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Great. I'll look forward to reading it - as long as it's an adult book.
I feel a little out of the loop as far as she's concerned as I've never even picked up a HP book.
I wonder how the victim will die... Stabbed with a wand? A willow tree falling on him? His bones dissolving? Somebody hissing at him like a snake so that he goes flying through the air? Or just a simple bullet..
Just give him the bullet, I say! I must be in the same loop as Isabella (or should that be I'm out of the same loop as Isabella? Whatever!) in that I have no inclination at all to read a book aimed at children. If the little tykes like them, that's great, I'm all for them reading. But there are so many other books out there looking for an adult audience (in the nicest possible way!), why should I want to read HP?
Poppy: there are hundreds of books out there which were written primarily for a young audience, but which have much more originality and imagination than a lot of "adult" books I have read. Whether a book is written primarily for people aged 11, 21 or 81 is immaterial to the quality of the literary content, so why be snobbish about only picking up the books for the "adult" audience?
Granted, JK Rowling may not be the most literary of those authors. But what about Philip Pullman? Peter Dickinson? Alan Garner? David Almond? John Gordon? Diana Wynne Jones? All of them have won *literary* awards, notwithstanding the fact that the primary audience for their books is under 18. All of them have been often read and appreciated by people well outside the primary target audience.
I think that was a little bit snippy Amboline. I'm sure you are right in what you say about books written for children, but I don't think my opinion has anything to do with being snobbish. I just don't happen to want to read about adolescent wizards. Does that make me a snob? If I choose to read chicklit, what does that make me? Or gory murder stories? Or Ian McEwan? Or Dickens? If I read a mixture of all of these, am I mixed up? Maybe I am, because my recent reading has included all of these!
I stated my case on this many threads back, I have not read and will not read Harry Potter. I refuse to get drawn into the hype. The books are vastly overpriced, which is why ASDA did a dirty deal on Bloomsbury and put them out at £5, much to Bloomsbury's rage, and seem to be overwritten, too. I am not alone, it would seem, eithe ron Talkback or Coffee Lounge where some US writers said the same thing. Wizards and suchlike, no thanks! Leave Fantasy to Terry Goodfellow, his world is real enough and vivid enough for anyone and Philip Pullman, they were vivid books, too. There is only one wizard, Gandalf, all else are pale imitations!
I have come to the conclusion that life's too short to be snobbish about what I read.
If I start a book and can't get into it then I leave it.
Different types of books appeal at different times depending on my mood.
I have read the HP books. Although they don't rank high in my list of favorite reads I enjoyed them as lighthearted easy reading.
I'm a big fan of JKR as a person, though I must confess to not having read a single HP. I understand she's working on an adult crime novel - can't wait to see how that turns out. What's the betting she won't put it out under her own name though?
That's an interesting point, Kaz. I assumed she wasa big enough to use her own name but even if only the adults who read HP end up buying it, Im sure it'll do well.
I might read HP later on, when no one else is reading it, but I probably willl end up not bothering, as there is so much else out there I "need" to read, and HP doesn't figure anywhere on my "need" list.
JKR might have a hard time being taken seriously as an adult author, but considering so many adults have read HP, it might not be too much of a problem for her. Good luck to her, I say. I have other things to read.
hey everyone. This looks v interesting. I am reading the last Harry Potter here while on holiday (am currently sitting in the hotel lobby on a computer with internet access and a pass code so I can use it for one day|). I think plenty of people would buy it, even the ones who haven't read HP just out of interest. Also we have to remember that it's 10 years since she published the first HP book so a lot of the children who read it then will be adults now. That will help adult sales, won't it? What if Enid Blyton had turned to adult writing just as I grew up, I'm sure I'd have bought her adult novels.
I so agree with Kaz and TP - good luck to JKR. She's obviously done a good job to have such a following, whether it's through her writing or by hype. It's simply that HP is my kind of thing. Just let everyone get on a read what they like.
I devour crime fiction, and sorry, but I would never buy or read a crime novel by JKR. A lot of other crime readers feel the same.
I haven't read Harry Potter, and neither do I 'need' to. The only book I need to read is 'Empire' by Chrisopher Paolini due out next summer.
Dorothy, you've sold me. I'm going out to buy a novel by Terry Goodfellow.
