I was in a literature class and, as usual, the class were comparing things to Harry Potter.
People in my classes are no longer collectively familiar with mythology or the bible. The only thing *every* single person is familiar with, so much so that it acts as a technical language for literature discussion, is Harry Potter.
And it dawned on me: this is the new canon. I may not like it, but that's how it is.
So which editions should I buy?
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In order to fully understand Harry Potter, you have to master Anglo mythology. In other words, start with the Greeks.
>stories from English 130
:O I am shocked OP!
But I am reading Harry Potter 1 right now because a related revelation. Everyone my age knows it, and for someone into books, it's a easy bridge to build so that I can talk with normies better.
I have still witnessed in classes I've attended basic understandings of the Christian Bible and Greek Mythology. It has not died out. However, Harry Potter references are annoyingly common, and it would seem increasingly so. I have not even read any of the books, nor seen any of the movies.
They're not bad, just very popular. Pleasant kids books, some of the movies are fun fantasy films.
Someone post the meme image with the Logico - Tractatus - Philosophicus
HP is a good series
If it becomes a substitute for exploring any prior literature then that is definitely something to lament
Now that I think about it, I've not once heard HP be referenced ever since I stepped foot on campus. I've had two english courses, too. I'm a sophomore and American.
Maybe stop going to such shitty schools?
>implying a good school will make a kid like reading
This franchise is responsible for stunting my generation both intellectually and emotionally. Every person I've met who's read them (and especially those who are fond of them) has been irredeemably shallow, amd I really think these books are to blame.
But if you can read them and come out not shallow, then the cause must be something else.
I 've never bothered reading them, and I dont plan on taking the risk, but I will concede that it is silly to place all of the blame om some children's novels no matter how popular they are. The question is if these books and the popularity they've achieved are merely a symptom of a socially impoverished age or if they've actively contributed to it. I think its both.
Greek =/= Anglo
Your wish is my command.
Why don't you stretch your legs and go to the book store.
thanks for a helping hand
...
>image
Whomst'd've made this?xD
>This franchise is responsible for stunting my generation both intellectually and emotionally
>The question is if these books and the popularity they've achieved are merely a symptom of a socially impoverished age or if they've actively contributed to it.
I don't think they're causing anything. Their main departure from previous fantasy/children's books is in their portrayal and embrace of the modern bureaucratic/managerial state. Harry doesn't want to claim his rightful throne or take his place at a "round table"; he wants to become an FBI agent, even if his character contains vestiges of the "rightful heir". The legitimate authorities in Harry Potter are mostly academics and government bureaucrats. The bad guys are racist reactionaries.
All of this is clearly unexamined on Rowling's part, by the way, except for the anti-racism. But I think this is what speaks to young people in Harry Potter. If Harry Potter is shallow, it's only because the managerial society is shallow, and that's neither Harry Potter's fault nor something that a child could avoid by not reading HP.
The people in your class are no longer familiar with mythology? When did they forget?
Whost’d’ve hoobastanked up this brilliant thread with subject/object confusion?
This is fantastic. I can't believe I haven't seen it before.
For kids and teens who have just started reading they're good choices. I have a friend who recently told me he wanted to get back into reading so I told him that I feel Harry Potter is a good entry point for easy fun. I don't think I'm too wrong.
How can I most quickly learn this story? Don't think I could manage all of the movies.
I'm generally familiar with the entire story, despite not having read any of the books and only seeing the first couple movies as a child.
I purposely pretend to not know anything about it when discussing books to discourage it from gaining too much traction. With this and other genre fiction, I just give them a slightly puzzled look, then try to talk about some other books, or leave them alone. It works very well.
Read them. They're fast and enjoyable reads.
4000 pages?
You'd be surprised.
Except the ancient Greeks didn't have a distinction between mass appeal works and 1000-page avant garde nonlinear postmodern masterpiece (no, that's not what The Odyssey would have been considered as).
We live in a world where Harry Potter and Stephen King are going to be remembered for centuries, but that doesn't mean that academics are going to forget about Pynchon.
The best case scenario is that the two categories merge like DFW wanted them to.
Isn’t the idea of them merging somewhat paradoxical? The reason HP is as popular as it is is that it requires little critical thinking and is easily absorbed, whereas the appeal of Pynchon is his complexity in a sense. A story about wizards written in POMO fashion would never be adopted at the scale of HP because it still contains the main deterrent: a required effort on part of the reader.
Of course I’m not implying that pychnon or POMO style is the only literary direction to contrast HP, it’s just what I used for this example.
The New Western Canon? Doubtful.The writing is dreadful; all the books are terrible. As I read, I noticed that every time a character went for a walk, the author wrote instead that the character "stretched his legs."
I began marking on the back of an envelope every time that phrase was repeated. I stopped only after I had marked the envelope several dozen times. I was incredulous. Rowling's mind is so governed by cliches and dead metaphors that she has no other style of writing. Later I read a lavish, loving review of Harry Potter by the same Stephen King. He wrote something to the effect of, "If these kids are reading Harry Potter at 11 or 12, then when they get older they will go on to read Stephen King." And he was quite right. He was not being ironic. When you read "Harry Potter" you are, in fact, trained to read Stephen King.
Harry Potter 1
>see harry
>see Harry run
>run Harry run
How can adults read this? It's for ten year olds.
We can read it very easily.
>encouraging an internalised sense of prolonged childishness and acceptance of wasted time and bloated motivation
>easy
Yes, yeessssssss. Why bother?
Is the hobbit + lotr worth reading, or is it hp-tier?
fucking killed me. im ded lads
lololololololololol did u see that snl skit where they had hermione get really big boobs and then pointed out that only plebs like harry potter i think it should be a meme bc hilarious funny internet joek
I had an ex who loved these books with a passion. She was 6 years younger than me, so she picked them when she was a kid and the series had more than just 1 book. She said she used to re-read them all the time, some of the later volumes up to 8 times. I thought she was mad. I had read the first book when I was a teenager when it was the only one out there, and I found it boring and unimaginative.
Urged to develop more common interests with here, and judge the devil with my own eyes, I read through the whole series while I was dating her. They are bad and Harry is a shit hero.
There's some truth to this user's words (), a phenomenon similar to how DnD, Star Wars or Tolkien stunted the literary curiosity of previous generations.
Most people don't bother with any more serious literature after they pick the HP bug. Some reach slightly further and survey entry level stuff like 1984. Sadly they go all fanatical on such books as well.
Back to my exgf, last time I read her Twitter she was quoting Pessoa.
There is hope, though probably a very dim one.
man, you are so much smarter than that dumb cow. you deserve more!!
>Is the hobbit + lotr worth reading
Yes, absolutely.
work it out in private and save us the grief of your posts.
you mean the joek? bc they already worked it out on snl so not anything to work on really but i'll make it into a meme and then it will help you digest your anti-potterehtic
o you wily bastard
wily? odyssey reference? you hear that joek about the moon?
I'll show you a complicated man.
snape?
