I hate when people diss JKR! The books are so amazing! Alot of people won't even look at them because they have a grudge against them.

Well, in a way she's right- the first harry potter book drew on a huge tradition of english boarding school stories, and the theme of magic isn"t exactly new. In terms of ethics, JKR has definatley improved since book one. In book one, the only real moral lesson was that voldemort (clearly defined as evil) kill people (an evil action). It is only in later books that JKR starts writing about people who are niether good nor evil but in between, like all of us. Even in book 5, there is still a group of people (ie Voldemort and select death eaters) who JKR writes off as 'the bad guys,' with no intense moral dillemas.
This isn't to say I"m not a harry potter fan.

Thanks for the info!
We can't really judge her, whatever her opinion is. And by the way, is she popular enough for us to take her opinions too seriously?

I don't care, if that's what she thinks, so be it. Not everybody likes Harry Potter. but i love it!

i agree in some ways with anhaire... but the hp world is original... i mean like tolkein made up an entire world (ok im not sayin shes gone as far as to do wot he did) but she has made an world ... and a believable one... i sometimes forget its not real... its so well thought out and the plot is very complex, .. i mean like she made up a sport, all those spells, people, places, past, there is so much.. its not a flat plot at all....

she took a basic idea and turned it into a truly magical, unique and complex series..

i agree bout the development of characters.. u rarely get completely good people or completely bad people like volde.. but she has so many more realistic and inbetween chars now like snape, etc...

All people have different opinions on things, even though we may not agree with her why should we care?! As long as we know JKr is a good writer than that's all that matters.

Oh, definitely! Ursula Le Guin is a world reknown fantasy author. Quite good, might I add. Her works are known for their originality and character depth.

well i dont care what she thins i dont even know who she is so i dont care the books are so great i hate it when people do that

I don't think that's a good criterion to judge her opinion by. After all, you can't know very many of the 6 billion people in the world. Ordinary people's opinions matter, just as yours does. You and I can love JKR's books, and she can dislike them. All I'm trying to say is that she DID point out the weakest points in JkRs writing style, many of which have greatly improved by book 5.

^ yeh

and plus i know people who don't like them and their reasons can be justified..

she has the right to an opinion and the fact she is a respected fantasy novelist does make her comment somewhat respectable, even if its not what you think.

i personally love the books and think they are brilliantly well written, and jks writing has improved through them all, meaning the last one should be the best

she probably wanted to know why such a massive cult has built up. I mean lots of books are very good but it takes something more for people to literally make millions of fan sites on it and spend loads of their time on it. Its a lucky thing to happen and if u consider that jks books were first turned away. It seems unbelievable now but she had no idea that they would be this successful

I don't think she comes close to being JKR status. Her books arent exactly Original either

I think its because the HP books, like madmiss88 said, just have a world that feels real. I've read more meaningful and better written books, but rarely ones that I can lose myself so thoroughly in. Going back and rereading the series, I think the 3rd, 4th, and 5th books are most like this. When I want to read the best literature, I agree with Le Guin and read something different.

Status? What is status? The quantities of books sold? Then trashy romance novels are better than Moby Dick. If it's the respect of readers, many wonderful authors never acquire that in their lifetimes.

As for originality, I think you'll find her books are original. She's invented languages (i.e. the earthsea books) while JKR drew on latin; she's experimented with non-earthlike settings(i.e. The Dispossed and The Left Hand of Darkness) while JKR has simply slipped wizards into the England she knows.

wow, I don't really have much to add other than that I respect her opinions. I mean, she went through the trouble to read these books, and THEN said that she didn't like them. I feel that that in-of-its-self gives her opinion credability. most people wont even do that, they just throw it away without a backwards glance. this auther has REAL resens for not liking it.

now in defence of myself for 4 years now, I have been in love with the series. and will never lose that love.

i think the person should read all the books before she say anything. :/ :/

She's not the only one that doesn't like Harry Potter. I know alot of people that don't like it. Just like alot of people DO like it. It's just the way it is. Some people like some things, some people like other things. You can't judge them just because they don't like something you do like.
I actually agree with most of what she said.

I think u have to take into account this is the opinion of one person.. though i do find it to be partially right. I mean i knoe my aunt dilikes the books a lot but lyk she's not holding a grudge agains jk.. i mean its what the author writes.. i mean wen u write a fictional book, that obviously doesnt determine who u are.. i think people just state that they dont lyk the book but say they dislyk the author cuz they wrote it.. makes no sense reallii..

i know that its her opinion an all, but did she have to diss someone elses writing in front of the whole world, im just saying, i think its sounds a little "im better that you"

cya!!

Le Guin is entitled to her own opinions, but how can she criticise JK when her own style of writing is rubbish?

Le Guins works I liked alot, she seems to delve alot more into the subject though.

I dont think its fair to diss her work, but maybe Ursala is making a little propaganda.

I thought she was dead? wow lol

some people

Excuse you? At least Le Guin defended her opinions about JKR, and note she also did not say the books were 'rubbish,' she pointed out book one's weak points. If she had made the same sort of criticism you just did (pointless insults) it would have been innapropriate.

At lest she read the books. I know, as well as heard of people, who don't like the book, BUT haven't read them! That's more irritating then anything else. It was because of all of the attention that HP was getting that made me read them. And I can honestly say that I'm not in the least sorry for doing so. Some people will like it and others won't, that's life. *shrug* Weither I ( or you) like it or not.

she's just jealous... -_-

j/k! personally i didn't really enjoy any of her books that i have read...but she entitled to her own opinion. i don't agree with it but, there it is.
couldn't agree more! cuz that makes me angry... >





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