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San Francisco, 2:27 AM
Wed Nov 11
27 posts in the last 24 hours

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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of ♠ Final ♠ ♠ Final ♠
    11/10/09

    In reply to Grossman: Failure Of Imagination > Harry Potter
    This is why I personally stamp relapse and divorce rates at the end of all the self help books at my local B&N. Who needs optimism? You'll never get what you want out of life. Yes, you. #harrypotter
     Reply
    ♠ Final ♠ was starred ♠ Final ♠ was unstarred
    Image of jayntampa jayntampa
    11/10/09

    In reply to Grossman: Failure Of Imagination > Harry Potter
    I love how he puts down an immensely popular book just to sell his own. That's pretty pathetic right there.

    Harry's ideal reward wasn't to be a power-broker, god-like ruler, or anything of the like -- he wanted a normal, happy family life. What's wrong with hard work and sacrifice paying off?

    Considering what real life is like, it takes considerable imagination to be able to envision that future.

    I need to add ... I HATE any time that an author or artist takes time to publicly congratulate their own work. That's for me to decide for myself -- not for them to tell me.
     Reply
    Edited by jayntampa at 11/10/09 8:13 PM jayntampa was starred jayntampa was unstarred
    Image of JennaW JennaW
    11/10/09

    In reply to Grossman: Failure Of Imagination > Harry Potter
    Harry Potter is in many ways a take on WWII. Young people go off to war against an overwhelming enemy with little choice in the matter and with little hope of victory.

    Achieving victory -- and surviving to see that victory -- meant you could go home to family, friends, work, love, and a normal life. For a lot of heroes, that's exactly what they were fighting for.

    The series' ending shows Harry, an orphan brought up without love and whose dearest wish was to have a loving family (as seen in the Mirror of Erised in the first book), as having achieved that dream. He's a happy and loving father, husband, and a successful wizard.

    JKR didn't fail to answer the question; she just answered it in a way you thought was stupid, Mr. Grossman, but such a question is easily applied to any number of Greatest Generation heroes:

    Here's a young man who can fight like hell; he helped defeat the greatest evil of the 20th century when he was 18 (19, 20...). What's the rest of his life look like?

    If he was lucky, it looked a lot like Harry's.

    I wonder: what's a happier ending than a character getting what he's always dreamed of?
     Reply
    Edited by JennaW at 11/10/09 7:32 PM JennaW was starred JennaW was unstarred
    Image of Dr Emilio Lizardo Dr Emilio Lizardo
    11/10/09

    In reply to Grossman: Failure Of Imagination > Harry Potter
    So he's saying that, like any high school jock/hero, he peaked early and it was all down hill after that. #harrypotter
     Reply
    Dr Emilio Lizardo was starred Dr Emilio Lizardo was unstarred
    Image of it must be bunnies it must be bunnies
    11/10/09

    In reply to Grossman: Failure Of Imagination > Harry Potter
    JK Rowling herself had an awful childhood and I think that for her giving Harry a peaceful life in which to raise his own children was the best reward. When your childhood is filled with abuse and fear, you dream of peace and contentment. #harrypotter
     Reply
    it must be bunnies was starred it must be bunnies was unstarred
    Image of Josh Snyder Josh Snyder
    11/10/09

    In reply to Grossman: Failure Of Imagination > Harry Potter
    I think it's a loving dig, if anything. I would love to see different kinds of "happily ever after" more often in young adult fantasy fiction. Any other epilogue might have been incongruous in Harry Potter, but Grossman's point about most fantasy being a terrible guide for dealing with the harsh realities of adult life hits home. #harrypotter
     Reply
    Josh Snyder was starred Josh Snyder was unstarred
    Image of Makidian Makidian
    11/10/09

    In reply to Grossman: Failure Of Imagination > Harry Potter
    I just saw it is Harry being a father and an Auror, didn't read any further into it than that and I didn't need to. The ending was okay, not the best but it worked and if JK Rowling wants to kick start a new, darker and more grown up Harry Potter I would read it, just like I would read the books based on the kids if she wrote them. #harrypotter
     Reply
    Makidian was starred Makidian was unstarred
    Image of bookling bookling
    11/10/09

    In reply to Grossman: Failure Of Imagination > Harry Potter
    Having read The Magicians, I am not at all surprised that Grossman feels this way. The entire book is a bit of a dig at the fantasy genre in general, though I enjoyed it. Some parts were very clever.