I'm disturbed by this talk of literary snobbery. I like a great read, but I have read some great novels for my degree with the OU. Would you not buy a book because it had a 'literary' tag?. My favourite book of all time is Eragon, but I have just bought Atonement. I don't really care as long as it isn't badly written.
I read what entertains me. This was an ongoing battle with ex, who could not understand why I would not read Conrad or Scott, when I said there were so many others waiting to be read, thanks very much. As it is, the Delderfields, Springs, Shutes and Dickens are all crying to me right now, 're-read me!'and I will, as soon as I get through all the other books sitting here ...
Hey there, yes I've seen the pyramids and sphynx and it's all fabulous, but right now my son's in bed and I can't go any further than the hotel lobby! so here I am on the net. Well, I've just taken two cocktails over to Alys and I've got half an hour before she's drunk them and then I'll take another two over... you get the picture.
So on to JK again, and it's funny but I've started signing my name JK - not arrogance but accident! I usually sign just J as anyone who I've emailed will no doubt know, but can't get used to this keyboard. anyway.,..
\Whether it's a joke or not, if she does write a crime novel then it will be well worth the read., She's not a brilliant writer in terms of depth, but she's got a particular way with plotting and action, page-turning, leaving cliffhangers and clues. All the stuff that you want from a crime novel. I'd say she's very like Agatha Christie in that when you get to the end and you find out what happened, it all makes sense because she's laid the trail all along. And I know that there are huge swathes of Agatha Christie fans but also those who think her work is tripe, so I think that JKR is set to be just that.
The reason I love Ian Rankin's books and Val McDermid's early books is the way they get into the heads (psychological makeup if you will) of both hero and villian. I don't find a plot or cliffhanger scary per se, if the motivation behind it scares me, then the plot turn will scare me. It has to be realistic. I've been reading old WM and come across the quote "a villian is only as intelligent as the plot".
I tried reading the book 'relentless' and it was rubbish. Cardboard characters and cliched characters. Unfortunately crime fiction is full of these kind of books. Sorry, I don't think JKR could come anywhere near Nicci French for scaring the bejesus out of you.
Is that Relentless book the one on Richard and Judy's summer read? Richard was going on and on about it saying how great it was and I was thinking of getting it.
It depends on what you would normally read. I think if you normally read American thrillers or Mark Billingham, you might like it. I read a lot of literary fiction and my favourite crime writer is Ian Rankin, so I couldn't sink my teeth into it. I don't like books where characters are just there to perform the plot, I have to believe they exist in there own world and not just on the pages of the novel.
I don't want to put you off, because I know a lot of people have enjoyed it, and would hate to think I deprived someone of a book they would derive a lot of pleasure from. Maybe if you had a read of the first page/chapter before you bought it, and you can make your own mind up.
I've got a plug on Mark Billingham's site (I think), although I'm not sure why.
Julian Clary's read some of my stories. I've heard he's a nice guy (whoops, typed 'gay') and visited Paul Merton when he was in hospital.
I thought his comments might be here but they're not. Still, there are some others you might enjoy. And even a picture show.
http://www.bewrite.net/authors/jay_mandal.htm
Kateyanne, a friend gave me The Labyinth, said it was good, she could not put it down. I hated it but didn't want to say so, I just said it was a good read. Outright lie but still ... I found it a bit too much Barbara Erskine (who does it far better) and not enough emotion. Everyone was so cold, somehow. No one came alive as a character. It would have benefited from some serious editing.
My thoughts exactly about Labyrinth. I tried to perserve with it, but in the end I couldn't hack it. Nothing was really happening was it?. The was no explanation. What broke it for me was when one of the present day characters was kidnapped. I was like WHAT!. How the hell did that happen?. No suspense at all.
I read a couple of pages of Labyrinth then put it down and read something more interesting. I'm glad I'm not the only one. Also, at the time I was writing a novel based around the Arthurian legend and didn't want to read someone else's take on it in case it put me off what I was writing. I might go back to it one day though.
Had the same experience as Dorothy in that a friend raved about Labyrinth and I couldn't get on with it at all. I usually try to finish books once started, but gave up quite quickly on this one.
Am having a bit of trouble with Half of a Yellow Sun at the moment. I have persevered and have almost finished it, but just can't warm to any of the characters. Anyone else feel the same, or is it just me?
I agree when I was teaching full time some of the children would get reading books out and start them and say they were boring and they didn't like them. So I said OK change it. They looked at me like I was mad, 'But Mrs Thingy never let us in the last class, she said we had to finish them.' 'Well I'm not Mrs Thingy am I?'
You should never be made to read a book you don't like or listen to music you don't like. When I was fourteen I had a boyfriend who practically forced me to listen to 'Cream', music I was not into, much preferring The Monkees! It just made me hate music like that even more.
Comments
http://www.mirror.co.uk/showbiz/2007/08/20/jk-turning-to-crime-89520-19661030/
I feel a little out of the loop as far as she's concerned as I've never even picked up a HP book.
http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2152722,00.html
Granted, JK Rowling may not be the most literary of those authors. But what about Philip Pullman? Peter Dickinson? Alan Garner? David Almond? John Gordon? Diana Wynne Jones? All of them have won *literary* awards, notwithstanding the fact that the primary audience for their books is under 18. All of them have been often read and appreciated by people well outside the primary target audience.
Literary spiterary - give me a rip roaring read and be gone with the snobbery
If I start a book and can't get into it then I leave it.
Different types of books appeal at different times depending on my mood.
I have read the HP books. Although they don't rank high in my list of favorite reads I enjoyed them as lighthearted easy reading.
"Someone called it Dick Lit," he muses. "I wanted to call it Dead Man W***ing but they wouldn't have it."
JKR might have a hard time being taken seriously as an adult author, but considering so many adults have read HP, it might not be too much of a problem for her. Good luck to her, I say. I have other things to read.
http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2152722,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=10
I haven't read Harry Potter, and neither do I 'need' to. The only book I need to read is 'Empire' by Chrisopher Paolini due out next summer.
Dorothy, you've sold me. I'm going out to buy a novel by Terry Goodfellow.
I'm disturbed by this talk of literary snobbery. I like a great read, but I have read some great novels for my degree with the OU. Would you not buy a book because it had a 'literary' tag?. My favourite book of all time is Eragon, but I have just bought Atonement. I don't really care as long as it isn't badly written.
So on to JK again, and it's funny but I've started signing my name JK - not arrogance but accident! I usually sign just J as anyone who I've emailed will no doubt know, but can't get used to this keyboard. anyway.,..
\Whether it's a joke or not, if she does write a crime novel then it will be well worth the read., She's not a brilliant writer in terms of depth, but she's got a particular way with plotting and action, page-turning, leaving cliffhangers and clues. All the stuff that you want from a crime novel. I'd say she's very like Agatha Christie in that when you get to the end and you find out what happened, it all makes sense because she's laid the trail all along. And I know that there are huge swathes of Agatha Christie fans but also those who think her work is tripe, so I think that JKR is set to be just that.
I tried reading the book 'relentless' and it was rubbish. Cardboard characters and cliched characters. Unfortunately crime fiction is full of these kind of books. Sorry, I don't think JKR could come anywhere near Nicci French for scaring the bejesus out of you.
It depends on what you would normally read. I think if you normally read American thrillers or Mark Billingham, you might like it. I read a lot of literary fiction and my favourite crime writer is Ian Rankin, so I couldn't sink my teeth into it. I don't like books where characters are just there to perform the plot, I have to believe they exist in there own world and not just on the pages of the novel.
I don't want to put you off, because I know a lot of people have enjoyed it, and would hate to think I deprived someone of a book they would derive a lot of pleasure from. Maybe if you had a read of the first page/chapter before you bought it, and you can make your own mind up.
Julian Clary's read some of my stories. I've heard he's a nice guy (whoops, typed 'gay') and visited Paul Merton when he was in hospital.
I thought his comments might be here but they're not. Still, there are some others you might enjoy. And even a picture show.
http://www.bewrite.net/authors/jay_mandal.htm
The last book I bought they recommended was The Labyrinth by Kate Moss. But I didn't like it.
Am having a bit of trouble with Half of a Yellow Sun at the moment. I have persevered and have almost finished it, but just can't warm to any of the characters. Anyone else feel the same, or is it just me?
You should never be made to read a book you don't like or listen to music you don't like. When I was fourteen I had a boyfriend who practically forced me to listen to 'Cream', music I was not into, much preferring The Monkees! It just made me hate music like that even more.