Harry Potter 6 release date announced!

[WorkerCaste]

Sorry, Radhil, the magazine has long since gone to recycliing, and it's not my subscription. As far as the adverb thing goes, college courses I remember and a book on writing by Orson Scott Card all pointed out that pitfall. You can be rambling and include lots of exposition, but adverbs can get in the way. The theory is that it's better to cleanly establish the action and let context provide the supplemental information. An example used by Card is applying adverbs to "s/he said." IIRC, his feeling was that you need the "said" in dialog, but you ought to go minimalistic so as not to detract from the dialog itself. All that's not to say that you shouldn't use adverbs, just that they should sparingly to provide great impact.

[DysfunctionalReality]

I stopped reading that damned series after they killed off ******** in book 5. That was my favorite damned character and when he/she died, so did all my interest : _ /

[Radhil]

When I inevitably re-read the books, I guess I'll pay more attention. That is probably why I didn't notice anything wrong - I love the plot, I love the characters, so the actual form of their delivery kinda gets lost when I get sucked in.

King is a hypnotist with his writing, so I do pay attention to what he says. If you or someone has the article text, I'd be quite appreciative (I found the original from your mention, but it's behind a subscriber wall). Curious that he mentions adverbs though. When he needs to, he's a hell of a rambling sort himself.

[WorkerCaste]

I saw an interesting piece on the 5th Potter book by Stephen King. IIRC, it was his opinion that JKR is still learning her craft with regard to the actual writing. I believe he used the phrase ônever met an adverb she didnÆt like.ö He felt, though, that she was at the top of her game with regard to character and plot. This kind of parallels my feelings. I devour the books and remain an avid fan because IÆve bought into the character and story. I didnÆt really see the character drift OmahaStar did with the Weasleys, but I wasnÆt excited about the death. It felt gratuitous to me. Maybe it will make more sense in the context of the last two books.

All that being said, I do find the writing style a little tough to wade through at times. IMO a some good editing could go a long ways. It also seems like that is becoming more true as the series progresses. Perhaps her unporecedented success has made her more resistant to editing.

BTW, has anyone listened to the books on audio. Jim Dale has narrated every book so far in an unabridged format. He is a very talented narattor and has created unique ôvoicesö for all the characters. After listening to him, one of the biggest problems I had with the movies was that some of my favorite characters didnÆt sound right!

[OmahaStar]

Originally posted by Radhil
Wow. This is a strangely downward turn.

I want to tear into some of that, Star, but honestly I'm kinda depressed. This is what fans think?

Yes.

It's still better than a lot of stuff out there, but book 5 was a let-down after the excellent 4 books it followed.

Please note - this is my opinion, and obviously you should be free to have your own.

[Radhil]

Wow. This is a strangely downward turn.

I want to tear into some of that, Star, but honestly I'm kinda depressed. This is what fans think?

[OmahaStar]

LightStorm -

I don't trust JKR. She is untried, and does not have history on her side the way JMS does.

She went on record, saying that in book 5, a Very Important Character died, that she broke down and cried when she wrote the scene, and built it up in a huge way.

And then it turned out to be just a minor little character and it was completely overblown ... and then to top it all off, she comes out later and says that character may not be dead after all.

*rolling eyes*

The Weasley thing, too ... She spent 4 books developing the Weasleys (Molly, Ron, Ginny, etc) and then in book 5, the only Weasley who is consistant is Ron. The others are brand new characters using the old character names.

There was a *lot* of "fluff" ... stuff that didn't need to be there, and I wasn't happy with it like I had been with the previous books.

I'm hoping book 6 will get back to the enjoyable reads I found with the first 4 books, without being 30 pounds and almost a thousand pages.

I do know she's said another Very Important Person is going to die in this book, and one of the trio dies in book 7.

We'll see what happens. At this point, I'm thinking it's Madam Hooch.

[Radhil]

She has said on her site - in a FAQ section I believe - that yes, she will be killing off other character(s). When/Where/Who/WhatBook has not been discussed.

As far as the death - I don't quite get the "no purpose" line. You know what he was doing at the time, and it wasn't playing horseshoes. Did it feel right? No, but that's probably why it was right. That he hadn't fufilled his potential yet was why it was the greatest tragedy. There could have been progress to his story, his character. Not everything gets to be a nice'n'tidy character arc though. Death is inconvenient like that.

That death hit me probably the hardest of all the stories I've read/seen. For precisely those reasons.

That was ultimately the point of his death. At any time in this - anyone's number can be up.