    As for the epilogue of HP, how else would it have happened? HP is all about the importance of love, and family. Harry's lack of both these things is what has haunted him his whole life. Unless Harry had died, did anyone really think Harry wouldn't marry Ginny, have some kids, and try to have a big happy Weasley family of his own? That's all he ever wanted. #harrypotter
     Reply
    bookling was starred bookling was unstarred
    Image of FrankenPC FrankenPC
    11/10/09

    In reply to Grossman: Failure Of Imagination > Harry Potter
    I disagree. The ending was destined to be dark. The happy-time fairy tale image was pretty much blown away after the third book. I thought the direction and ending were appropriate. #harrypotter
     Reply
    FrankenPC was starred FrankenPC was unstarred
    Image of TheGreenRanger TheGreenRanger
    11/10/09

    In reply to Grossman: Failure Of Imagination > Harry Potter
    THAT RAT BASTARD! How dare he defile rowlings work! Ahem...cough. That reaction is a bit extreme i'd say, but still, what a twat. Sounds like this guy is jealous that his work isn't even close to providing the level of enjoyment people get from jk. "Astounding failure of imagination"...really gross man? really!? After 7 fantanstic books, after creating a world from the ground up, you are going to call her an epic failure because of a few paragraphs of epilogue? Thats just low. HP was a fantasy world that didn't involve big boobied elves in minimal armor or bulging heroes screaming death to Nar's Gook! I'm sure he would have ended the series with harry just banging a hard bodied witch as she asks him not to leave while he puts on some shades and says 'not now babe, i got a rogue wizard to kill'. In case he hadn't read the books, harry's whole life was full of turmoil. The ending: finally able to live in peace, was the completion of the story. I thought the ending was fitting, but im not a gross man. I'm sure it would make more sense for harry, who spent his whole life fighting v-mort (not to mention losing friends to him) to wish to continue fighting. Or he could want to settle down and live his life without worrying whether his wife will get whacked while out shopping. Personally, i prefer the ending as is. #harrypotter
     Reply
    TheGreenRanger was starred TheGreenRanger was unstarred
    Image of bookwench bookwench
    11/10/09

    In reply to Grossman: Failure Of Imagination > Harry Potter
    I thought, at first glance, that it was a disappointment - that Harry should have ended up replacing Dumbledore or something.

    Then I contemplated how people who have been through horrors in their teens can imagine no better future than normalcy; that perhaps for someone who spent their entire teenage life fighting for freedom and justice and saving the world, being able to create a nice, normal home for their kids might be the absolute pinnacle of their hopes.

    So then I thought, cool.

    And now I think Mr. Grossman has had a failure in perspective. #harrypotter
     Reply
    bookwench was starred bookwench was unstarred
    Image of comics0026 comics0026
    11/10/09

    @bookwench: Ok, when you explain it like, it makes sense and makes me fell a little better about the ending (I found it to be all to brief for what it was), although I still fell Rowling fell short with it, because if that was her intent, she didn't explaining it well enough for people to get. It just felt like the cycle was continuing. #harrypotter
     Reply
    Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. promoted this comment comics0026 was starred comics0026 was unstarred
    Image of Rasselas Rasselas
    11/10/09

    In reply to Grossman: Failure Of Imagination > Harry Potter
    It's pretty rich for a books editor of Time to condemn "bourgeois suburban mediocrity." #harrypotter
     Reply
    Rasselas was starred Rasselas was unstarred
    Image of Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
    11/10/09

    @Rasselas: Oooh, well-said. #harrypotter
     Reply
    Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. was starred Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. was unstarred
    Image of Aidan_ Aidan_
    11/10/09

    @Rasselas: Spot on, sirrah. #harrypotter
     Reply
    Aidan_ was starred Aidan_ was unstarred
    Image of omgwtflolbbqbye omgwtflolbbqbye
    11/10/09

    In reply to Grossman: Failure Of Imagination > Harry Potter
    I didn't like the epilogue either.

