Harry Potter hysteria

[ghost of miles]

So, I read the first book years ago and didn't get hooked, but I trotted down to our downtown indie bookseller last night to pick up the latest as a surprise for my wife (a doctoral candidate in Victorian lit, so no literary slouch she). A longtime fan of the series, she's been immersed in HP5 all day... I think the whole phenomenon is pretty cool, actually. I was hoping to have my own Harry Potter moment of magic on Friday, in the form of a Bunny Berigan Mosaic set arrival, but alas, alas! I must wait until Monday, at the earliest. (Did luck into a copy of Mark Tucker's THE ELLINGTON READER late Friday afternoon, though--I was as excited about that as the rest of the world was about J.K. Rowlings' latest.)

I'm certain that those on the board with children have vicariously experienced Pottermania, but how many of you have read the books yourselves? I know quite a few adults who do--and Michiko Kakutani's review of the newest entry was on the front page of the Times today. Interesting to think that all around the world today, hundreds of thousands of people are reading the same book. No wonder it's been so damned quiet!

[Jazzmoose]

Damn! I knew someone would ask this eventually. I've read the first four and picked up number five today. (If it redeems me at all, Ghost, I've started rereading the Hammett novels as well...)

[Guest Mnytime]

I think anything that gets kids on a whole to start reading again is a very good thing!!

Since half my specialty deals with children I have read all the previous books. I actually set up a special waiting room for the kids with a Harry Potter theme. They can even watch the first two movies. Children are scared enough of Doctors.

Nothing is a better icebreaker or makes it easier to exam a child then talking about Harry Potter while doing it.

Most of my cousins have children and like all the other children of the world they are big Harry Potter fans. The fact that I can have a Harry Potter conversation with them and their parents can't makes me the cool older cousin.

Honestly I have liked the books. I haven’t gotten around to the latest book. My fiancée is currently reading my copy.

I have found the first two films to be very stiff and dull to be honest. But than I don't think much of the director they picked for the first two. The director of the next film should do a better job.

Edited June 22, 2003 by Mnytime

[Jim Alfredson]

I've watched the two movies... haven't read the books, though. I figured I should at least know what's going on.

Give me Tolkien anyday.

[Guest Mnytime]

Give me Tolkien anyday. 

I try to get some of the older kids including my cousins kids into Tolkien whenever possible.

Edited June 22, 2003 by Mnytime

[Soul Stream]

....man...I just don't GET it. Harry Potter hysteria? I don't want to sound like I'm knocking anybody. To each his own. But it's just one of those things I'll never understand...

[Guest Mnytime]

....man...I just don't GET it.  Harry Potter hysteria?  I don't want to sound like I'm knocking anybody.  To each his own.  But it's just one of those things I'll never understand.

I am sure when you where a kid there was something that got you just as excited as these kids do over Harry Potter. Every generation has it's version and I am not limiting this to books.

You're just showing your age.

Edited June 22, 2003 by Mnytime

[slsmcgrew]

I've read the first four books and enjoyed them very much. I'll get around to picking up number five eventually. No hurry though I'm already behind, as always, with my reading. Too many books, too little time...

[Jazzmoose]

....man...I just don't GET it.  Harry Potter hysteria?  I don't want to sound like I'm knocking anybody.  To each his own.  But it's just one of those things I'll never understand.

As far as the hysteria, I don't either, although I think they're better books than my childhood faves like The Happy Hollisters, The Hardy Boys and Tom Swift. They definitely take advantage of the "I'm different" feelings from childhood. I got hooked a few books ago when I decided to see what all the fuss was about, and now can't help reading each before passing them on to the grandkids.

[connoisseur series500]

As far as the hysteria, I don't either, although I think they're better books than my childhood faves like The Happy Hollisters, The Hardy Boys and Tom Swift.  They definitely take advantage of the "I'm different" feelings from childhood.  I got hooked a few books ago when I decided to see what all the fuss was about,  and now can't help reading each before passing them on to the grandkids.

I loved the Happy Hollisters. Great stuff! Did any of you guys read Enid Blyten as a kid? Female English writer. Loved her books too as a kid.

[connoisseur series500]

my wife (a doctoral candidate in Victorian lit, so no literary slouch she).

That's Trollope, Thackeray, Dickens, Carlyle, Hardy, Conrad, who else am I missing?

I loved Thackeray's "Vanity Fair." Good sense of humor. Hardy writes beautiful Biblical prose. Conrad is always interesting.

Wish your wife luck.

I have an MA in literature and could have continued on, but didn't wish to spend my life in Academia. Nothing else to do with a Lit. degree. If I had the time or money to go back to school, I'd go for a doctor's in History. If only....

[pryan]

my wife (a doctoral candidate in Victorian lit, so no literary slouch she).

That's Trollope, Thackeray, Dickens, Carlyle, Hardy, Conrad, who else am I missing?