As far as the story grinding to a standstill - I certainly didn't notice it. Unless you didn't find certain threads of it interesting, I can't explain it.

To ZHD: Yeah, that's him. I even have one of his books (Power of Myth?) floating around here, and I've never properly read it. That's why I was curious - I ran a search on Journey expecting a book and had a kinda do-I-know-that-or-don't-I fuzzy memory moment.

[DGTWoodward]

Re: Harry Potter 6 release date announced!

Originally posted by OmahaStar
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will be released worldwide at midnight on 07/16/2005 (late Thursday/early Friday).

You're welcome.

Hello OS,

WHere have you been?

Can I pick your Potter brain? Did the last book grab like the previous ones did? JKR announced that someone important would die and I was very excited about it. When it actually happened i felt very let down. The death seemed to serve no purpose and happened to a charecter that had actually not yet come to their full potential (trying hard to avoid the need for a spoiler alert here!). This prompted me to read it again. The flaws were more obvious this time round.

I don't really know what was going on in JKR's life at the time of her writing it but I felt that somewhere along the line, she lost the 'footprint' of the story. I think that this is why the story grinds to an almost total standstill, and does not get moving again for almost 250 pages! This is a shocking failure on the part of her editor who should have told her to cut 200ish pages from the middle of the book. The eventual death is silly and abiguous to say the least.

Now, as I understand it, she has announced another death in the next book?

What was your opinion? Anything like mine? Nothing like mine? Share, share, share!!!!

[Dr Maturin]

<<Er..., Hero's Journey, Campbell reference? Or am I confuzzed?>>

I think that's his name. You take Luke Skywalker, Harry Potter, and Frodo Baggins...all the same character. Young boys who dream of something bigger, more exciting. They have a mentor, they learn some kind of magic, they go on a quest, their mentor dies. Sometimes the analogy can be almost identical. Think of when Gandalf is fighting off the monster at Khazad-Dum (sp?) and he falls. What does Frodo yell? What does Luke yell when Obi-Wan gives his life in ANH?

Campbell believes that the Hero's Journey is somehow embedded in our minds; that it's natural to tell that story over and over again.

Interesting stuff.

"Amazon.com

Originally written by Campbell in the '40s-- in his pre-Bill Moyers days -- and famous as George Lucas' inspiration for "Star Wars," this book will likewise inspire any writer or reader in its well considered assertion that while all stories have already been told, this is *not* a bad thing, since the *retelling* is still necessary. And while our own life's journey must always be ended alone, the travel is undertaken in the company not only of immediate loved ones and primal passion, but of the heroes and heroines -- and myth-cycles -- that have preceded us."

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0691017840/qid=1103671603/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/102-1494881-9857716?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

And...

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005MEVQ/qid=1103671603/sr=8-2/ref=pd_csp_2/102-1494881-9857716?v=glance&s=dvd&n=507846

[Capt.Montoya]

B5 takes over Hogwarts!

Bruce Boxleitner as Harry, Pat Tallman as Hermione, Jeff Conaway as Ron, Peter Jurasik as Hagrid, Mira Furlan as McGoniggle, Kosh/Lorien as Dumbledore...
Ed Wasser as that blonde kid that hates Harry...

[DGTWoodward]

Originally posted by Bloodshot
Oh gads...

... starring Freddy Prinze Jr. as Harry, Jessica Simpson as Hermione, Collin Farrel as Ron, Danny DeVito as Hagrid...

... think I'll stop now. I'm scaring myself.

Now there's an idea....

Arnold Schwartznegger (sp?) as Harry, Paris Hilton as Hermione, Harry Belafonte as Ron, Elton John as Hagrid, George W Bush as Dumbledore... It just goes on!

[Radhil]

I am no too big on Potter. I didn't like the first film too much and the books that I have flipped through just didn't do it for me. I don't care for Rowling's writing style. But they will be suggested to my kids. The Hero's Journey is a story every kid should read.

The film was a recital of the book, and recitals are never very exciting. I compare it to Star Wars EpI. Very pretty, only British.

If you don't like the books... *shrug* eh, not much to say there. I think you're missing out, but that's me.

Er..., Hero's Journey, Campbell reference? Or am I confuzzed?

[AaronB]

At the risk of another war starting, I couldn't care less about a actor's political leanings.

[Dr Maturin]

Did you guys know that Prinze Jr. is a Republican?

I am no too big on Potter. I didn't like the first film too much and the books that I have flipped through just didn't do it for me. I don't care for Rowling's writing style. But they will be suggested to my kids. The Hero's Journey is a story every kid should read.