I have a problem with Harry Potter

[Tony]

You could try the audio book. The UK editions are actually rather good.

This

 

[Safe-Keeper]

Rowling had a way with her unpleasant and unjust characters -- Snape, Harry's step-parents, that obnoxious reporter whose name I forget, and everyone's "favourite" Umbridge. She really manages to make them get under your skin.

 

[autumn1971]

I couldn't get through the one Harry Potter book I tried to read. My problem was primarily that it's just not very good writing. IMO, there's way more very good literature than I will likely read in my entire lifetime, that I see no reason to force myself to read something I just don't care for.

I found that Rowling improved her writing a great deal starting with the third novel. Then she hit the Stephen King limit: she had made so much money that noone had the gonads to be a good editor. Her writing improves, but the number of pointless subplots increases as well.

 

[Alex Cured]

Umbridge? ... Umbrage!

J'see what she did there? J.K is so clever!

Give her another billion!

 

[jj]

Dolores Umbrige was too much like corpoRAT 'merica.

 

[ronin688]

No, not that he's a wizard or anything. It's that I'm stuck. I cannot get through Order of the Phoenix. I've tried four times now. It is so unremittingly miserable and upsetting, not to mention similar to my workplace, that I just can't get through it. I don't want to read the other books until I have.

Any suggestions?

I'd personally say to tough it out. I think it's worth reading, and honestly anything that gives you an emotional reaction like that (good or bad) is rare and special.

I've read a lot of books, and not many have raised my hackles the way OotP did. I've had books make me sad, or happy, or bored, or scared, but very rarely angry in the way that OotP made me.

 

[whatthebutlersaw]

Umm, guys? If LL has made it to book 5, she's probably enjoying the Potter-verse in general even though she's stuck on book 5 (which happens to a lot of Potterati as it takes a decided turn both plot-wise and stylistically).

Harshing on her taste in books probably isn't helpful in any way, then.

But, you know - kudos to you for recognizing that being an adult is generally considered desirable after a certain age. The only problem with your take on it is that what you choose to read really isn't that important to your general level of adulthood. (Particularly not when it's part of a varied reading diet.)

You read what you like and the rest of us read what we like. Deal?

You know, in a way it's kind of funny how a bunch of posters try to Umbridge others into choosing something from the "approved reading list" in a thread about OoTP.

 

[whatthebutlersaw]

Oh, and for the OP:

To me, that one was tough to get through simply because once upon a time when I read the Harry Potter books I had kind of invested in what I thought to be the Boarding School genre (of which I'm quite fond since childhood) and I was actually more interested in the every-day machinations of Hogwarts and the emerging universe, than the main plot. If it was gaming I would be decidedly sandboxing my Potter. (Actually, I read Umbridge as Rowling's take on Thatcher... That's probably giving her too much credit, though.)

I always considered Harry to be the least interesting character in the Potterverse and OoTP is extra heavy on Harry and his inner dialogue, I've never been particularly fond of Achilles in his Tent and I found the heavy-handedness of Umbridge ever so slightly Penny-Dreadful. All of this conspired to make OoTP the least enjoyable in the series. To me. I know people who enjoyed it the most of all seven.

I stuck with it but I can honestly say that all I, personally, got out of that was to not be completely confused regarding plot points by the time I got to book six. Which I liked a lot better. By then the Crapsack World was established, so the shock wasn't as harsh.

You do get a bonus if you read them at the "appropriate" age - not only the characters but also the style grows up "with" you. The plots get more complicated as the reader gets more sophisticated and the style gets darker as the reader gets older. By OoTP, the protagonists are 15 which IS a ****** age for most people. That's usually when you are expected to act adult but are still treated like a child - with hormones going ballistic. I think the most horrible realization in OoTP is that the grown-ups really don't got this ****, either. Their efforts are disorganized, confused and often fruitless. They really have no clue what they're doing. There is no back-up and their priorities don't always include what you want them to do and they are sometimes helpless to protect you. (Harry wants Dumbledore to flippin' show up and put a stop to Umbridge, yet he doesn't.) Realizing that sucks irl and if you've had a decent childhood, 15 is approximately when you figure this out.

Others, unfortunately, know this from a much younger age - and maybe they are the readers who really find OoTP hard going, because if not even FICTIONAL grown-ups can be trusted to know what they're doing... well.

 

[Gawdzilla Sama]

An often overlooked feature of these books is that reading them is optional.

 

[Brown]

I'm listening to the audio book read by Jim Dale, and have gotten farther than I have before. I'm at the Quidditch match. I just cannot tolerate Umbridge; she reminds me very strongly of people I deal with.

I have all of the Jim Dale performances, and I recommend them.

But I agree, "Phoenix" is almost painful at times. It's painful to listen to, and probably more painful to read. And the pain is Rowling's fault, not Dale's. Harry seems to get mad all the time, sometimes with little provocation, and often when it is strongly in his interest to keep his cool. It also seems out of character for Harry to be such a whiny a little bitch.

Umbridge is a repulsive character, but still intersting. She seems to me to be the bureaucrat from hell, not intrinsically evil, but authoritarian-gone-overboard.

 

[TragicMonkey]

Harry seems to get mad all the time, sometimes with little provocation, and often when it is strongly in his interest to keep his cool. It also seems out of character for Harry to be such a whiny a little bitch.

I can't speak for everyone, but such would be a pretty good description of me at age 15, too. Testosterone is a powerful thing. I was just angry all the time, for no reason. And mopey!

 

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I can't speak for everyone, but such would be a pretty good description of me at age 15, too. Testosterone is a powerful thing. I was just angry all the time, for no reason. And mopey!

She does teenage boys very well. It's almost like she was a teenage girl at some time in her past.

 

[JoeTheJuggler]

Harshing on her taste in books probably isn't helpful in any way, then.

You're generous in assuming we're all motivated to be helpful!

 

[Monketi Ghost]

1. Close book
2. Throw book at shrieking cat outside
3. Crack open a nice beer and enjoy. Now read some Sinclair Lewis.

 

[whatthebutlersaw]

You're generous in assuming we're all motivated to be helpful!

Well, I'm generally a generous person. Of course, if you are admitting to a clumsy attempt at an ego-trip, I'll take your word for it.

 

[Piscivore]

...sandboxing my Potter...

Uh huh huh huh.

 

[Skepticemea]

It's easy to be dismissive of Harry Potter books.

 

[Piscivore]

...the number of pointless subplots increases as well.

It's the "pointless subplots" that interest me most, and what give the series (or any work) depth. Compare that to most fantasy where only a handful of people in the entire universe matter- Moorcock, I'm looking at you.

 

[Skepticemea]

Moorcock, I'm looking at you.

Santorum is look to stop that sort of thing.

 

[LibraryLady]

Revert to reading adult fiction instead of daft stuff for kids?

You mean like Alice in Wonderland and Wind in the Willows? Nope, won't give up my comfort books.

Yep. Don't even start. OK, too late, you started. Throw it away. Well, give it to someone you don't like or who doesn't much matter or donate it to a charity shop and let fate decide, it's still a book and there are principles that must be adhered to. At the very least, recycle it. But enlighten your self interest - skip to the end, skim for the closing details (it's a fallback position I've had to employ myself, I can't abandon an ill-chosen schlock novel without some sort of closure). Now read something excellent. If you haven't already, The Book Thief is an enduring delight.

Book Thief will go on my ever growing list.

I liked Order of the Phoenix; it's a testament to Rowling's skill that Umbridge is such a memorably unlikeable and realistic character, but yeah it's pretty unpleasant going through long stretches of the book. To be honest I thought the series peaked with Prisoner of Azkaban and the last four novels are shamelessly padded. She especially makes some odd choices in the last book on what she focuses on and what happens "offstage". Part of my problem is that I was never intrigued by Voldemort, at least not after the first couple of books. Snape was much more interesting but it felt like the more attention the books paid to Voldemort the less they paid to Snape and that was frustrating to me.

I enjoyed reading all of the books to varying degrees but I seriously doubt I'll ever reread any of them.

I find Snape the most interesting character, and Mrs. Weasley the most endearing.

I'd personally say to tough it out. I think it's worth reading, and honestly anything that gives you an emotional reaction like that (good or bad) is rare and special.

I've read a lot of books, and not many have raised my hackles the way OotP did. I've had books make me sad, or happy, or bored, or scared, but very rarely angry in the way that OotP made me.

I'm glad of the confirmation of my feelings, thank you.

Oh, and for the OP:

To me, that one was tough to get through simply because once upon a time when I read the Harry Potter books I had kind of invested in what I thought to be the Boarding School genre (of which I'm quite fond since childhood) and I was actually more interested in the every-day machinations of Hogwarts and the emerging universe, than the main plot. If it was gaming I would be decidedly sandboxing my Potter. (Actually, I read Umbridge as Rowling's take on Thatcher... That's probably giving her too much credit, though.)

I always considered Harry to be the least interesting character in the Potterverse and OoTP is extra heavy on Harry and his inner dialogue, I've never been particularly fond of Achilles in his Tent and I found the heavy-handedness of Umbridge ever so slightly Penny-Dreadful. All of this conspired to make OoTP the least enjoyable in the series. To me. I know people who enjoyed it the most of all seven.

I stuck with it but I can honestly say that all I, personally, got out of that was to not be completely confused regarding plot points by the time I got to book six. Which I liked a lot better. By then the Crapsack World was established, so the shock wasn't as harsh.

You do get a bonus if you read them at the "appropriate" age - not only the characters but also the style grows up "with" you. The plots get more complicated as the reader gets more sophisticated and the style gets darker as the reader gets older. By OoTP, the protagonists are 15 which IS a ****** age for most people. That's usually when you are expected to act adult but are still treated like a child - with hormones going ballistic. I think the most horrible realization in OoTP is that the grown-ups really don't got this ****, either. Their efforts are disorganized, confused and often fruitless. They really have no clue what they're doing. There is no back-up and their priorities don't always include what you want them to do and they are sometimes helpless to protect you. (Harry wants Dumbledore to flippin' show up and put a stop to Umbridge, yet he doesn't.) Realizing that sucks irl and if you've had a decent childhood, 15 is approximately when you figure this out.

Others, unfortunately, know this from a much younger age - and maybe they are the readers who really find OoTP hard going, because if not even FICTIONAL grown-ups can be trusted to know what they're doing... well.

Excellent post! Thank you! Made me think about it in a slightly different way.

I have all of the Jim Dale performances, and I recommend them.

But I agree, "Phoenix" is almost painful at times. It's painful to listen to, and probably more painful to read. And the pain is Rowling's fault, not Dale's. Harry seems to get mad all the time, sometimes with little provocation, and often when it is strongly in his interest to keep his cool. It also seems out of character for Harry to be such a whiny a little bitch.

Umbridge is a repulsive character, but still intersting. She seems to me to be the bureaucrat from hell, not intrinsically evil, but authoritarian-gone-overboard.

I love Jim Dale and was glad he was reading until we got to the blood quill....

You're generous in assuming we're all motivated to be helpful!

Well, now we know.

It's the "pointless subplots" that interest me most, and what give the series (or any work) depth. Compare that to most fantasy where only a handful of people in the entire universe matter- ....

This.