The world divides between those who think Harry Potter rubbish, and those who love it. In fact, this could be further split, into those who feel this way about the books, and those who feel this way about the movies, or both. I personally find the books beneath contempt, amazing only in terms of their unprecedented cultural success, which renders them worthy of study if not approval; and the movies a dull second. It is good to see this series come to a close, as lifeless, draggy and ponderous as ever. As one critic put it, it is just one damn thing after another. The struggle between good and evil has never been more long-winded and lacking in dynamism. It is a sign of the weak-minded times that a whole generation grew up on this twaddle, when, for instance, previous generations had Tolkien, Lewis, and Frank Herbert, to enjoy.
THAT HANDSOME MAN A PERSONAL BRIEF REVIEW BY TODD SWIFT I could lie and claim Larkin, Yeats , or Dylan Thomas most excited me as a young poet, or even Pound or FT Prince - but the truth be told, it was Thom Gunn I first and most loved when I was young. Precisely, I fell in love with his first two collections, written under a formalist, Elizabethan ( Fulke Greville mainly), Yvor Winters triad of influences - uniquely fused with an interest in homerotica, pop culture ( Brando, Elvis , motorcycles). His best poem 'On The Move' is oddly presented here without the quote that began it usually - Man, you gotta go - which I loved. Gunn was - and remains - so thrilling, to me at least, because so odd. His elegance, poise, and intelligence is all about display, about surface - but the surface of a panther, who ripples with strength beneath the skin. With Gunn, you dressed to have sex. Or so I thought. Because I was queer (I maintain the right to lay claim to that
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J.K. Rowling is the first writer in human history to become a dollar billionaire through her literary endeavours so she must have been doing something right. (Think of all the publishers who turned her down!) I never read the books myself but I did buy copies for my nephew and niece.
Best wishes from Simon
thanks for sharing
martine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMjrXRgu8IU
Her handling of plot is far superior to Pullman's; for example, in Pullman's third book, during intense action passages, the narrative has to stop several times for things to be explained. When things are exciting, Rowling never has to explain anything, because she has already explained all the spells necessary in the action scenes earlier in the book. And she does so without anything having the slightest air of being "set up" for use later; the explanations of things are so fully incorporated into the plot that they never seem like foreshadowing. Top-flight handling of plot, that.
With age I come to understand how most of the time mediocrity rises to the top.