary technician that alot of posters above seem to think she is. Her use of the passive voice, in particular, is like a stone in the shoe of any aspiring writer. More problematically, I don't find her Grand Guignol take on evil to have any weight whatsoever, except as an antagonistic force to her hero. No. What I meant by saying that JK Rowling built her books from the ground level was mainly that she came out of nowhere, had the courage of her convictions, wrote the kind of book she would have appeared to have wanted to read (above and beyond Dianna Wynne Jones), and did it fairly well. If you've ever had to wade through the shoals of early-stage creative writing (both your own and those even less qualifed than yourself), you'll know that writing a gripping tale with at least some skeins of originality, and intriguing characters, is no small accomplishment.
I suppose it depends entirely on the type of genre you prefer; where I do think that J.K Rowling has done an excellent job with Harry Potter, her series of books will never completely capture me as other series' have simply because I prefer a different genre.
Personally, I don't get what's so great about Harry Potter anyways. There are other fantasy and magic novels with characters who are less boring. I mean, Harry has no sense of humor, he does nothing surprising and he's alltogether just plain boring, the puppet swinging the magic wand and furthering the plot. Weasley is a caricature of poor credibility and all Hermione ever does is being cute. Draco and Snape could be interesting, Voldemort is evil for evil's sake, so how does "compelling" fit in there? No offence intended but even Foreskin's Lament surpasses Harry Potter on my bookshelf.
Harry Potter is probably one of the best childrens' books there is, but it seems odd to ask if anything could be better without making a qualifying remark restricting it to its genre. There's no point for example comparing Harry Potter to adult literature like 'Ulysses' or 'The Satanic Verses' or even grown-up Sci-Fi/Fantasy because there isn't enough commonality to make a proper comparison. Now I know plenty of adults have read and liked Harry Potter, and there are plenty of grown-ups who like to watch cartoons and kids' movies too. And I've nothing against all that. But it's a strange world we live in where someone can ask with a straight face if anything can surpass Harry Potter in any sense except as a children's fantasy (if that's what your friend meant) and expect to be taken seriously. For anyone who's read decent literature beyond childrens' books the answer is so obviously 'yes' as to make the question completely redundant. Depressingly, I expect some people will find this attitude 'elitist' in some way but it's no more elitist than any other judgement about quality and depth and if we can't make those judgements then we might as well give up judging things altogether.
Aye caramba! Let's not put the Satanic Verses and Ulysses in the same sentence. The former doesn't even belong on the same shelf. At least Midnight's Children was a good book (if we're dealing with Rushdie). /derail
That may well not be a bad idea. It depends what the judgement criteria is and what purpose it serves. A vague notion such as "X is better than y" has no success criteria. Subjective criteria such as "is more enjoyable" or even "is more competently written" is also pretty meaningless beyond a certain point (unless you clearly define enjoyable and competency [and come to a world consensus]. Unfortunately as soon as you define those aspects there will be a raft of books waiting in the wings to smash all those notions of success criteria). The most people can ever hope for in any value judgement is really split between the quantum world of personal preference or the Gravitational world of Popular consensus.
Hmmm, I've read the whole Harry Potter series and I found it interesting ,but just that. It was a good read but it never really sparked my imagination, basically I viewed it simply for entertainment purposes (which is not a bad thing). As for something surpassing it, I would say yes. Personally my favorite novel is the Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and yes, I would say it surpasses the Harry Potter series by far.
This is one of those circular arguments. Personally I thought that the first three Harry Potter books were lovely children's stories based on a great idea and engaging characters. The rest of the series I feel now in the cold light of day is popular, pretentious claptrap. However, we like what we like and if people enjoy it then that is marvellous, all power to their elbow. I wrote a lot of Harry Potter fanfic so I can't complain and at the time it was great fun. JK Rowling is an average story writer who had an inspired idea and has since become very overrated but then so are many others The first Patricia Cornwell books were really good but her most recent effort made me want to scratch out my eyes! So what? It is all a matter of personal taste.
I've got to say that Harry Potter is one of my favorite series out there because J.K. Rowling is an amazing storyteller. I love stories where my mind can just go off into a totally different world. To me, those are most enjoyable because I'm not reading about "real life" type stories. (given I do like reading the occasional Nicolas Sparks novel haha) But the genre that Harry Potter is in is my favorite genre, fantasy aimed towards kids and teens, because it's fun and it makes reading fun. Although I do like some classic novels like Wuthering Heights and Jane Austen is one of my favorite authors (but if you think about it, that's also transporting me to a different world, almost, different time period). But now, I'm just rambling really, it's late and I have a dreadful headache!
To ask if "anything will ever be as good" is a tough question. This can only be answered by personal opinion. They were good books. Engaging and well written. Harry Potter was a standout novel/series. There have been many books written about a young wizard learning to use his power and battling an enemy. But it seems none did it quite like Rowling did. Harry Potter was a phenomenon. Like Lord of the Rings. And yes, even Twilight though that series have been heatedly debated. They are books that were, for one reason or another, raised above other similar books. They are not the first ones to do so and they will not be the last.