    Well not as much as this guy, who thinks it crapped the bed for the entire series, I just thought it was a bit unnecessary and felt kind of awkwardly tacked on, like, as others have mentioned, a fanfic written by someone else.

    My theory was that it was Rowlings way of

    1. Sabotaging any future attempts by someone else to resurrect the series or publish unwarranted sequels and add ons

    and/or

    2. To protect herself from the countless fans who would have inundated her until her death with letters and email and pleas as to know what she thinks happened to Harry Potter afterward.
     Reply
    Edited by omgwtflolbbqbye at 11/10/09 1:23 PM omgwtflolbbqbye was starred omgwtflolbbqbye was unstarred
    Image of comics0026 comics0026
    11/10/09

    @omgwtflolbbqbye: If number 2 was her intent, she failed at it, cause she still gets questions about what the characters did after the books. Heck, I think that was all she was asked about for like a month after Hallows came out. #harrypotter
     Reply
    omgwtflolbbqbye promoted this comment comics0026 was starred comics0026 was unstarred
    Image of AaronProtesilaus AaronProtesilaus
    11/10/09

    @omgwtflolbbqbye:

    Agreed! #harrypotter
     Reply
    omgwtflolbbqbye promoted this comment AaronProtesilaus was starred AaronProtesilaus was unstarred
    Image of YoungWilliam YoungWilliam
    11/10/09

    @omgwtflolbbqbye: Heck, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle attempted to stave off any requests for further Sherlock Holmes stories by chucking poor Holmes over the side of a cliff.

    Then folks begged and pleaded until Sir ACD cranked out a story with the disclaimer, "This happened before he died; Sherlock's still dead!"

    Then folks begged and pleaded until Sir ACD said, "Fine! He faked his death. Here's more of his kooky adventures..." #harrypotter
     Reply
    omgwtflolbbqbye promoted this comment YoungWilliam was starred YoungWilliam was unstarred
    Image of omgwtflolbbqbye omgwtflolbbqbye
    11/10/09

    @YoungWilliam: I heard that he actually was broke by that point too and figured he needed his cash cow back.

    So I guess we better hope for the series sake that Rowlings doesn't piss away her $1,000,000,000 fortune anytime soon...

    EDIT:

    Nm, Doyle didn't go broke, he just did it for the fans.

    Whatever, it's still better than being an eye doctor.
     Reply
    Edited by omgwtflolbbqbye at 11/10/09 2:03 PM omgwtflolbbqbye was starred omgwtflolbbqbye was unstarred
    Image of psybab psybab
    11/10/09

    In reply to Grossman: Failure Of Imagination > Harry Potter
    I must say, I enjoyed "The Magicians" immensely (maybe my favorite book of the year), but Grossman needs to not bite the hand that feeds.

    And everyone knows the true ending of Harry Potter - [achewood.com] #harrypotter
     Reply
    psybab was starred psybab was unstarred
    Image of omgwtflolbbqbye omgwtflolbbqbye
    11/10/09

    @psybab: I don't get it...

    :( #harrypotter
     Reply
    omgwtflolbbqbye was starred omgwtflolbbqbye was unstarred
    Image of 0kami 0kami
    11/10/09

    In reply to Grossman: Failure Of Imagination > Harry Potter
    "And the best she can imagine is that he marries his high school sweetheart and puts on a big gut and lives in the suburbs. What a disaster!"

    :D "What a disaster", eh Grossman? #harrypotter
     Reply
    0kami was starred 0kami was unstarred
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