Thoughts on Harry Potter Series - SPOILER ALERT!

[matagin]

I am writing this post under General Topics since it relates to both the Harry Potter books and movies.

Some of my thoughts below are general but might be considered spoilers to some.  I made sure to put actual plot details into the spoiler tag for one part just in case.

I just spent the last 6 months reading all the Harry Potter books and watching the movies for the first time after all these years.  I was never interested in the series because I thought it was for kids and just wasn't into it.  I never really liked the witches and wizard stuff except if it was D&D related fantasy.  Well, I have to say that's not completely what the Harry Potter series is about.  It's about the characters and the world they live in and the struggle against evil. 

Some observations.  I liked the first book the most because it was the first time I was introduced to the world and it had a whimsical children's story feeling to it.  I felt the same way about the first movie.  The first movie could stand on it's own as a kid's movie.  The books immediately grew darker and more serious with the second book and movie.  As an adult, I enjoyed the adult themes and it made me stick with the series.  I think if a ten or eleven year old starts with the first book/movie, they need to stop and wait till they are 12 to continue the series.  It gets heavy real fast.  I love the fun and playfulness of the early books and I miss that in some of the later books.  In conclusion of that point, I think Rowling wanted to write a serious set of works after the first or second book and it turned out really good especially near the end with all the character twists.

One other thing I have considered is whether I could have just watched the movies instead of reading the books.  The movies were very good adaptations of the books.  The one thing about the books is you feel like you are living in the world which I like.  I think if I just watched the movies there would be a lot of things they mention that I would not know what they were talking about.  I felt myself rushing through the books to get to the next one.  Not sure if I would recommend to people to read the books and watch the movies or one or the other.  I almost felt like I didn't need to see the movies because the books were so movie-like.  As you can see, I am undecided on that.

[spoiler]The fifth book was difficult to get through because it dragged on in some parts and Harry was very angry and moody.  Umbridge was the character I hated the most because of how mean she was.  I really like Harry and Dumbledore's relationship.  It felt like Frodo and Gandalf and they even looked similar!  Hermione bugged me a lot because of her nagging but she was crucial because of her knowledge.  I hated Snape most of the time :).  Sirius really felt like that father figure to Harry.  I think there could be a lot more to explore regarding Hogwarts in general.  I know we spent a ton of time there but there seems like there could be more mysteries to unfold.[/spoiler]

Overall, the series was fantastic.  I wish I would have started reading it from the beginning because I know for some it has been an incredible journey over the past 14 years (that long?!).  After reading each book and seeing all the movies, I can now dive deep into the various Potter forums and read all the debates and not worry about spoilers!  Any thoughts on this stuff would be appreciated.  Looking at you Kenny! 

[Rico]

I always found reading the books before I ever saw the movies was the only way to go with this series.  Even with how good the films are, the depth in the books is just really hard to get across in a film.  It's a great series of both books and films and I do hope one day J.K. will continue it, perhaps with Harry Potter - The Next Generation!  :)

[matagin]

I agree.   When you read a book, it takes longer than a movie and you really feel like you are inside the world.  There are long periods in the books like day to day school activities or when they are in the forest in book 7 that makes you feel like you are with them.  I think it is like this with all books.  I remember reading Grapes of Wrath in high school and felt like I was on the road with the family heading for California.  Or trying to stay under the radar from Big Brother every day in 1984.  Books really bring you into the world. 

The other thing about the Potter books is that they move from children's books into a Lord of the Rings-esque epic journey.  I see this almost hard transition between books 4 and 5.  I'm sure that's what she was planning but it's pretty jarring.  The early books were always talking about the different sweets and other random magical elements but a lot of that was dropped in the later books.  It makes sense and I get it but I just wonder if some people liked the earlier books or later books better.