Was this just extremely bad or was harry potter actually always

HP was ok. It's YA so you can't expect much.

>>8617193

Bit of both, first three books had some legit charm to them then JK decide to focus more on the brand rather than try and make something decent. Worst part is how Slytherin aren't even redeemed a little until the last two books and that's after JK Rowling became incredibly rich.

Nah son, this is basically fanfic

>>8617193
It was always that bad by adult standards. You just grew up.

No, the Harry Potter series was decent. This was an abomination. Pretty sure Jack Thorne slapped it together based only on watching trailers for the shitty films and JK Rowling didn't read it before slapping her endorsement on it

>>8617200
Worst part is how Slytherin aren't even redeemed a little until the last two books and that's after JK Rowling became incredibly rich.

Why is that bad exactly? Why would Slytherin having been "redeemed" earlier made the narrative better? Just curious.

>>8617193
I said it before and will say it again: HP was good before Rowling stopped writing HP books and started writing HP movies.

I only read a summary of the plot of Cursed Child, though, and can say it's completely retarded.

>>8617251
Not him, but Slytherin are pretty much boogeymen. There isn't much of a human element to them. That said, they're better than ravenclaw, which seems to be the "mysterious and slightly edgy but not evil" house.

>>8617193
The Harry Potter series will forever be my favorite books. Part of that is from nostalgia and the other part is learning more and more about where Rowling got her inspiration and the world building of her universe itself.

That being said, The Cursed Child is the one of the worst books I have ever read. It was a mistake. And that's coming from someone who got their copy at 12AM on release day.

>>8617674
>Part of that is from nostalgia and the other part is learning more and more about where Rowling got her inspiration and the world building of her universe itself.
talk a bit about this please

>>8617193
Yes

>>8617193
harry potter was a very good book for kids from 8 to 15. cursed child was extremely bad.

>>8617203
James Potter and the Hall of Elders' Crossing is a fanfic and its better than this

>>8617251
>>8617626
I think the heroes attitude underlines the Britishness of the whole thing and how brits are often ok unheroic outlooks and general imperfection

>>8617674
>That being said, The Cursed Child is the one of the worst books I have ever read. It was a mistake. And that's coming from someone who got their copy at 12AM on release day.
What did you rate it on goodreads?

>>8617193

>Philosopher's Stone
It aged the worst. I'm not surprised that Harold Bloom dismissed the entire series based on this, it has less content in it for adults than any of the other books.
>Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, Goblet of Fire
Three of the best children's/YA books ever.
>Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince, Deathly Hallows
There's stuff I like about these last books like getting to see Voldemort's past and the dark backstory for Dumbledore, but there's also stuff I don't like, such as Harry's angst in OotP, the romance drama in HBP, and the fact that Deathly Hallows felt rushed as fuck.
>Cursed Child
Haven't read it, but it sounds like horrible fan fiction.

It's garbage through and through

>>8617193
The first books were cliche and mediocre, this is also incoherent.

>>8617193
No, this is far worse than the main HP series. I think it may be better if seen as a play, where its more an experience than a plot. But reading the book as is, the only thing there is plot, which is embarrassingly bad

This was shit, but it's worth remembering that it was not written by Rowling. Her name's on the cover, but that's meaningless: it's horrible fanfiction. She had virtually nothing to do with that craptastic script.

>>8617911
See, it's posts like this that make me wonder.

When I read HP as a kid, I just didn't give a shit about critiquing the story. I was along for the ride, and it was a good ride. That was all I cared about.
I think that applies to YA, anime, even most genre fiction. The enjoyment in the end is the point, so if you're enjoying the story you're not worried about how things get bumpy.

Or at least I wasn't. To me it was just 'this is what happened to harry' and not 'this is what's written, I don't think it's good'.

Take something like Keijo!!!!!! this season. Totally ridiculous, but lots of technical skill involved. So while HP may not be technically impressive, I don't think anyone ever says that. It's always "I loved them", whats wrong with that?
Well, unless you're discussing if they are technically good, and I've never seen anyone say it's good just that people love it.

I think the major strength of the books was that it was just a guy in a world that was slowly lead towards uncovering a mystery by the end of the book. That formula and the little details of the world were pretty much the entire worth of the story in my mind.

>>8617193
HP peaked at volume three and got worse and worse as it went on.

>>8619984

>>8619984

Uh, why would you not critique the story? I tried reading the first Twilight book once and did not find it enjoyable at all and ended up not finishing it. I had a lot of fun reading Harry Potter and enjoyed the series overall but had a few problems with it. I'm not criticizing any of these books because they're not Ulysses, I'm criticizing purely on my own subjective level of "did I enjoy this as entertainment and could this thing have done a better job at entertaining me." I don't understand why a person seeking entertainment would not at least make distinctions between "Star Wars prequels bad, Force Awakens good."

