Writer's Block: Birthday Shout-out

[erastes]

[Error: unknown template qotd]As those of you who follow this blog, I was entirely disenfranchised from the ... um... franchise after book four which was nonsensical, and although read five six and seven I saw it plummet into ghastliness.  Book Three (Prisoner of Azkaban) was the little nugget of the series.  Putting slash entirely to one side for a moment (because I hadn't heard of slash and fanfiction when I read the first 3 books) the saga built nicely from humble beginnings, and by book three had its most promise, with the introduction of Sirius as it became obviously a more layered and complicated world than the first two books had shown.

However it all went downhill from there.  Although PoA is the best of the series, I'd actually not even be able to say it was NOW the most satisfying - because now it's the one with the most potential lost.

Comments

[zagzagael.livejournal.com]

Mmmm-hmmmm....I remember those heady days, six or so years ago, in the HPVerse. We really had a helluva lot of fun. Sigh. I never did think she could...write with a capital Literature, but she certainly could write in volume and she has the golden gift of character....but what the hell happened to her arcing????? Yipes!

Of course, part of the issue...was with what she was attempting. Writing YA, having it become adult-oriented, and trying to rectify all of that. I wish Scholastic would just admit that her sales were mainly to adults...

[erastes.livejournal.com]

no, definitely not Literature - in fact, my mother, who let me read anything, literally anything when I was a child - wouldn't let me read Enid Blyton (not because of any racism issue as it hadn't raised it head back then) but because, as a teacher, she didn't consider her a good enough writer for me to read. (I did though, in secret) - and she said that if JKR had been around back then, she'd have done the same, because she thought the writing was plebian.

However, like Blyton, she could obviously reach kids in some in definable way, and that's - imo - what she should have continued to do, rather than trying to do some great morality morass.

[lusiology.livejournal.com]

PoA is my favourite. I loathe GoF and OoTP, but quite enjoyed HBP. I still haven't read DH, even though I bought it.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I think the HBP was my favourite of the last four books, simply because of the snippets of Snape's life that it showed. But i'd advise not to read DH, it's just camping, passive Harry and Messiah complexes!

[semioticwarrior.livejournal.com]

I thought the fourth one was the best written, the most mature, and it broke the mold set by the first three.

After that, though, the quality just went through the floor. I seriously thought that six had been written by a lucky, but not very talented, fanficcer chosen by lottery. I haven't read the last one yet.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

It was a feeling that I felt more and more as the series continued, it seemed that it WAS being written by someone else, there seemed no other reason that I could see for the complete changes in characterisation!

[taylorbooks.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I've always felt the same way about The Prisoner of Azkaban. (Though only the first two films were any good.) It was absolutely the best in the series but you are the first person I've seen say that!

[suryaofvulcan.livejournal.com]

In retrospect, the first one. Reading it for the first time was magical, in more than just the obvious way. The world and the characters were all shiny and new and exciting, and certainly in that book I felt she didn't talk down to her readers (if she was aiming at kids the same age as Harry) or dumb down on account of them.

I'd like to say never has a series promised so much yet delivered so little, but sadly I felt the same way about Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials.