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It seemed to be that way with Harry Potter just when after it had started to get big. Tim Send a noteboard - 29/07/2010 09:44:53 AM
All the time I would hear people talking dismissively about Harry Potter, and patronisingly about anyone over the age of 12 who liked the books. Some of them had one good thing to say, which was "At least she's getting kids reading", but that was all, and it was always with the subtext "...but it would be much better if they read something decent. What a shame that in these illiterate days it takes something so infantile to get children reading anything".

I would always ask these people if they'd read Harry Potter, and the answer was invariably "Hell no, you'd never catch me reading such drivel". It astounded me that so many people didn't think they needed to read a book to have an opinion on it. It was just fashionable to show how élitist you were by disdaining the latest thing to become popular.

Sometimes I despair of humanity...
Vigilantibus non dormientibus jura subveniunt.

—Nous disons en allemand : le guerre, le mort, le lune, alors que 'soleil' et 'amour' sont du sexe féminin : la soleil, la amour. La vie est neutre.

—La vie ? Neutre ? C'est très joli, et surtout très logique.
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Tolkien as a sacred cow of fantasy - 28/07/2010 10:02:39 PM 1647 Views
Nonsense, at least in part - 28/07/2010 10:19:19 PM 1213 Views
I know there is a polite difference of opinion here - 28/07/2010 10:40:42 PM 1024 Views
So we should judge the Iliad against modren fantasy novels? - 29/07/2010 12:04:32 PM 1052 Views
i agree, and furthermore... - 29/07/2010 08:46:07 PM 1125 Views
Re: I know there is a polite difference of opinion here - 29/07/2010 08:44:24 PM 1056 Views
Mno - 30/07/2010 09:07:18 AM 1135 Views
Have to agree. - 28/07/2010 11:38:37 PM 1117 Views
It seemed to be that way with Harry Potter just when after it had started to get big. - 29/07/2010 09:44:53 AM 941 Views
*cough* Twilight *cough* - 29/07/2010 10:15:13 AM 976 Views
I was gonna mention that one too. - 29/07/2010 10:35:17 AM 1051 Views
Mmm. I read an interesting article actually... - 29/07/2010 08:24:04 PM 872 Views
That's a fair point, I guess... - 29/07/2010 09:18:13 PM 1082 Views
It's hardly tacit. I'm glad I've never read the things. - 30/07/2010 09:38:33 AM 1069 Views
Fair enough. - 30/07/2010 10:03:07 AM 1071 Views
Also: the writing is crap. - 29/07/2010 01:04:12 PM 1015 Views
but plenty of us hate it after reading *NM* - 29/07/2010 08:24:35 PM 454 Views
How much do you have to read to form an opinion? - 29/07/2010 12:23:28 PM 1029 Views
To the end - 29/07/2010 12:59:25 PM 901 Views
my reading time is too scarce to think that way - 29/07/2010 01:21:26 PM 1106 Views
I agree, but HP is a good example of something you should keep reading - 29/07/2010 08:27:20 PM 1079 Views
and I will - 29/07/2010 09:13:03 PM 807 Views
that's fair enough then - 29/07/2010 10:43:57 PM 875 Views
so I hear - 29/07/2010 11:13:09 PM 836 Views
Re: To the end - 29/07/2010 08:49:06 PM 947 Views
Re: To the end - 29/07/2010 10:34:44 PM 862 Views
Re: How much do you have to read to form an opinion? - 29/07/2010 01:49:21 PM 1051 Views
The books mature as Harry does. You should really give it another shot *NM* - 29/07/2010 03:00:37 PM 539 Views
He doesn't want to, so why should he? It's not like you or he is losing anything now - 29/07/2010 06:15:58 PM 893 Views
It is a case of the "someone is wrong on the internet" thing, only much older - 29/07/2010 06:27:07 PM 852 Views
well you have not failed completely - 29/07/2010 06:50:15 PM 849 Views
Re: well you have not failed completely - 29/07/2010 06:53:38 PM 896 Views
one quick question - 29/07/2010 07:38:00 PM 937 Views
Re: one quick question - 29/07/2010 07:42:27 PM 971 Views
well I am not a big enough hypocrite to look down on verbosity - 29/07/2010 08:30:56 PM 882 Views
I have a new essay I want you to read - 29/07/2010 07:44:40 PM 998 Views
Re: I have a new essay I want you to read - 29/07/2010 10:42:05 PM 964 Views
how many books do I have to read to get to the grown up books? - 29/07/2010 06:42:37 PM 878 Views
Book 3 is the beginning of the adult ones, imo. - 29/07/2010 06:44:07 PM 971 Views
Agreed, although, - 29/07/2010 06:54:14 PM 942 Views
They're all "light reading" for adults, geared towards YA readers. - 29/07/2010 08:29:01 PM 855 Views
Re: It seemed to be that way with Harry Potter just when after it had started to get big. - 29/07/2010 08:45:58 PM 988 Views
it's not supposed to be on par with adult fantasy. - 29/07/2010 08:49:16 PM 971 Views
I'd argue it's better than Jordan and others from a literary standpoint. - 29/07/2010 09:14:07 PM 926 Views
I have always thought Jordan had some interesting themes but they were often ignored... - 29/07/2010 09:27:12 PM 1070 Views
lol. it's hard to fail with such low preliminary standards *NM* - 29/07/2010 10:46:07 PM 473 Views
good points, i bow to your wisdom - 29/07/2010 10:45:29 PM 858 Views
Oh, agreed. - 30/07/2010 09:05:17 AM 995 Views
Incidentall - 28/07/2010 10:39:52 PM 961 Views
Ha! - 28/07/2010 10:41:41 PM 1081 Views
Re: Ha! - 28/07/2010 10:45:38 PM 963 Views
Ah - 28/07/2010 10:49:22 PM 1029 Views
I agree Tolkien should not be a sacred cow or put on a pedestal overmuch. - 28/07/2010 11:10:37 PM 1041 Views
I can see your points there - 28/07/2010 11:18:59 PM 941 Views
I grow weary of people refusing to view LotR in context. - 28/07/2010 11:14:07 PM 986 Views
all art forms have sacred cows - 29/07/2010 01:38:26 AM 1058 Views
Yeah, it was the line about women waiting at home while their men went to war that made me laugh. - 29/07/2010 06:44:34 PM 947 Views
women deserve black lung too!! - 29/07/2010 08:35:17 PM 842 Views
nah the smart ones do like my grandmother did - 29/07/2010 09:15:14 PM 914 Views
All Tolkien-haters are morons. - 29/07/2010 03:30:27 AM 1206 Views
Disappointing. - 29/07/2010 04:41:34 AM 1009 Views
Re: Disappointing. - 29/07/2010 09:19:25 AM 941 Views
Probably in the sense... - 29/07/2010 02:57:47 PM 899 Views
Perhaps more of 'a complication' to good discussion. - 29/07/2010 08:28:59 PM 852 Views
agreed. *NM* - 29/07/2010 08:32:36 PM 460 Views
I think you are ignoring the key fact that the Silmarillion was never published by Tolkien. - 30/07/2010 01:48:14 PM 1253 Views
The Silmarillion was actually one of Tolkien's first works - 30/07/2010 06:12:31 PM 1332 Views
No it wasn't. - 30/07/2010 06:37:19 PM 981 Views
Re: Tolkien as a sacred cow of fantasy - 29/07/2010 08:42:04 PM 1000 Views
I find the Tolkien lovers to be obnoxious in their never ending masturbatory praise of his works. - 30/07/2010 06:09:42 AM 1011 Views
This. *NM* - 30/07/2010 07:43:24 PM 1093 Views

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