Harry Potter and The Stolen Plot... - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Lord of Angmar · 07-24-2003, 11:43 AM

Personally, and please do not stone me to death for this, I loathe the Harry Potter series. The writing, while it has gotten better since the juvenile and awkward composition of the book, has never seemed anywhere near up to par with the great fantasy classics (Lord of the Rings, Out of the Silent Planet, etc.).

That being said, I do not think it can be compared with Professor Tolkien's works, and, although it may have derived some of its ideas and names from those of Lord of the Rings, what fantasy novel in the last 4 decades hasn't? Furthermore, Harry Potter is a children's book. It was designed to appeal to and has an obvious target audience of children, from the cover of the book to the characters on its pages. The Lord of the Rings was never meant to cater to children (except, that is, when it was first conceived as a sequel to the hobbit). The writing is moodier, more mature and more linguistically sound, and the characters are vastly different (except for Dumbledore, who I believe is the only real direct rip-off of Lord of the Rings). I do not really think any logical comparisons can be drawn between them other than they are both works of fantasy, and basic ideas and character traits are expressed (in different ways, mind you) in both series.

07-24-2003, 11:43 AM	#27
Lord of Angmar Tyrannus Incorporalis Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: the North Posts: 833	Personally, and please do not stone me to death for this, I loathe the Harry Potter series. The writing, while it has gotten better since the juvenile and awkward composition of the book, has never seemed anywhere near up to par with the great fantasy classics (Lord of the Rings, Out of the Silent Planet, etc.). That being said, I do not think it can be compared with Professor Tolkien's works, and, although it may have derived some of its ideas and names from those of Lord of the Rings, what fantasy novel in the last 4 decades hasn't? Furthermore, Harry Potter is a children's book. It was designed to appeal to and has an obvious target audience of children, from the cover of the book to the characters on its pages. The Lord of the Rings was never meant to cater to children (except, that is, when it was first conceived as a sequel to the hobbit). The writing is moodier, more mature and more linguistically sound, and the characters are vastly different (except for Dumbledore, who I believe is the only real direct rip-off of Lord of the Rings). I do not really think any logical comparisons can be drawn between them other than they are both works of fantasy, and basic ideas and character traits are expressed (in different ways, mind you) in both series. __________________ ...where the instrument of intelligence is added to brute power and evil will, mankind is powerless in its own defence.