>>8617193
i couldnt make it past 1 page of that shit, but im very particular about my writing styles.

doesn't help that the book i read directly before this was swann's way

She can't write.

Bloom was right

>>8617251
Slytherin are portrayed as 100% evil, there is never any scene that humanizes any of them, at least for the first 5 books

at best, they're portrayed as neutral, but those are characters who pretty much have no screentime

>>8617193
The first three books are decent to me, the Dursley are okay because you don't have to face their antics too often, the villains (Quirrell, Tom, Peter) are alright, Draco was kinda idiot but he's part of the bully/buttmonkey, there might be a problem at the end of PoA where nobody thinks of having an agent from the MoM to observe what did Sirius do (through the time turner) but meh, that's fine to me.
It's the 4th book where the plot hole becomes bigger, especially when Rowling introduces veritaserum and imperio curse which makes me wonder why the hell they didn't use these in every trial so Sirius wouldn't have to spend 12 years with dementors, the romance subplot between Harry and Hermione which should have happened and Fudge acting like a retard.
Currently reading Order of the Phoenix (up to chap 10 now) but so far I'm not impressed, the Dursley are annoyed, Harry is a little mo (this might be justified) and Fudge becomes even a bigger retard than the last book.
I just hope nobody will spoil me and Harry will get Hermione in the end.

>>8617849
I don't have a goodreads.
>>8617674
There are several aspects in HP that are carried over from other famous works of literature. This shouldn't be a surprise though, Rowling has a degree in literature.

Just bought the book even tho I heard that it's shit. I just hope it won't shit on everything and go full retard.

>>8620979
You should have stopped after the third book. While the rest of the books have some good parts in them, they're all few and far between.

>>8620979
>>8622923
This is because Harry's story is complete after the third book. He learns to banish fear with the memory of his father. Orphan arc over. The rest is just teen drama and bank.

>>8623892
>>8622923
You guys are weird, and I suspect youthful nostalgia is blinding you. The first three books are awkward kid's stuff, sustained by neat magic-y details and decent characterizations. Goblet of Fire is where the stakes actually get higher, and the full plot starts to unfold, and the rest of the series goes so far beyond the first few books that it's literally painful to try reading them again after you've done all seven. Rowling's writing was far, far better in the later books. For one thing, she learns how to plot better roles for the heroes: in books 1-3 all Harry and his friends have to do is go to fucking class and not get involved, and everything would have been fine. They cause all the problems they solve (and some they don't), and even in later books, that's a problem at times. Fortunately Rowling eventually got better at plot structure in the later Potter books, and finally manages to make the kids' actions useful. In most of the books, the plot is structured so that the kids just not doing anything unauthorized (and concentrating on their studies) would have ended the problem. Think about it:
Book 1: Imagine the kids don't think all adults are morons and they have to save everyone. Voldemort wants the Stone, but can't take it from the mirror, because there's no selfless kid next to him who almost killed himself getting there to help. Dumbledore returns, kicks Voldemort around.
Book 2: Imagine Harry and the others can shut up when goaded. In Flourish and Blotts, the kids and Weasleys avoid the Malfoys, have no confrontation, Riddle's diary isn't slipped into Ginny's books by Lucius, so she never opens the Chamber of Secrets. The diary being destroyed turns out to be useful, but we don't find that out until several books later.
Book 3: Where to start? Buckbeak dies. Black dies a bit early. Nobody cares.
Book 4: What if Harry just doesn't try? Screw the Cup's "binding magic": nobody can make him actually try to win. He throws the fight, is never near the Cup, doesn't fight Voldemort.
Book 5: Harry stays home from the Ministry. The prophecy is useless anyway, and Black died for nothing.
Book 6: Finally Harry actually is useful, getting the locket, but Dumbledore has to literally paralyze him to prevent him screwing up the last scene.
Book 7: This time the kids are Really Useful Engines!

>>8622859
It does

I still love the Harry Potter books. I just reread the first two earlier this year. The first four books are among my favorite of all time. They have a real charm to them and are just brimming with imagination.

But Cursed Child was a piece of shit. It really was like reading a terrible piece of fanfiction. It was filled with just about every cliche I can think of, including that old time-travel standard, "I think you mean WHEN are we?" I could not have been more disappointed.

>>8619990
It peaked at book 2. Book 3 introduced time travel, which is almost always retarded unless it's the focus of the series. I stopped reading at book 5, which features the Room of The Author Not Even Trying (aka Room of Requirements).