What about the author of Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte (sp?)?

[Soul Stream]

....man...I just don't GET it.  Harry Potter hysteria?  I don't want to sound like I'm knocking anybody.  To each his own.  But it's just one of those things I'll never understand.

I am sure when you where a kid there was something that got you just as excited as these kids do over Harry Potter. Every generation has it's version and I am not limiting this to books.

You're just showing your age.

but i'm 12 years old.

[Alexander]

I started reading the books when I was the Children's Department Manager at Barnes & Noble several years ago, and I've been hooked ever since. I think they are extremely well-written, and have the same sadistic British tone as Roald Dahl (one of my all time favorite children's authors). The point we have to keep in mind is that Rowling has not only made reading hip and fun for kids, but she's continued to challenge them. Yes, she could easily have written Harry Potter books on the same level, with the same page count, year after year. But each book gets a little longer and a little more difficult. The books grow with the readers, and that is what will make the Potter books enduring children's classics.

The movies are horrible, by the way. Cheap attempts to cash in on the book's popularity. The books will go on. The films will not.

[jazzbo]

My twelve year old nephew bought his copy at 9:01 yesterday morning and finished it at 3:06 am this morning! Very impressive. You couldn't pry him from it except for a fiftieth wedding anniversary dinner for his grandparents! And then. . .only briefly.

I've tried reading them. . .not my cup of tea.

[ghost of miles]

Your nephew has nosed out my wife, Lon. She started around 10 yesterday morning and was up until 3 a.m. in a similarly absorbed state--then resumed and finished this morning. The books aren't my cup of tea, either, but (on the basis of having read the first one) I respect what Rowlings is doing, and it is great to see such excitement over a literary endeavour. I don't think any adult readers need to make excuses for getting caught up in the series.

I've been thinking about giving Hammett another spin myself, Mark, but I'm too immersed in Graham Greene right now--THE QUIET AMERICAN is great!

[Guest Chaney]

New Harry Potter Book Sets Sales Records

Sun Jun 22, 5:25 PM ET

By HILLEL ITALIE, AP National Writer

Harry Potter just keeps topping himself.

"We expected to sell 1 million copies in the first week and we sold that many within the first 48 hours," Barnes & Noble CEO Steve Riggio said Sunday as "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" set records around the world in its first weekend.

Nobody in the industry had seen anything like it, at least since "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," which came out three years ago. Scholastic, the book's U.S. publisher, estimated 5 million copies were sold the first day alone, well ahead of the pace of "Goblet of Fire."

Borders Group reported worldwide sales of 750,000 the first day. Amazon.com shipped out more than a million copies of the new book, making Saturday the largest distribution day of a single item in e-commerce history.

In London, the supermarket chain Tesco said it sold 317,400 copies of the fifth in J.K. Rowling (news - web sites)'s fantasy series in the first 24 hours, seven times the number sold in the first week of Potter IV.

"The book has now broken all our sales records and there is no doubt that this will be the best selling book we have ever stocked," said Tesco book buyer Caroline Ridding.

Some retailers had worried that even an enormous first printing, 8.5 million just in the United States, wouldn't last long enough to keep up with demand. A lot of latecomers found themselves settling for a mere pre-order in place of a book.

Riggio said many Barnes & Noble stores had run out of copies, but that more would arrive "over the next few days." The Book House in Albany, N.Y., sold out its 1,050 copies of the book, even though it limited purchases to two per person.

A Borders bookstore in Columbus, Ohio, had just enough Potter books for the people who reserved them this weekend, and another shipment was expected by Monday or Tuesday.

Borders store manager Mathew Kowalski said many customers who could not get the new book bought copies of the other Potter novels.

"We sold some other books, but it was mainly Harry Potter sales this weekend," Kowalski said.

There were flaws in the Potter master plan. Some stores put the book on sale before its June 21 publication date and a seller in Lynchburg, Va., Givens Books, discovered that more than 40 of its copies were missing 33 pages. Scholastic said the books would be replaced.

Rowling's first four Potter books have sold an estimated 192 million copies worldwide and have been published in at least 55 languages and distributed in more than 200 countries. Blockbuster movies were made of the first two books and the movie stemming from the third will be released next year.

All the hype for Harry didn't stop critics from enjoying "Order of the Phoenix." The New York Times, in a rare front page review, praised the author's "bravura storytelling skills and tirelessly inventive imagination." USA Today cited Rowling's "wonderful, textured writing." The Associated Press said: "It was worth the wait. And then some."

Lights burned all through the weekend as Potter fans didn't let anything as silly as sleep keep them from working through the 870-page book.

Eleven-year-old Geronimo "G" Gisleson of New Orleans received his copy Saturday and was up to page 650 by midday Sunday.

When his mother, Susan, went into his room Sunday morning, she realized he'd been reading all night, using the light from a bathroom across the hall that had been left on as a night light for his younger brother.

