Thread: Is Harry Potter Literature?

Originally Posted by Truth-Teller

He slammed the work down in front of me and pointed at the obvious error in my hypothesis. "Its not like that, its like this."

Before I could reply he was off, tearing a strip off the next student.

This is a jarring sentence, clumsy and lifeless. It would read smoother if it was written like this:

"Do you ever check your work?" he asked, handing back a paper full of red marks.

Know what would be smoother? An empty page.

Originally Posted by Mishki

I wasn't aware that "description" is the same thing as "flowery prose." James Joyce might have had something to say about that.

So would Lovecraft and Eliot. And Yeats.

Ignore Truth-Teller, he's retarded.

Originally Posted by lin

Agree completely. People get really messed up on stuff like this.

Is Peter Pan a children's book? Oh, yeah? Have you read it? Not the books based on Disney movies, I mean the original book. With all the psychological stuff about Hook and how he admires/resents Smee from their association at public school? Etc.

Drawing lines like that just hems in your world.

I finally read Peter Pan. Holy crap you're right, that's heavy.

Aside from the fact that yeah, whoever made this thread is foetid sausage, why resurrect a thread that's last post was more than a year ago? Why even do that? Just why? Why you gotta be like that? Why you gotta player-hate on me? Don't hate the player, hate the game.

let me play you a diddy, for in the wee hours of the morning, my brain goes to shiddy

why resurrect a thread that's last post was more than a year ago?

Why NOT? It's either still a valid topic (and of possible interest to new members) or it will fade away again.
So why get your lace undies in a twist over it, is the real question

Maybe because I like the way it feels when my lace undies get in a twist.

Any fetid sausage around here, you brung it, pal.

Well now that we've officially reached the "pal" stage in our relationship, I think some brutal honesty that only a friend can give is in order. You suck. heh just jokin man, i'm not the most serious of people

It's okay to suck. Just not swallow.

Harry Potter is a fricking classic. Its universal. Its relevant to both young and old. I love them, they actually helped me through a lot. They tackle complex, emotional issues without being sappy and un-original. They are chock a block with ideas and myths, legends and things JK has come up with herself. Shes a genius!
Long live the queen.
And dont be so condescending and high and mighty. When the classics first came out (Shakespeare,hello?) people scoffed at them, burned them....and most importantly, popular. Dont tell me something that has struck a chord with millions of diverse people isnt literature. Dont even tell me its not CLASSIC. It is!!!!

TOLD.

No more than Britney Spears is music.

Before I get flamed by Potter fans, I want to say that I have no problem with Harry Potter. In fact, it can be entertaining, has its moments of greatness, and is perfect for its target audience.

But to call it literature, putting it on the same league as Hemingway, Poe, etc., is a little ridiculous.

I found the books entertaining. In fact, I found a few of them more entertaining than most of what Hemingway wrote (Just my own personal opinion; Don't be offended by it). Poe is pretty fascinating, though. As for what constitutes literature...the story was good enough to keep me reading, so I'll do JK a solid and just say that it's literature haha.

Actually, Britney Spears IS music. That's what she does, sings, makes music. She just make music of the kind, apparently, that you like.

If there is a line between fiction and literature, I would love to see somebody describe it.

Why define literature? It only limits it. Now trying to decipher good literature from bad literature -- that's a different story, and unfortunately, heavily based on opinion.

But to call it literature, putting it on the same league as Hemingway, Poe, etc., is a little ridiculous.

That's just the nature of any art/media form. It's insulting to list the Spice Girls' Movie with Gone with the Wind, but they're both films. Beethoven and Hannah Montana are both music. Perfect Strangers and Six Feet Under are both TV.