Yes. However, I don’t think Rowling will be the one to do it. She’s become a one-hit wonder among the literary community, alongside Stephanie Meyer. The opinion if their work is good or not is highly subjective, but it’s clear that anything Rowling writes in the future (insofar as it’s not directly connected to the Potter series) may be overlooked, and that possibility remains incredibly large. Of course she’ll be published again; she’s an accomplished author and won’t have any trouble finding a publisher for any of her other work. Will the public accept it? Most likely not. The Potter series will go down in history, no doubt there, and it’ll be remembered for years to come. But by gaining such mainstream success, Rowling has increased the chance that the public may not be so willing to accept anything but Potter from her. It’s one of those ‘wait and see’ kind of deals I think. I already think there’s far better out there. For me, The Magicians by Lev Grossman will outperform the Potter any day of the week. If Grossman could manage to encapsulate 8 years of a magical university into roughly 400 some-odd pages, why couldn’t Rowling?
I don't think you can call Meyer a one-hit wonder. Her non-Twilight novel "The Host" did very well. From Wiki: "The Host was also a #1 New York Times Best Seller, and remained on this list for 26 weeks, and also spent over 36 weeks on the Los Angeles Times bestseller list. The novel was named #1 on Maclean's Magazine's list of 10 top-selling fiction books in Canada." Her future works won't have to rise to the phenomenon level of Twilight to be successes. If that's not a "hit" I hope to have a handful of non-hits
Plus Rowlling doesn't need to sell anything else if she doesn't want to. As an author she has accomplished a lot. Personally I am aiming to use the same worlds and character variations for most of my stories - don't see the point in wasting it. Initially I was worried it made me a one trick pony, then I realised actually completing a novel in the first place is an accomplishment.
Well if it is a contract with an agent/publisher that would be nice lol Even if the book never sells it has an audience people that enjoy my stories. For me that is more than many writer accomplish. JK Rowlling doesn't ever need to do anything else she doesn't need to surpass it- like Lord of the Rings, Pride and Prejudice, Little Women etc the books have a timeless quality and her name will be around for ever. She has accomplished more than most writers ever have in capturing imagination. Even Stephanie Meyer etc has achieved that. CS Lewis wrote many books most people only know him for Narnia etc Like another person said maybe it'll be one of us.
As Draco Malfoy of A Very Potter Musical said, "There's always room for improvement." Although JK Rowling did wonderfully at weaving storylines and creating a rather unconventional-yet-rich wizarding world that's both easy and fun to get into, with enough effort and good ole' creativity and luck, many other writers could do the same.
HP makes me sad. I lament upon the relative illiteracy that drives the flocks to never discover a tale infused with true genius, actual invention, originality and style. You cannot enjoy the world, because the world is beyond your grasp. *sigh* Our Elegant Universe by Brian Greene surpasses HP by many orders of magnitude. The characters, the plot, the beauty of the created world as a whole.
JK Rowlling did tell a stonking good story though. I would love to read anything else she writes - just to see if she can continue. Might be nice to see how Albus Severus Potter copes at Hogwarts if nothing else She is a genius at what she did.
Hmmm. Sounds like pompous, self-important nonsense to me. And I've met Brian Greene on two separate occasions, including to discuss the book you linked, and I think he'd agree with me.
Meh, sounds like a fan reaction. and sounds like you did not understand the sentiment at all. The book referance part, that was tongue in cheek. I have met the author as well, I don't know what he'd say, it would probably never come up. To add just one more thing, if you enjoy if, be happy that you do. I am a major proponent of the idea that 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder', and regarding items intended purely for entertainment, the only review that means anything is your own in terms of entertainment and whatnot. That just happens to be my take and what I get from that particular children's series.
I understood the sentiment quite well, and my characterization stands. As for fan statements, I'm more or less indifferent to Potter. Read some of the books, but didn't finish the series. I liked the ones I read, though. Need to read 6 and 7 at some point. But don't let your lack of knowledge prevent you from opining.
I've grown up with these books. I was born in 1995, and I read the first one in first grade or thereabouts. From then on, I was hooked. I've seen every movie in theaters, including Deathly Hallows Part 1 (which was AMAZING!), read every book mulitple times, and for the last 3 books (maybe 4, I can't remember) of the series -- Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince, Deathly Hallows -- I went to the midnight parties and got the books straightaway. I finished the 5th and 6th within the hour of getting them, the 7th within days (wanted to take it slow, didn't want it to end yet). I've grown up with these books, and so has my generation. I've always been an avid reader, but to see my fellow friends, classmates and peers, many of whom do not like to read, pick up and devour these books is amazing. And not only that, but everyone else devours them too. My aunt, who I've seen every movie with (it's basically "our thing"), is also a rabid HP fan and she's double my age. These books know no age limits. I can honestly say that nothing will ever, ever surpass Harry Potter. There won't ever be any series as magical, successful or beautiful as this series was for me, my peers and many others around the world.