"He was sprawled on the floor with the book next to him," she said.

Edited June 23, 2003 by Chaney

[Use3D]

I think anything that gets kids on a whole to start reading again is a very good thing!!

Yes, I met a kid the other day who told me he hated reading. How can you hate reading??? It's mind boggling.

Ghost of Miles said:

I'll spare you a wild-about-Harry title

Praise be to ye, because that sounds wrong.

[ghost of miles]

Ghost of Miles said:

I'll spare you a wild-about-Harry title

Praise be to ye, because that sounds wrong.

It's a frequently-used allusion in headlines for stories about the Potter phenomenon... in fact, I came across two today after I posted.

[Jazzmoose]

Ghost of Miles said:

I'll spare you a wild-about-Harry title

Praise be to ye, because that sounds wrong.

It's a frequently-used allusion in headlines for stories about the Potter phenomenon... in fact, I came across two today after I posted.

As long as it's the version sung by Bugs Bunny, I see nothing wrong with it...

[BERIGAN]

Never read any of the books, too long! My Mom loves them though B) In fact, Friday night/Saturday Morn, my best friend and I hit Books a Million and Barnes and Noble to hang out at a Bookstore in the AM, and to get my Mom a copy, no mean feet, in fact, left Books a Million to try to get a copy at B&N, and got one, after the lines died down....at 2 AM! Weird to see all these little Kids dressed up after midnight, but it is great to see kids(And AARP members like my Mom) excited about a book, and even better to be a former bookstore employee when it happened!

[Parkertown]

Did you guys catch what Jimmy Fallon had to say about this on SNL's Weekend Update a few weeks ago?

05.10.03

"The fifth Harry Potter book, which goes on sale in July, will have a record printing of 8.5 million copies. Which explains why the sixth book is being called Harry Potter and the End of Trees."

Jimmy Fallon on SNL

[Jim Alfredson]

Did you guys catch what Jimmy Fallon had to say about this on SNL's Weekend Update a few weeks ago?

05.10.03

"The fifth Harry Potter book, which goes on sale in July, will have a record printing of 8.5 million copies. Which explains why the sixth book is being called Harry Potter and the End of Trees."

Jimmy Fallon on SNL

 

HAHAH! LOL!

That's funny... you gotta love Fallon.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

SPOILERS!!

SPOILERS!!

Man, I just finished the 6th book. Rowling is simply fantastic. She does not come close to creating "me too" mamby-pamby children's stories. She reels the reader in by writing a very believable story. She will kill off a main character because the possibility of that happening is always at the forefront of the story: everyone is in the line of fire.

So she really caught me off guard when she had Harry's god father Sirius Black get killed off in book 5. Now, she exploded the whole Potter world in book 6! Dumbledore dead? But he's the "only one" who Voldemort is afraid of! Close Hogwarts? Well, according to Harry at the end of the book, even if they reopen it, he won't be coming back. What will the next book say? It's not like they can label it "Year 7"... not if Harry keeps his word and doesn't come back.

What's going to happen with this series? Will it end with Voldemort killing Harry? Rowling really has everyone guessing. Her story is totally unpredictable.

I am so looking forward to the next book!

BTW, some thoughts I had while reading this latest one.

I think Dumbledore knew he was dying already by the time Snape arrived to finish him off. By the way Dumbledore talked to Snape there, I got the feeling that Dumbledore was giving Snape the order to finish him off. I expect that somehow Harry & Snape will meet where Snape will tell him as much, even it is on Snape's dying breath.

I don't think for a minute the Hogwarts will close. I also don't think that Harry will stay away. I am guessing that something happens over the summer that convinces Harry that the best way for him to find the remaining horcruxes is to finish school. This will also give him, Ron & Hermoine the chance to find out who R.A.B. is.

I thought for sure that Fawlkes the phoenix was going to fly into the infirmary and drip a few tears into Bill's werewolf wounds. I think it would have made that scene better than it was with that sappy stuff with Fleur & Mrs. Weasley. The way this one went, I'm seeing Fleur and Bill in divorce court in a couple of years, tops.

Next book, I'm betting that Ron and/or Hermione gets whacked. Rowling seems to delight in whacking main characters and with each of the last 4 books, she's moved up the food chain from non-characters (no name "muggles") to minor characters (Cedric Diggory), to lesser main characters (Sirius Black) and now to full-blown main characters (Dumbledore). I'm betting that the next one is Ron. Of course, my bets don't mean anything... Rowling really has me guessing.

Anyway, I just love these books. I was so happy when I was at the store last week and I saw all those kids lined up by the hundreds to buy a book. A book! Anything that gets kids to read is good in my mind.

Bye Dumbledore... you were a great character.

Kevin

[kh1958]

I finished the book on Saturday, and the series continues in excellent form. While the hype is out of hand, this is one of those very rare instances when it is deserved. I suspect it's going to be a very long wait for book 7.